Are you looking after your kidneys?

Kidney problems are common. Approximately 26 million Americans are affected by chronic kidney disease. Unfortunately most people don’t think about the health of these vital organs until something goes wrong.
Your kidneys have a very important job in filtering your blood and maintaining the correct balance of minerals and electrolytes. They are very delicate organs and cannot repair themselves like your liver can. That means it’s important to take good care of them.

It is important to have your kidneys checked regularly with a blood test to see if they are functioning normally. This is especially important as you get older, are overweight, diabetic, have an autoimmune disease or have high blood pressure.

Kidney function checks the levels of urea and creatinine in your blood and if these are elevated your kidneys are sluggish. Urea and creatinine are the breakdown products of ammonia and protein which must be eliminated by the kidneys in your urine. A blood test for kidney function will also check a parameter known as eGfr which is the rate at which your kidneys filter the blood to remove the urea and creatinine and other waste products from your blood.

If the eGfr is too low this means that your kidney function is sluggish or you do not drink enough water. Your urine can also be tested for bacteria, protein, cells and sugar. These tests should be done annually as kidney disease is often silent with no symptoms.

Try my kidney questionnaire to get an indication of the state of your kidney health.

KIDNEY QUESTIONNAIRE

1. Do you sometimes retain a lot of fluid, more so than you used to?

2. Is the volume of urine that you pass each day less now than it used to be?

3. Have you had an unexplained rise in blood pressure?

4. What is your blood pressure reading today?

5. Have you started getting unexplained headaches?

6. Has your skin become more tanned than it used to be, even with little sun exposure?

7. Have your nails flattened or become spoon shaped?

8. Have you experienced unexplained nausea or vomiting?

9. Do you have a family history of kidney disease?

10. Do you have a family history of diabetes?

11. Do you have diabetes or a pre-diabetic state?

12. Have you experienced unexplained weight loss?

13. Do you crave salty foods more so than you used to?

14. Has your urine changed color?

15. Has your urine changed its odor?

16. Do you suffer with back pain?

17. Have you had kidney stones?

If you experience several of these symptoms please see your healthcare practitioner and ask for a kidney test.

How to look after your kidneys

• Try to drink approximately 8 to 10 glasses of water or herbal tea each day. Ideally your urine would have a faint yellow color.
• Avoid a high intake of sugar and refined carbohydrates like bread, pasta and breakfast cereals. In many individuals these foods can promote insulin resistance (syndrome X), which can raise uric acid and increase the risk of kidney stones.
• Eat plenty of vegetables and fruit. The vitamins, minerals and antioxidants in these foods will help to protect your kidneys.
• Get your blood pressure checked regularly. High blood pressure can cause significant harm to the kidneys. A lower carbohydrate diet, such as in my new weight loss book and a magnesium supplement are wonderful for normalizing blood pressure.
• If you have diabetes try to keep your blood sugar readings as close to normal as possible. Elevated blood sugar harms the kidneys and that is why some diabetics end up on dialysis. If you’d like better blood sugar control see our diabetes book.

Kidney Health Formula Capsules
These are designed to support optimal kidney function and to protect your kidneys from inflammation.

Kidney Health Formula Capsules contain –
• Phyllanthus Amarus is a plant with thousands of years of traditional use to reduce kidney stones. It exerts antiseptic and anti-inflammatory properties on the kidneys and liver.
• NAC (N-Acetyl- Cysteine) and Selenium which promote the production of the antioxidant glutathione which protects the kidneys
• Parsley to promote excretion of excess fluid from the body
• Cranberry to reduce kidney infections
• Vitamin C to prevent urinary tract infections

Reference:
https://www.phytojournal.com/vol3Issue2/Issue_jul_2014/10.1.pdf

The above statements have not been evaluated by the FDA and are not intended to diagnose, treat or cure any disease.