What is kidney disease? Plus, 9 ways to maintain a kidney-healthy lifestyle.
If you want to improve your health, but feel overwhelmed with where to begin, you’re at the right place. Dr. Jean Ann Beaton, a board-certified internal medicine physician at Dupont Private Health is here to share her top tips for caring for your kidneys.
Today, we’ll be talking about kidney disease. We’ll also be diving into what kidneys are, and what they do, and I’ll share 9 tips for how to maintain good kidney health.
What are kidneys?
Source: Cleveland Clinic
Your kidneys are the two bean-shaped organs in your lower back. Kidneys are responsible for filtering your blood, balancing your body’s fluids, and removing waste.
What do kidneys do?
Your kidneys, which are a part of your urinary system, filter about 200 quarts of fluid per day. That’s enough to fill up a large bathtub!
Your kidneys remove waste (as urine) during this filtration process. Most people will pee about two quarts daily, and then the body typically re-uses the other 198 quarts of fluid (source).
The kidneys are also responsible for:
Balancing the body’s fluids and electrolytes ( essential minerals that include sodium and potassium)
Controlling the pH balance of your blood
Making sugar/glucose if your blood doesn’t have enough
What is kidney disease?
Chronic kidney disease means that the kidneys’ functioning is failing. All of the important roles that the kidneys serve (filtering out your blood, controlling pH balance, balancing electrolytes, etc.) begin to deteriorate.
Symptoms of kidney disease can develop over time and typically progress slowly. According to the Mayo Clinic, loss of kidney functioning can cause:
Nausea
Vomiting
Loss of appetite
Fatigue and weakness
Sleep problems
Urinating more or less
Decreased mental sharpness
Muscle cramps
Swelling of feet and ankles
Dry, itchy skin
High blood pressure (hypertension) that's difficult to control
Shortness of breath
Chest pain
Treatment for chronic kidney disease focuses on slowing the progression of kidney damage, usually by controlling the cause.
Individuals with diabetes or hypertension are at the highest risk of kidney problems. Treating these concerns with a doctor like Dr. Jean Ann Beaton is key when it comes to preventing and managing kidney disease.
However, even controlling the cause might not keep kidney damage from progressing. Chronic kidney disease can progress to end-stage kidney failure, which is fatal without artificial filtering (dialysis) or a kidney transplant.
Kidney disease has 5 stages that refer to how well your kidneys work. These stages are each determined by the Estimated Glomerular Filtration Rate (eGFR). The eGFR shows how well your kidneys are filtering your blood from waste and extra water. To learn more specifics about the 5 stages of kidney disease, visit this article.
Now, let’s talk about how to prevent kidney disease and maintain overall kidney health.
1. Eat a kidney-friendly diet.
Dr. Beaton recommends choosing plant-based, whole foods to prevent kidney disease. Kidney-friendly foods include fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grains, beans, nuts, and seeds. This diet can be incredibly beneficial for chronic conditions (like diabetes and hypertension, which are both leading causes of kidney disease).
To learn 3 easy plant-based breakfast recipes from Dr. Beaton, check out this blog post.
2. Lower your sodium intake
A good sodium intake goal is to stay in the range of 1,000-2,000 mg per day. A healthy way to practice a lower sodium lifestyle is with the DASH Diet or the Mediterranean Diet. I typically advise my patients with hypertension to keep their sodium intake in the range of 1,000-2,000 mg per day. A teaspoon of salt is your whole sodium requirement for the day.
Read my top tips for managing high blood pressure here.
3. Maintain a healthy weight
This is important because your weight can prevent diabetes and high blood pressure, (which, again, can lead to kidney disease).
Being at a healthy weight can reduce your risk of health implications and improve your overall health and quality of life. Some ways to maintain a healthy weight include:
Exercising for at least 30 minutes on most days of the week (here’s a great online exercise video)
Eating a healthy, plant-based diet
If you’d like support for weight loss, Dr. Beaton is here to help.
4. Quit smoking and using tobacco
According to the National Kidney Foundation, smoking can affect medicines used to treat high blood pressure. Uncontrolled or poorly controlled high blood pressure is a leading cause of kidney disease. Smoking also slows the blood flow to important organs like the kidneys and can make kidney disease worse.
5. Get tested
Through simple tests, you can learn more about your kidneys and how they function. Knowing your kidney function will help you learn more about how you can prevent or slow down kidney disease.
To learn more about getting tested for kidney disease, reach out to Dr. Beaton’s office here.
6. Avoid nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAID)
Nilka Ríos Burrows, an epidemiologist with CDC's Chronic Kidney Disease Initiative explains that people with kidney disease are generally advised not to take NSAIDs (with the exception of aspirin).
Burrows explains that NSAIDs have been associated with kidney injury in the general population and with the progression of disease in those with chronic kidney disease.
7. Maintain healthy blood pressure
According to the National Kidney Foundation, “high blood pressure can constrict and narrow the blood vessels in your kidneys, which reduces blood flow and stops the kidneys from working well.”
When this occurs, the kidneys are unable to dispose of all wastes and extra fluid from your body. Extra fluid in the blood vessels can raise your blood pressure even further, which creates a dangerous cycle and can cause more damage to the kidneys.
Read Dr. Beaton’s tips for managing hypertension here.
8. Stay hydrated
Water is one of the main keys to healthy kidneys. It helps remove any waste and keep your blood vessels open to allow for healthy blood flow. Here are 6 kidney-healthy water tips.
9. Visit your doctor
Regularly checking in with your doctor for any signs of kidney disease is very important.
According to the CDC, Approximately 1 in 3 adults with diabetes and 1 in 5 adults with high blood pressure may have CKD.
If you’d like to learn more about working with Dr. Beaton, contact our office today. Taking action today can help prevent kidney disease.
This article does not constitute the practice of medicine, healthcare advice, diagnosis, or treatment. You should always talk to your healthcare provider regarding your specific medical needs.