Kidney Disease and Therapeutic Nutrition

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Kidney Disease and Therapeutic Nutrition

 

Kidney diseases kill 60,000 Americans a year and

afflict at least 8 million more. Dialysis and

transplants are expensive, costing taxpayers over 2

billion dollars annually. To that, add the emotional

and physical costs in pain.

 

How Do Your Kidneys Work?

The answer is, constantly! 24 hours a day, your two

kidneys filter your blood somewhat like an aquarium

filter filters the water in a fish tank. The

functional unit of the kidney is the NEPHRON, a tissue

unit that not only filters, but also recycles and

excretes. The nephron filters blood (except red blood

cells and protein); maintains the body's acid-base ion

balance; recycles needed substances (water, minerals);

and excretes wastes in a concentrated urine. In a

manner of speaking, urine is filtered blood, or more

exactly, blood is filtered urine.

 

Kidney Diseases and Problems:

Inflammation and Infection

The role of massive doses of vitamin C is profound in

this case, providing prevention and treatment at

saturation levels. Since vitamin C is filtered and

" wasted " through the kidneys, its is a virtually

custom-made therapy.

 

Degeneration (resulting from inflammation, etc.)

A chronic excess of dietary protein almost certainly

taxes the kidneys and leads to gradual degeneration.

(Williams, SR Nutrition and Diet Therapy, page 856,

" The Aging Western Kidney " ). Vegetarianism is a

virtually automatic solution to our nation-wide

pattern of protein abuse. Protein restriction is

generally considered to be an important treatment for

progressed glomerulonephritis. Reducing protein

intake is obviously an ideal way to PREVENT a

protein-breakdown induced nitrogenous overload in the

first place.

 

Increasing carbohydrates is recommended.

“Carbohydrates should be given liberally. This will

also reduce the catabolism of proteins and prevent ...

ketosis. " (Williams) Again, a regular vegetarian

diet, which is high in complex carbohydrates, will

assure just this.

 

Nephrotic Syndrome (swelling and protein in the urine)

This condition results from tissue damage and impaired

nephron function. Its association with collagen

diseases (rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, etc.) is hardly

accidental, for chronic deficiencies of vitamin C (and

vitamin C’s helpers, the bioflavinoids) cause the very

event described by Williams on page 851: " The primary

degenerative lesion is in the capillary basement

membrane of the glomerulus which permits the escape of

large amounts of protein into the filtrate. " This is

because capillaries, those tiniest and most numerous

of all the blood vessels, get leaky in the absence of

ample vitamin C. Easily-bleeding gums are a visible

example of this, but easily-leaking glomeruli (part of

the nephron) are a greater, hidden, but similar

problem.

 

Acute Renal (Kidney) Failure

Early successful management of infectious disease

greatly reduces the likelihood of renal failure.

Saturation with vitamin C is very effective,

broad-spectrum treatment for infectious diseases

(Klenner, Stone, Pauling. Cathcart). Vitamin C does

not cause kidney problems; it prevents them. For

example, vitamin C stops the formation or oxalate

stones, and actually dissolves phosphate and struvite

kidney stones (see below). If kidney failure is

suspected, see your doctor early in the game, and

insist that vitamin C therapy is employed. Even

conventional food-groups nutrition texts (correctly)

mention the need for supplemental vitamin C and the

B-complex for kidney tissue healing. Just up the doses

if you want best results.

 

In early renal failure, no protein should be given.

Vegetable juice fasting may work well here. If

liquids are restricted, put the vegetables through a

blender and eat as a salad puree. It tastes better

than it sounds.

 

HOW TO MAKE A BLENDED SALAD according to Dr.

Christopher Gian-Cursio, who was a New York

City-based, circut-riding naturopath for over 50

years. I met Dr. Gian-Cursio some twenty years ago.

Here’s his recipe:

 

1 each small tomato, red or green pepper

1/2 small cucumber

juice of 1/2 lemon or lime

5-6 leaves romaine lettuce

3-4 stalks fresh fennel or celery

Place cut up pieces of tomato, pepper and cucumber

along with lemon juice into blender. Blend until

smooth and liquid. Add romaine leaves one at a time.

