The Body’s Superheroes. Our kidneys have one superpower mission: to detoxify the body.
These two highly vascular organs filter about 200 quarts of our blood every day. They remove toxins, waste, and excess fluid, then excrete it out as urine.
Kidney Disease Because they are packed with blood vessels, kidneys are susceptible to the same diseases as the heart. High blood pressure, high cholesterol and inflammation all insult the filtering units of the kidney, causing the delicate blood vessels to become clogged and injured. When fluid and waste products remain trapped in the body, the resulting chemical imbalance makes people very sick. They have kidney disease.
Scary Statistics Nearly 14 percent of the U.S. population suffers from chronic kidney disease, including one in three Americans over the age of 64 (though three-fourths might not know it; deteriorating kidneys don’t show symptoms). When the kidneys fail completely, dialysis is the only therapy, and Medicare funds it for all Americans. In 2017, Medicare spent $120 billion on beneficiaries with chronic kidney disease or failure; still, more than 50,000 of those patients died. Despite available therapy, kidney disease kills more people than breast or prostate cancer.
Role of Diet The Western-style diet is a major risk factor for impaired kidney function and chronic kidney disease, causing an impairment of kidney blood flow, inflammation, leakage of protein into the urine, and a rapid decrease in kidney function.
Animal foods are not your kidneys’ friends. Meat, eggs, and dairy slowly but surely damage both the heart and kidneys, leading America to its present kidney disease crisis.
The most serious harm to kidneys of a diet high in animal protein is done by increased inflammation, acid levels, and uremic toxins in the body. These increase the kidney’s workload. Sustained excesses of animal protein call on our kidney reserves continuously, causing a kind of unrelenting stress that can predispose even healthy people to progressive kidney scarring and deterioration of kidney function.
On the other hand, eating vegetable protein does not appear to have the same effects. Why does animal protein cause that overload reaction, but not plant protein? It appears to be an inflammatory response triggered by the animal protein. The kidneys handle plant protein differently, with much less stress.
Prevent Excess Phosphorus Intake Too much phosphorus appears to damage kidney blood vessels and accelerate aging and bone loss. The worst type is found in phosphate food additives, added to cola drinks and meat to enhance their color. Nearly all chicken products contain phosphate additives. Another reason (there are so many, the subject of another column) to avoid eating chicken.
Plants to the Rescue The good news is that most kidney disease can be prevented, slowed, or reversed with a change of diet.
Many studies found that people who consumed the most fiber (i.e., plant foods) had significantly lower markers of inflammation, improved blood lipids, and antioxidant status. The less protein we eat, particularly animal protein, the lower the workload on our kidneys. In patients with more advanced kidney disease, vegan diets have shown promise in slowing down the disease process and keeping the cardiovascular system healthy.
If you already have kidney disease, be encouraged! Taking control of your lifestyle will empower you to slow and reverse it. Avoid animal protein, eat plants, drink plenty of water. Foods that support kidney health include citrus, avocados, beans, apricots, leafy greens, grapes, and berries.