Sources and citations

Every number on this site comes from the USDA dataset below. Every threshold or guideline statement comes from a named source on this page. Where a source gives no number, this site gives none.

Citations and the statements we use

Potassium in Your CKD Diet

National Kidney Foundation (NKF), updated May 5, 2023

• A food with 200 mg or more of potassium per serving is generally considered high in potassium. Under 200 mg per serving is the comparison "low" column.
• NKF gives no daily potassium target. Potassium needs are individualized.

Used on: /low-potassium-foods/, /foods/, /renal-diet/, /kidney-friendly-foods/, /ckd-food-list/

Phosphorus and Your CKD Diet

National Kidney Foundation (NKF), updated July 16, 2024

• Phosphorus from food additives is completely absorbed.
• Phosphorus in animal foods is absorbed more easily than phosphorus in plant foods.
• Normal blood phosphorus is 2.5 to 4.5 mg/dL.
• The page advises checking ingredient lists for additives with "phos" in the name.
• NKF gives no numeric daily milligram target and no per-serving low or high threshold for phosphorus, so this site does not invent one.

Used on: /low-phosphorus-foods/, /foods/, /renal-diet/, /kidney-friendly-foods/, /ckd-food-list/

KDOQI Clinical Practice Guideline for Nutrition in CKD: 2020 Update

KDOQI. Ikizler TA et al. Am J Kidney Dis 2020;76(3 Suppl 1):S1-S107. doi:10.1053/j.ajkd.2020.05.006

• Statement 6.5.1: Sodium intake under 100 mmol/day (under 2.3 g/day) for CKD stages 3 to 5, 5D (dialysis) and kidney transplant.
• Statement 6.4.1: Potassium intake is adjusted to keep serum potassium in the normal range. The statement gives no fixed number.
• Statement 6.3.1: Phosphorus intake is adjusted to keep serum phosphate in the normal range.
• Statement 6.3.2: Consider the bioavailability of phosphorus sources (animal, vegetable and additive sources).
• Statement 3.0.1: For CKD stages 3 to 5, a low-protein diet of 0.55 to 0.60 g/kg body weight/day is described only under close clinical supervision.
• Statement 3.0.3: For people on dialysis, 1.0 to 1.2 g/kg body weight/day is described.

Used on: /renal-diet/, /ckd-food-list/, /low-potassium-foods/, /low-phosphorus-foods/

FoodData Central

U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service

• Every nutrient value on this site comes from FoodData Central Foundation Foods (release 2026-04-30) and SR Legacy (release 2018-04), per 100 g edible portion, scaled to the serving shown.
• USDA FoodData Central data are in the public domain (CC0 1.0).

Used on: Every page with a food value

Eating Right for Chronic Kidney Disease

National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK)

• Listed as general reading only. No numeric value on this site is taken from this page.

Used on: /renal-diet/

The sodium, potassium and phosphorus statements paraphrase the KDOQI guideline; read the guideline for the full wording and context.

Dataset releases and checksums

USDA FoodData Central data are in the public domain (CC0 1.0). Citation: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, 2026. fdc.nal.usda.gov.

Foods in the database

7,332 (the app's offline database)

Foods with their own page

155 curated common foods

Database file SHA-256

0413fdd58e5dfb99e89781044487d783353aa12a16b5ddf2de8ef009ae38960b

Curated list SHA-256

381190a406651b30e822616b12d0a326c27ca7177160230f9f6e68387c6f2001

Excluded USDA categories

American Indian/Alaska Native Foods; Baby Foods

Citation

U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, 2026. fdc.nal.usda.gov.

Foods were kept only when potassium, phosphorus, sodium, protein and energy were all published and within plausibility bounds. The build of this website stops if the checksum of the database file does not match the one listed here.

Method

Per serving = value per 100 g x serving grams / 100. Rounding is half-up: whole numbers for mg and kcal, one decimal for protein. Rounding is for display only; sort order and rankings use unrounded values. Found a wrong value? Tell us and include the FDC id.