Stay Away From Pain Relievers:
Somebody may increase the risk of kidney cancer due to overuse of pain relievers such as aspirin, naproxen and acetaminophen. Therefore, if you want to find the natural way on how to treat kidney disease, you should avoid using pain relievers. These drugs and medication will affect your kidney badly and may lead to severe complications. When you experience pain caused by kidney disease, you should try natural remedies instead.
The Best Foods For Kidney Health
Kidneys are small organs located underneath the rib cage, on each side of the spine. They are responsible for filtering waste out of the blood and excreting it out of the body through urine. Kidneys also balance the bodys fluid and electrolyte levels and play a significant role in overall health. Some foods may boost the performance of the kidneys, while others may place stress on them and cause damage. Eating foods rich in certain vitamins and nutrients may help the kidneys function properly and prevent damage to them. However, some foods that generally help support healthy kidneys may not be suitable for people who have an existing kidney disease. Check with your doctor or dietitian if you have an existing condition to find out which foods are best for you.
1. Dark leafy greens
Dark leafy green vegetables such as kale, spinach, chard, and collard greens are loaded with vitamins A and C, calcium, and many other important minerals. Kale also is a significant source of carotenoids, flavonoids, and vitamin K. Spinach is high in vitamins A, C, K, and folate. The beta-carotene found in spinach is important for boosting your immune system and a good source of magnesium. Try replacing that nutritionally challenged iceberg lettuce with some dark leafy greens.
2. Berries
3. Cranberries
4. Sweet potatoes
5. Olive oil
6. Fatty fish
7. Cabbage
Keep Asking Questions Until You Get The Answer You Need
The Medical Experts are all here to answer your questions online or with a phone call.
IV What Are The Symptoms And Signs Of Kidney Failure?
Kidney failure does not have clear signs and symptoms. However, people with kidney failure have a decrease in the ability to function of your kidneys. As a result, your system has difficulty in regulating water, balancing electrolyte, promoting red blood cell production, and clearing waste products from your body.
Other symptoms of kidney failure include weakness, lethargy, shortness of breath, swelling, loss of appetite, metabolic acidosis, congestive heart failure, high blood potassium, and low level of calcium blood. Kidney failure symptoms also are drowsiness, less flow of urine in urination, water retention, headache, physical inactivity, weakness, confusion, chest pain, fatigue, and abdominal pain, or nausea.
However, if not treated soon, the consequences of kidney failure can lead to discomfort and pain in your body parts.
V How To Prevent Kidney Failure?
Kidney failure may lead to serious consequences if not treated soon. Therefore, prevention is better than treatment. You can keep kidney failure and kidney diseases at bay by changing your habits. The first thing on how to prevent kidney failure is to avoid its triggers. Three common triggers of kidney failure are high blood sugar, high cholesterol, and high blood pressure. The high level of blood sugar in your body may damage kidneys.
Recommended Reading: Is Cranberry Juice Good For Your Liver And Kidneys
Best Herbs For The Kidneys
The best herbs for the kidneys are parsley, cilantro, horsetail, burdock, stinging nettle, milk thistle, Gynostemma, and marshmallow root. Burdock root and marshmallow root are natural diuretics that the body flush out excess fluid. This helps to cleanse the urinary system. Burdock root also helps to detoxify the blood and promote circulation. An excellent tea with burdock and nettles can be found here: herbal tea.
Parsley is a powerful superfood with a unique combination of nutrients. It contains the volatile oil compounds myristicin, limonene, eugenol, and alpha-thujene which have been show to inhibit tumor formation and neutralize carcinogens.
Parsley contains flavonoids including apiin, apigenin, crisoeriol, and luteolin. These flavonoids help prevent oxidative damage to cells. Research shows that apigenin has strong anti-cancer properties . Parsley is also an excellent source of vitamin C and a good source of vitamin A.
Milk thistle contains a flavonoid complex called Silymarin which is important for protecting cells against free radical damage and inflammation. Silymarin concentrates in kidney cells where it helps repair and regenerate protein enzymes and DNA.
It can also help protect the kidneys from dangerous drugs, including chemotherapy. Silymarin protects the cell membrane of the kidney cells which allows for healthy cell receptor activity.
Do Not Smoke Or Drink Too Much Alcohol
Try to stop smoking completely and limit the amount of alcohol you drink.
Both men and women are advised not to drink more than 14 units of alcohol a week on a regular basis.
Drinking too much alcohol and smoking both raise your blood pressure. High blood pressure is one of the most common causes of kidney disease.
Read Also: Can Soda Pop Cause Kidney Stones
Know The Signs And Symptoms
Unfortunately, the symptoms of kidney disease arent always noticeable, and 40% of people with severely reduced kidney function are not aware they have CKD. Therefore, its crucial to know whether you might be at risk.
