High Potassium Levels and Your Kidneys…The Solution May Be Baking Soda!

New research is showing consuming potassium does not appear to affect whether a person will develop high potassium levels in patients with serious kidney issues. High potassium levels can be a serious condition where potassium levels in person are higher than normal. Potassium is important to the correct and healthy function of nerve and muscle cells. These muscles cells include the heart.

Serving as filters for the blood where toxins and waste are removes and then expelled from the body through urine. Those who suffer from kidney issues have suffered damage to their kidneys and they are no longer able to process this blood. If they can, it is at greatly reduced levels and not enough for a healthy life.

If the kidneys are not able to process blood, the toxins and wastes build up in the blood. Damage to organs follows and eventually death. Researchers studied 3-day food diaries from 96 kidney problem sufferers who were not on dialysis. Special attention was paid to daily potassium intake or servings of fruits, vegetables, legumes, cereals, dairy, and meats. In doing so and looking at results investigators could find no associations between those with and without high potassium levels.

High potassium levels developed in only developed in 36 patients (38%) Currently it appears only diabetes mellitus and lower serum bicarbonate levels put a kidney problem individual at greater risk of high potassium levels. Baking soda is a very common substance, crystalline in structure, though commonly found in the supermarkets in powder form. Known formally as sodium bicarbonate, it is an alkaline salt.

It already has many uses such as toothpaste or as mouth wash. It can also be used to clean the kitchen, specifically the stove or the oven and even coffee and tea pots. But baking soda has another use in running and not just for acting as a body or foot deodorant.

Baking soda has the ability to buffer acids produced during physical exertion. The human body functions best when acid levels are at a certain pH, 7.35 to 7.45 in the muscles. When too much begins to build up in the muscles, fatigue begins to set in. But, by ingesting a little baking soda, you can reduce this affect and increase your performance of your workout.

Studies show the best dosages of baking soda were 0.3 to 0.4 g per kilogram of body mass in short term exercise studies. Baking soda also has some uses for those with bad kidney function. It makes the blood less acidic, which is shown to slow the progression of kidney issue. Though people with healthy kidneys should not be consuming it.

Additionally, it is shown to lessen muscle weakness, slow the rate of decline in creatinine clearance, and help in nutrition. Also, when kidney problem individuals consume baking soda, it can help decrease hypertension. Baking soda can help slow the decline of glomerular filtration rate (GFR). This measures the rate of filtration through the glomerulus, a part of the kidney. Even when a patient is doing everything they can to control hypertension, which is a symptom of a serious kidney issue, GFR can still drop. For more of the latest information on kidney problem studies and natural treatments, be sure to subscribe to our newsletter