Add celery or fennel; blend additional 2-3 minutes.

(The consistency depends upon personal taste; some

like it smooth and watery, others thick and crunchy.)

 

I will add that you should eat your blended

immediately. Fresh, wholesome food does not “keep,”

and crushed raw food does not keep at all.

 

Chronic Renal Failure

Continued deterioration means loss of vital kidney

participation in the activation of vitamin D-1. The

result can be osteodystrophy (loss of calcium from

bone or poor bone formation in childhood).

Supplementation with vitamin D and calcium are

therefore required.

 

Amino acid supplements have shown promise in treating

chronic renal failure, when coupled with a greatly

curtailed amount of dietary protein of only 20 to

25g/day. As an advocate of vegetable juice fasting, I

personally think the protein restriction may have done

as much as the amino acid supplementation. Why?

Because typical hospital “protein restricted diets”

provide 40g/day of protein!

 

Consider this: the typical American eats over 100g,

and frequently exceeds 120g of protein daily, which is

WAY too much. So a so-called “restriction” to 40 g/day

is simply a correction. Most of the world’s peoples

would be pleased as punch to be able to eat 40g/day of

protein. But we happily chow down three times that ,

call it normal… and then line up for dialysis.

 

Dialysis

The cost of too much meat may ultimately be over

$10,000 per year for dialysis at home... or more than

$35,000 per year at a dialysis center. And these are

1990 prices.

 

During dialysis, the water soluble vitamins (B-complex

and C) are lost from the blood. Supplementation is

ESSENTIAL and must be both high-potency and FREQUENT.

 

Obstruction: Renal Calculi (stones)

There are five types of kidney stones:

 

1. Calcium phosphate stones are common and easily

dissolve in urine acidified by Vitamin C.

 

2. Calcium oxalate stones are also common but they do

not dissolve in acid urine.

 

3. Magnesium ammonium phosphate (struvite stones) are

much less common, often appearing after an

infection. They dissolve in vitamin C acidified

urine.

 

4. Uric acid stones result from a problem

metabolizing purines (the chemical base of adenine,

xanthine, theobromine [in chocolate] and uric acid).

They may form in a condition such as gout.

 

5. Cystine stones result from a hereditary inability

to reabsorb cystine. Most children's stones are this

type, and these are rare.

 

The Role of Vitamin C in Preventing and Dissolving

Kidney Stones:

The very common calcium phosphate stone can only exist

in a urinary tract that is not acidic. Ascorbic acid

(vitamin C's most common form) acidifies the urine,

thereby dissolving phosphate stones and preventing

their formation.

 

Acidic urine will also dissolve magnesium ammonium

phosphate stones, which would otherwise require

surgical removal. These are the same struvite stones

associated with urinary tract infections. Both the

infection and the stone are easily cured with vitamin

C in large doses. BOTH are virtually 100% preventable

with daily consumption of much-greater-than-RDA

amounts of ascorbic acid. Think grams, not

milligrams! A gorilla gets about 4,000 mg of vitamin

C a day in its natural diet. The US RDA for humans is

only 60 mg. Someone is wrong, and I don't think it's

the gorillas.

 

The common calcium oxalate stone can form in an acidic

urine whether one takes vitamin C or not. However, if

a person gets adequate quantities of B-complex

vitamins and magnesium, this type of stone does not

form. Any common B-complex supplement twice daily,

plus about 400 milligrams of magnesium, is usually

adequate.

 

Ascorbate (the active ion in vitamin C) does increase

the body's production of oxalate. Yet, in practice,

vitamin C does not increase oxalate stone formation.

Drs. Emanuel Cheraskin, Marshall Ringsdorf, Jr. and

Emily Sisley explain in The Vitamin C Connection

(1983) that acidic urine or slightly acidic urine

reduces the UNION of calcium and oxalate, reducing the

possibility of stones. " Vitamin C in the urine tends

to bind calcium and decrease its free form. This

means less chance of calcium's separating out as

calcium oxalate (stones). " (page 213) Also, the

diuretic effect of vitamin C reduces the static

conditions necessary for stone formation in general.

Fast moving rivers deposit little silt.

