About three years ago I discovered that I have the early stages of chronic kidney disease. Unfortunately in this toxic world that is very common, and my early life was also quite unhealthy.
After making this discovery, I wondered what I could do to help my kidneys. I have high cholesterol levels too, and I now know that this is linked to the kidney problem. Being a naturopath, I was already eating a diet very low in sugar, refined and deep-fried food. I had not eaten meat for years, and my vegetable consumption was high. Daily vitamin C and a vitamin D-rich fish oil complex was already part of my supplementation routine. So I didn’t pay much attention to the high cholesterol reading. It’s really not so important that you need to take harmful drugs which will only create other problems. More important is the blood pressure reading, which in my case was a very healthy low.
My journey of discovery
The early stages of CKD are not serious but they are a warning, so I read everything I could. Research for the natural treatment of early kidney disease is plentiful. I sucked it all up and swallowed bucketloads of medicinal mushrooms like Cordyceps and Reishi. I took bromelain and curcumin. I drank green tea and beet juice. I did bowel cleansing and probiotics blasts.
I assessed the results with a blood test. All this succeeded only in improving my test results by a couple of points. This was disappointing, but the work was not wasted. My liver was definitely functioning better, and what helps your liver also helps your kidneys.
There was only one thing left to try: a vegan diet. But not the dangerously unwholesome type of vegan diet that the supermarkets might tempt you into (fake cheese made from starch and oil, fake meats made from pure gluten…) The key to helping your kidneys is restricting your protein intake to the minimum that your body needs, which is actually not very much.
Too many supplements are also stressful for the kidneys, so a whole-food diet is more important then ever. If you look up “whole-food plant-based (WFPB) diet” in the medical databases, you will come across some amazing research results showing improvements and reversals of all kinds of health conditions.
After three months on my WFPB diet, my kidney test showed an improvement of seven whole points. Needless to say, I was very pleased indeed.
The kidney-heart connection
It is not well known that the biggest cause of heart disease is actually kidney disease. Loss of kidney function is usually silent, with no symptoms at all. You may not notice anything wrong until you only have three percent of remaining kidney function, which is known as end-stage kidney disease. Dialysis and transplants are the only treatments.
Meanwhile, because the kidneys are important for the control of blood pressure, hormones and cholesterol, and also for the body’s ability to make active vitamin D, many functions can start to go wrong; arterial calcification, leading to coronary artery disease, is a common result.
So I recommend everyone over the age of 50 to take a kidney function test. All you need is to order a test kit online (eg. from vitall.co.uk) follow the simple instructions and mail the kit back to the lab with your finger-prick blood sample. You will get your results and what they mean, by email.
I will be writing more about the WFPB diet in future articles; meanwhile you can keep up to date with the very latest research by regularly checking this page of my Modern Naturopathy website:
www.modern-naturopathy.com/latest-research-healthy-eating/
Wishing you good health
Linda
Two CKD interactive charts with comprehensive notes are available to paid subscribers. The charts allow a quick and easy grasp of the topic and its naturopathic research. They will be of particular interest to health practitioners. Click here to request access.
If you received this post by email, I am happy to report that the CKD interactive charts mentioned in the email are now available to paid subscribers for no extra charge. They will be of particular interest to health practitioners and students. Use this link to request access https://linlaz.substack.com/p/ckd-chart-access
Thanks for sharing your kidney-liver-heart healing story. I have a funny kidney situation, my kidneys did not separate fully when I was gestated, so Uni Kidney is the word the doctor used to describe it from a scan I had once, for some hip issues. Luckily it has not been a problem but I do wonder if I functionally have one or 2 kidneys, and I will probably never know unless I take some kind of test as you suggest. Best from ORegon usa