THE holidays over the Holy Week are coming up soon. We all get a few days off our daily schedule to reflect and recharge. In November last year, I shared my learning from Prevention’s The Guide to Aging Slower: Your Body’s Complete Owner’s Manual.
Recently, I learned that chronic kidney disease, or CKD, is one of the leading causes of death in the Philippines. According to the National Kidney Transplant Institute (NKTI), one Filipino develops chronic renal failure every hour, and it is estimated to be at least 2.3 million Filipinos currently diagnosed with CKD. Meanwhile, other recent projections show that one in 10 Filipinos will develop this deadly disease.
CKD is a condition where the kidney’s functions have gradually decreased over a period of time, and it can no longer filter blood as properly as before. As a result, excess waste and fluid remains in the body and causes other health problems such as heart disease and stroke.
“The problem with this is that it has no early signs. Symptoms will only show when your kidneys have deteriorated already,” shares Dr. Greta Cortez, head of medicine, Boehringer Ingelheim (Philippines) Inc. “Fortunately, there are a number of ways we can keep our kidneys healthy and prevent CKD such as early screening, lifestyle checks, and understanding your family’s medical history.”
There is a simple two-step screening process to check kidney health. First is the estimated glomerular filtration rate (eFGR), a blood test that measures the waste called creatinine in your blood; second is the urine albumin-creatinine ratio (uACR) test that uses a urine sample to measure albumin, or protein level present in your urine. The two primary conditions that often lead to CKD are diabetes and hypertension. Lifestyle factors such as age, smoking, family history of CKD, and obesity also put individuals at risk of CKD. Unhealthy lifestyles are also considered because they might cause you to eat foods high in sugar and sodium, be exposed to constant stress, or keep you from moving your body.
Keeping our kidneys healthy means keeping our whole body healthy. It is highly recommended to make sure you’re getting enough exercise every day even if it’s just walking. Eat foods less in sugar and salt and eat more fruits and vegetables. Remember to incorporate healthy stress management habits into your lifestyle such as regular exercise, a healthy diet, and getting enough sleep to prevent high blood pressure or diabetes. If you start incorporating these healthy habits in your daily life, CKD can be the least of your worries.
“Cultivating a healthy lifestyle within your community is key to maintaining them. We can hold each other accountable,” shares Reynaldo Abacan Jr., founder and president of Dialysis PH, a support organization for renal failure patients and their families. “We encourage everyone to check their kidney health as chronic kidney disease is a lifelong condition that affects the quality of life, not just of the patient but of their loved ones as well.”
Remember, getting your kidneys checked is the most straightforward way to find out if your kidneys are healthy. Reach out to your doctor as soon as possible and make sure your loved ones do too.
According to the resource I mentioned above from Prevention, although high-protein diets have become popular for weight loss, this has a negative effect on our body. It states that research suggests that a super-high protein diet can boost your risk of developing kidney disease or stones. Animal protein produces an acidic environment in the body, increasing the formation of kidney stones and leeching calcium from bones, says Brill. “Plant proteins don’t have the same effect,” she says. Try to eat lots of fruits and vegetables because they’re high in potassium, which helps protect against kidney stones.
Below are other tips from the same resource to prevent kidney stones:
Drink plenty of water. These hard deposits are typically made up of calcium, oxalate, and other minerals that are absorbed from food and excreted through your urine. When urine gets too concentrated because you are dehydrated, those minerals can crystallize to form these painful pebbles. Make a point to drink six to eight 8-ounce glasses of water every day to help keep your urine diluted.
Get moving. Light exercise can cut your risk by more than 33 percent, according to a study in the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology. Three hours a week spent walking or one hour jogging changes how your body handles dietary minerals in ways that lower your chances of developing a stone.
Amp up your calcium intake. Because kidney stones usually form from calcium, doctors used to think that avoiding this mineral could prevent them. Now they know dietary calcium may actually help protect against stones by binding with oxalate in the intestines and preventing it from reaching the kidneys.
Go easy on the protein. Experts say too much dietary protein can create an ideal environment for kidney stones to flourish.
Image credits: Dan Gold on Unsplash