Alkalise your diet to protect your kidneys

Natural Health News — Nutrition has important effects on a variety of aspects of health, including those related to kidney function. Now a new study shows that for those with kidney disease an alkaline diet can be protective

Patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD), studies have shown that diet can significantly influence the risk of progression of the disease. For example, diets with a high acid content may increase their risk of developing kidney failure.

A study appearing in an upcoming issue of the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology (JASN), suggests that patients may want to limit their intake of meats and increase their consumption of fruits and vegetables to help protect their kidneys

Tanushree Banerjee, PhD (UC San Francisco) and her colleagues examined whether acid-inducing diets might play a role. Low acid load diets are rich in fruits and vegetables, while high acid diets contain more meats. The researchers analyzed information on 1486 adults with CKD who were participating in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey III (NHANES III), a large national sample of community dwelling adults. The participants were followed for a median of 14.2 years.

The team found that higher levels of dietary acid load were strongly linked with progression to kidney failure among patients. In fact, patients who consumed diets high in acid-forming foods were 3-times more likely to develop kidney failure than patients who consumed low acid diets.

In addition to their usual treatment “patients with chronic kidney disease may want to pay more attention to diet consumption of acid rich foods to reduce progression to kidney failure” said Dr. Banerjee. “The high costs and suboptimal quality of life that dialysis treatments bring may be avoided by adopting a more healthy diet that is rich in fruits and vegetables.”

• For more on acid and alkali forming foods see here.