Both old and new research has reiterated that people who are overweight are at a higher risk of having kidney problems. On the other hand, if you already kidney complications, you can improve your health by losing weight. This article focuses on the benefits of losing weight as a CKD patient or if you are at risk of becoming a CKD patient. The emergence of kidney disease and kidney complications was linked to obesity in a study conducted on about 2,900 people by a UC San Francisco led team in January 2014. This same research also shows how the loss of kidney function is detectable long before the emergence of other obesity related diseases like diabetes and high blood pressure.
Healthy kidneys are crucial to the proper functioning of the heart, brain and immune and skeletal system and this research calls for immediate medical attention for obese patients. The author of this report who is also a medical doctor, Vanessa Grubbs stated that people are getting bigger at very young ages so the issue of obesity is going to be common and will be more common in people at young ages.
The team, which was led by Vanessa Grubbs M.D. and senior author Kirsten Bibbins-Domingo, PhD, MD, professor of medicine, published the study online in the American journal of Kidney Diseases. The study analyzed data dating back a period of 10 years from CARDIA (Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults), a national multi-center research project that has monitored the health of thousands of adults since it started in 1985.
Dr. Grubbs noted that when they took diabetes, High blood pressure and inflammatory processes, the body mass index was still considered a predictor of decline in kidney function especially because it could affect the kidney function itself even before any kidney disease is detected.
In the 10th year of study, the CARDIA dataset was checked by researchers who wanted to observe the kidney function through a blood test known as “cystatin C” instead of the traditional approach of measuring creatinine levels. The measure of Cystatin levels is a more sensitive marker of the subtle changes in kidney function even when it occurs within the normal range.
This study is just trying to inform us that if you are obese, losing weight is a good way of preventing kidney complications. It also shows that losing weight can help improve your kidney function when you have kidney disease.
Here are 9 Weight Loss Tips To Help You Improve Your Kidney Disease
- Drink more water and less soda
- Exercise for a minimum of 30 minutes per day
- Order salad dressing on the side. Dip your fork in the salad dressing; then spear a lettuce leaf to save 3 to 5 teaspoons of fat.
- Increase your daily fiber intake to at least 25 grams per day from fruits and veggies
- Eat slowly and chew each mouthful of food for 20 to 30 times.
- Stay away from fried, scalloped, creamed, au gratin or battered vegetables. Try replacing them with boiling, stewing, steaming and seasoning with fresh herbs, vinegar, lemon juice or Mrs. Dash®.
- Avoid overeating and eat regular meals as well.
- Make use of a list and a time limit when doing your grocery shopping; this way, it becomes easier to stay focused on what you need and avoid straying into processed food section.
- Thirst and hunger are two different things. Try drinking water first anytime you feel hungry to know if that is what you truly crave.
Final Thoughts
Losing weight has positive effect kidney diseases and hopefully, this article has shown a few ways you can improve kidney complications. You can learn more from http://healkidneydisease.com