 

Furthermore, you can avoid excessive oxalates by not

eating (much) rhubarb, spinach, or chocolate. If a

doctor thinks that a person is especially prone to

forming oxalate stones, that person should read the

suggestions below before abandoning the benefits of

vitamin C.

 

Ways for ANYONE to reduce the risk of kidney stones:

1. Maximize fluid intake. Especially drink fruit

and vegetable juices. Orange, grape and carrot

juices are high in citrates which inhibit both a build

up of uric acid and also stop calcium salts from

forming. (Carper, J. " Orange Juice May Prevent Kidney

Stones, " Lancaster Intelligencer-Journal, Jan 5, 1994)

 

 

2. Control urine pH: acidic urine helps prevent

urinary tract infections, dissolves both phosphate

and struvite stones, and will not cause oxalate

stones.

 

3. Eat your veggies: studies have shown that dietary

oxalate is generally not a significant factor in

stone formation. I would go easy on rhubarb and

spinach, however.

 

4. Most kidney stones are compounds of calcium and

most Americans are calcium deficient. Instead of

lowering calcium intake, reduce excess dietary

phosphorous by avoiding carbonated soft drinks,

especially colas. Soft drinks contain excessive

quantities of phosphorous as phosphoric acid. This is

the same acid that has been used by dentists to etch

tooth enamel before applying sealant.

 

Remember that Americans get only about 500 mg of

dietary calcium daily, and the RDA is 800 to 1200

mg/day. Any nutritionist, doctor or text suggesting

calcium reduction is in serious error.

 

5. Take a magnesium supplement of AT LEAST the US

RDA of 300-350 mg/day (more may be desirable in

order to maintain an ideal 1:2 balance of magnesium to

calcium)

 

6. Be certain to take a good B-complex vitamin

supplement daily, which contains pyridoxine (Vitamin

B-6). B-6 deficiency produces kidney stones in

experimental animals. Remember:

 

* B-6 deficiency is very common in humans

 

* B-1 (thiamine) deficiency also is associated with

stones (Hagler and Herman, " Oxalate Metabolism, II "

American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 26:8, 882-889,

August, 1973)

 

7. Additionally, low calcium may itself CAUSE

calcium stones (L. H. Smith, et al, " Medical

Evaluation of Urolithiasis " Urological Clinics of

North America 1:2, 241-260, June 1974)

 

8. For uric acid/purine stones (gout), STOP EATING

MEAT! Nutrition tables and textbooks indicate meats

as the major dietary purine source. Naturopathic

treatment adds juice fasts and eating sour cherries.

Increased Vitamin C consumption helps by improving

the urinary excretion of uric acid. (Cheraskin, et al,

1983). Use buffered ascorbate " C " .

 

9. Persons with cystine stones (only 1% of all

kidney stones) should follow a low methionine diet

and use buffered C.

 

10. Kidney stones are associated with high sugar

intake, so eat less (or no) added sugar (J. A. Thom,

et al " The Influence of Refined Carbohydrate on

Urinary Calcium Excretion, " British Journal of

Urology, 50:7, 459-464, December, 1978)

 

11. Infections can cause conditions that favor stone

formation, such as overly concentrated urine (from

fever sweating, vomiting or diarrhea). Practice good

preventive health care, and it will pay you back with

interest.

 

REFERENCES:

Cheraskin, Ringsdorf Jr., and Sisley: The Vitamin C

Connection, Harper and Row, 1983

 

Pauling, Linus " Are Kidney Stones Associated with

Vitamin C Intake? " Today's Living, September, 1981

 

Pauling, Linus " Crystals in the Kidney, " Linus

Pauling Institute Newsletter, 1:11, Spring, 1981

 

Pauling, Linus How to Live Longer and Feel Better,

Freeman, 1986

 

Williams, S. R. Nutrition and Diet Therapy, 6th ed.

Chapter 28

 

(From the books FIRE YOUR DOCTOR and PAPERBACK CLINIC,

copyright C 2001 and prior years Andrew W. Saul.

Available from Dr. Andrew Saul, Number 8 Van Buren

Street, Holley, New York 14470. (716) 638-5357)