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5 Expert-Recommended Practices for Stronger Kidney Health
Protecting the health of your kidneys can prevent kidney disease and ensure optimal kidney function. What does it take to maintain strong kidneys? A healthy lifestyle.
As experts in kidney health, Dr. Deon Middlebrook and the team at his practice, Deon D. Middlebrook MDPC, support you every step of the way.
They create personalized lifestyle plans that promote healthy kidneys and prevent kidney disease. You can also depend on them for exceptional treatment should kidney disease develop.
Prevent or manage chronic diseases
You can prevent most chronic (life-long) diseases. After they develop, they can’t be cured. However, you can stop them from progressing to cause life-threatening complications with lifestyle changes and medication management.
Why is this so important for healthy kidneys? Because two chronic diseases, diabetes and high blood pressure (hypertension), cause two out of every three cases of kidney disease.
Preventing hypertension and type 2 diabetes helps you prevent kidney disease. Likewise, controlling these conditions after they develop also stops kidney disease from getting worse.
The recommendations for supporting strong kidneys also help prevent or treat hypertension and type 2 diabetes.
Five steps to stronger kidney health
Follow the recommendations below to keep your kidneys healthy.
1. Eat a healthy diet
A healthy diet is the best way to prevent diabetes, hypertension, and kidney disease. The top recommendations include:
- Avoiding or limiting salt (salt boosts blood pressure and stresses your kidneys)
- Limiting carbohydrates that spike blood sugar (white bread and rice, sweets, and beverages containing sugar and high fructose corn syrup)
- Consuming a moderate amount of protein
- Following a diet of whole fruits, vegetables, beans, whole grains, nuts, fish, eggs, and lean meats
If you have chronic kidney disease, we teach about the vitamins and minerals you need to increase and those you should limit.
2. Get regular exercise
Exercise lowers blood sugar and blood pressure and helps you lose weight. Getting enough exercise improves cardiovascular health and prevents blood vessel disease, a condition that contributes to and worsens kidney disease.
Aim to exercise at least 30 minutes for a minimum of three days weekly. If you don’t already exercise, take it slow and build up gradually.
Talk with us before starting an exercise routine because excessive or intensive exercise may not be best for people with kidney disease.
3. Maintain a healthy weight
Being overweight or obese is the top risk factor for developing diabetes and hypertension. Excess body weight also dramatically increases your risk of kidney disease and accelerates the loss of kidney function.
Maintaining a healthy weight preserves kidney function, improves your cardiovascular health, and prevents or manages chronic diseases.
How to lose weight sounds simple — limit your calories, exercise, and follow a healthy diet — but losing weight is never easy. We can help if you’re struggling to drop pounds or you want to create a weight management plan.
4. Stop smoking
Smoking damages your blood vessels, accelerates atherosclerosis (arteries blocked by cholesterol plaque), and diminishes blood flow to your kidneys. Without sufficient circulation, the kidneys can’t work properly. Atherosclerosis directly contributes to kidney disease.
Smoking also causes hypertension and makes you 30-40% more likely to develop type 2 diabetes compared to people who don’t smoke. We can recommend smoking cessation programs or medications to help you stop smoking.
5. Monitor medications and supplements
There are two concerns related to medications. The first is taking them as prescribed, and the second is avoiding medications and supplements that may harm your kidneys.
It’s essential to take your medications as prescribed to ensure they’re effective and avoid side effects. That’s true for all medications, but is crucial if you take medicine for high blood pressure, diabetes, or kidney disease.
Some medications and herbal supplements can raise blood pressure and blood sugar, harm your kidneys, or make kidney disease worse.
One example is over-the-counter nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs). Medications like aspirin, ibuprofen (Advil® and Motrin®), and naproxen (Aleve®) can increase blood pressure. Excessive NSAID use harms your kidneys.
Many herbal supplements contain potassium, and excessive potassium is dangerous if you have kidney disease. Other supplements can affect kidney function or cause damage.
The list of potentially dangerous herbal supplements is long. A few examples of those to avoid include astragalus, yohimbe, creatine, and cat’s claw. We can review all your medications and supplements and recommend any changes if needed.
Connect with kidney health experts
Our team at Deon D. Middlebrook MDPC focuses on one thing: promoting kidney health and preventing and treating kidney disease. Request an appointment online or call the office today to get preventive care and kidney treatment.