Risk factors of CKD can include the following:
- Age
- Family history of CKD
Peev recommends keeping up with your annual physical exams with your primary care provider, who may order bloodwork or urinalysis tests that can detect kidney disease in its early stages and help slow down its progression.
Drink Plenty Of Fluids
Theres no magic behind the cliché advice to drink eight glasses of water a day, but its a good goal precisely because it encourages you to stay hydrated. Regular, consistent water intake is healthy for your kidneys.
Water helps clear sodium and toxins from your kidneys. It also lowers your risk of chronic kidney disease.
Aim for at least 1.5 to 2 liters in a day. Exactly how much water you need depends largely on your health and lifestyle. Factors like climate, exercise, gender, overall health, and whether or not youre pregnant or breastfeeding are important to consider when planning your daily water intake.
People who have previously had kidney stones should drink a bit more water to help prevent stone deposits in the future.
You May Like: Can You Have 4 Kidneys
Procedures And Low Kidney Function
Diet modification and medications can help delay the progression of chronic kidney disease, especially in the early stages. If the disease progresses, however, other forms of treatment may become necessary.
Other forms of treatment may include:
- Blood transfusions: Hormone and iron supplements are not always enough to manage the symptoms of anemia. In those cases, your doctor may order one or more blood transfusions.
- Dialysis: Dialysis is an artificial method of removing wastes, toxins, and excess fluids from your blood when your kidneys cease to function. There are two types of dialysis: hemodialysis and peritoneal dialysis.
- With hemodialysis, your blood is filtered through a machine to be cleansed of impurities and then returned to your body.
- With peritoneal dialysis, a thin tube is inserted into your abdomen, which you fill with a solution that absorbs wastes and extra fluids. After a specified period of time, the solution is drained, and the wastes are removed.
Be Careful With Alcohol
If youâre healthy, a drink or two isnât likely to hurt your kidneys. But binge drinking can cause sudden, serious damage and possibly lead to long-term problems. And alcohol often can dehydrate you, which can keep your kidneys from working well and lead to weight gain, liver disease, high blood pressure, and other conditions that put more stress on them.
Also Check: Can You Have 4 Kidneys
Exploring Medical Treatment Options
We’re Sorry The Page You’re Looking For Can’t Be Found
It is possible that you used an outdated or expired MedicineNet link or you may have typed the address incorrectly.
Please try searching using the search field above. If you’re not sure of the spelling, type the first few letters, followed by an asterisk.
To help you find what you are looking for, these links may help.
Browse our A-Z Lists:
Don’t Miss: Can Seltzer Water Cause Kidney Stones
Functionality Of The Kidneys
Western physiology and anatomy limits its description of the kidney to the actual organ itself, whereas Chinese medicine sees and defines the kidneys not just as an organ but a group of functions, as well as being the root of energy for the entire body. The emphasis of Chinese physiological theory is more in terms of function rather than form.
In Chinese medicine the Kidney is important as it is the source of the bodys constitutional or inherited energy and is regarded as the organ-meridian system that governs the structural integrity and function not only of the kidneys themselves but also the adrenal glands, ovaries, testes, brain, spinal cord, skeletal structure , teeth, anus, urethra and inner ear. The Kidney system also governs hormones and other substances produced by the kidneys, adrenals and sex glands, as well as reproduction, growth and the faculty of will power.
When To Seek Immediate Medical Attention
UTIs are uncomfortable, but theyre not an immediate medical emergency. Some people make the mistake of assuming the same is true with a kidney infection.
Kidney infections are serious conditions and they do require medical attention. Untreated, a kidney infection can quickly cause long-term kidney damage or kidney scarring. These infections can also cause , which can lead to shock.
Because of this, a kidney infection can be fatal if allowed to progress. Dont take any chances by not having it treated by a medical professional.
Recommended Reading: Is Mulberry Good For Kidneys
Magnesium And Kidney Disease
I wrote a lot about the kidneys in my book Transdermal Magnesium Therapy. As we age, our kidneys lose their efficiency in regulation of magnesium. Magnesium absorption decreases with age. Around the age of 70 it becomes two-thirds of what it usually is at around the age of 30.
The kidneys are dumping from the blood excess nutrients that the body does not need or cannot process in the moment. Magnesium-deficiency studies on the kidneys have shown intraluminal calcareous deposits in the corticomedullary area and damage to the tubular epithelium. Damage to the kidneys from magnesium deficiency creates a negative feedback loop that intensifies magnesium deficits.
Micropuncture studies have shown that most active renal tubular reabsorption of magnesium occurs at sites that are potentially damaged by magnesium deficiencies, meaning these conditions can cause renal tubular magnesium wasting.
