Produce Powered Breakthrough Protects Kidneys
You already know that high blood pressure is the leading risk factor for heart disease.
But you might not be aware that hypertension can also play a role in chronic kidney disease, a condition that occurs when your kidneys can’t filter blood properly.
Like many other health issues, changing your lifestyle can help prevent this condition from worsening. In some cases, it can even reduce your need for drugs.
Now, a recent study has identified a simple lifestyle change that can reduce blood pressure in patients with chronic kidney disease.
This randomized, controlled trial included 153 chronic kidney disease patients with high blood pressure AND an elevated urine albumin-to-creatinine ratio (indicating an increased risk of disease progression).
All of the participants took standard drug treatments (statins and anti-angiotensin II blockers).
In addition…
- one group ate two to four additional cups of fruit and vegetables daily,
- and a second group consumed oral sodium bicarbonate.
Five years later, the group that took the standard drug treatment alone had a more significant decline in kidney function and a larger increase in the albumin-to-creatinine ratio.
On the other hand, both the fruit and sodium bicarbonate groups had higher plasma bicarbonate levels, indicating that both approaches offered additional kidney protection.
However, the fruits and veggies group also had…
- the biggest drop in blood pressure,
- the most significant improvements in body mass index (BMI),
- and the most improved LDL cholesterol levels.
These improved outcomes occurred even though the fruit and veggie group took lower doses of blood pressure drugs.
I find it refreshing that the study’s lead author called for a diet rich in fruits and vegetables to be “foundational to the treatment of hypertension”—and only to take drugs as needed after that.
This is solid advice I can stand behind.
P.S. Blood sugar fix PROTECTS your heart and kidneys.
SOURCE:
Nimrit Goraya, MD, Nicolaos E. Madias, MD, Jan Simoni, PhD, DVM, Maninder Kahlon, PhD, et al., Kidney and Cardiovascular Protection Using Dietary Acid Reduction in Primary Hypertension: A Five-Year, Interventional, Randomized, Control Trial, The American Journal of Medicine, Published: August 05, 2024, doi. org /10. 1016/j.amjmed. 2024.06.006