When you introduce magnesium into a human body calcium dissolves it becomes more water-soluble. The same thing happens in your bloodstream, heart, brain, kidneys, and all the tissues in your body. If you do not have enough magnesium to help keep calcium dissolved, you may end up with calcium-excess muscle spasms, fibromyalgia, hardening of the arteries, and even dental cavities. Another scenario plays out in the kidneys. If there is too much calcium in the kidneys and not enough magnesium to dissolve it, you can get kidney stones.
Is It Safe To Use Herbal Supplements If I Have Kidney Disease
You may think about using herbal supplements to help with any health concerns you may have, but as a patient with kidney disease, you should use caution with herbal supplements.
Use of herbal supplements is often unsafe if you have kidney disease since some herbal products can cause harm to your kidneys and even make your kidney disease worse. Also, your kidneys cannot clear waste products that can build up in your body.
The herbal supplement market is a multi-million dollar business. You may hear from a friend or family member about an herbal supplement that they think has improved their health or well-being and they suggest it to you. While this advice may be fine for them, it can be dangerous for you with kidney disease.
Don’t Miss: What Std Causes Kidney Pain
How To Improve Kidney Function: Can Natural Remedies Help
This article was co-authored by Zora Degrandpre, ND. Dr. Degrandpre is a Licensed Naturopathic Physician in Vancouver, Washington. She is also a grant reviewer for the National Institutes of Health and the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine. She received her ND from the National College of Natural Medicine in 2007.There are 17 references cited in this article, which can be found at the bottom of the page. This article has been viewed 46,789 times.
Your kidneys are responsible for filtering toxins out of your body, so youll want to keep them healthy and in working order for as long as possible. Luckily, there are many ways to support your kidney health. In general, if you dont have any kidney diseases, then following a healthy dietary and lifestyle routine should maintain your kidney function. If you do have kidney issues, then you should see a doctor before trying any home treatments. The doctor may want you to take some medications or undergo a procedure to support your kidneys. After this, you can try some lifestyle management methods to improve your kidney function on your own.
Control Your Blood Sugar
People with diabetes, or a condition that causes high blood sugar, may develop kidney damage. When your bodys cells cant use the glucose in your blood, your kidneys are forced to work extra hard to filter your blood. Over years of exertion, this can lead to life-threatening damage.
However, if you can control your blood sugar, you reduce the risk of damage. Also, if the damage is caught early, your doctor can take steps to reduce or prevent additional damage.
Don’t Miss: Does Red Wine Cause Kidney Stones
Mutrakrichantak Churna: Helps In Treating Edema In Chronic Kidney Disease/fluid Accumulation
An Ayurvedic product named Mutrakrichantak Churna, which contains herbs like Punarnava, Varuna, Shigru, Apamarg, etc., is beneficial in naturally reviving kidney failure.
It also helps to reduce accompanying fluid accumulation and kidney tissue inflammation. 1 to 2 teaspoons need to be taken twice a day for a week to get the benefits.
How To Diagnose Kidney Disease:
Comparing electrolyte levels in the blood and urine is used to decide whether the kidneys normally monitor and filter the blood.
GFR below 60 mL/min/1.73m2 for three or more months indicates chronic kidney disease.
Read Also: What’s A Kidney
Kidney Damage Treatment Options
There are two levels of healthcare to treat kidney damage, depending on the severity of the kidney damage. In cases where damage is acute, or minimal, its possible to treat the complications of the disease with medication until lifestyle changes can be made.
However, in the case of severe or end-stage kidney damage, the only treatment options are dialysis and kidney transplant.
Before any treatment for kidney damage, we highly recommend talking to your trusted healthcare professional, as they can determine exactly the stage of your kidney damage and the best solution.
Improving Your Kidney Function Can Be Simple
So you see for many, improving kidney function doesnt need to be difficult. In most cases, simply by stepping to the side and getting out of your own way, checking your thoughts, fears, and excuses at the door, you can catalyse massive changes in your health, by simply allowing the healing to take place.
Rubbing Lanterns Wont Help Improve Your Kidney Function, But Heres What Can
Now stay with me I am not saying that that you can cure all by thinking just happy thoughts, wishing, and getting out of the way, no definitely not. There are many practical things you can do every day, with little to no fuss that are very effective in helping increase kidney function. Very helpful indeed.
Note: thinking positive however sure wont hurt, in fact it will go a long way your mindset is the single biggest determining factor on how quickly you heal.
So in tune with todays theme of simplicity, I would like to share with you 10 effortless tips that can be applied immediately to help your kidney function, no need to leave home, and no need to spend a dime.
Recommended Reading: Is Almond Milk Bad For Your Kidneys