Podcast: Keep Your Kidneys Healthy

We can’t live without this special filter system for our body. This episode features audio from:
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[thomaspatterson]

Lentils have become one of my favorite foods! That’s saying something for meat eater. Trying to go completely plant based. I have lost 52pounds going plant based.

[elliottwhitticar]

I was diagnosed with stage 3 CKD a few years ago. At my 2022 appointment with my kidney doctor, he confided that his his assistant had left because she was frustrated that most patients' health continued to decline despite the doctor's best efforts to guide and monitor their condition.

Since that time I cut out beer, pie and pastries, and ate more plant based, whole food meals, like oatmeal with flax, chia, nuts and fruit for breakfast, and something like bean burritos with guacamole for lunch. My bodyfat dropped from about 25% to 15%. At this year's appointment, my doctor said my kidney function had improved to stage 2, and if I kept it up I would no longer need to see him. My PSA also improved. So now I am eager to cut the remaining animal proteins to see if I can keep getting healthier.

Thanks for providing hope and guidance to those of us who feared that chronic disease was not reversible!

[paulmaxwell]

Very interesting! I live in cattle country and an alarming number of my rancher friends have kidney disease. One had a kidney removed due to cancer.

[monicadelarosa]

We were able to reverse my son’s minimal change kidney disorder by taking out dairy.

[romanb]

I was diagnosed with Stage 3A CKD with a GFR of 45. Started eating WFPB SOS-free. The last ten months I’ve lost 70lbs. I’m off 3 of my 4 BP meds and I’m halfing the dose of my last med. My GFR has improved to 77 and no longer considered to have CKD by my doctor. If you have CKD, I highly recommend trying the whole food plant based approach to kidney health.

[rozchristopherson]

My mother’s friend was diabetic. She loved to cook and was always cooking big meals for her family during holidays. Every holiday, she would cook ham, roast beef, mac and cheese, potato salad, chicken, etc. And about a week later she’d land in the hospital. Even in the hospital she had her family sneaking in hoagies and hamburgers and fries, etc. although she was not supposed to be eating that kind of food in the hospital but was on a strict diet there. Eventually she began to go into kidney failure and had to go on dialysis. By this time she was eating only white rice and vegetables and a little fish. To feel better, she stopped eating fish and just ate rice and vegetables. But by this time, too much damage had been done to her kidneys. Various diabetic complications started happening and she had to have her leg amputated. Within a few years after that, she passed away.

[juliedesnick]

I just found out that I have CCKD. I have been plant-based for decades. I think I got it from taking omeprazole for years. I needed omeprazole because I took Paxil years ago and it gave me terrible GERD. I am off omeprazole and trying out better alternatives like exercises, which I never knew about.

[johnmarano]

YOU SAVED MY LIFE !! Thank you my kidneys # s were 14 and now up to 47 gfr since plant 🌱 based diet and all my doctors never even gave a choice to try this diet.. straight to pills 💊 i wish i knew at a way younger age !! AND YOUR BOOK IS A1 🌱❤️❤️❤️

[JosephNJ]

Off topic, read this today, search: *A Third of Chocolate Products Are High in Heavy Metals, CR's Tests Find* Many of us here use unsweetened cocoa powder daily. I wonder how much of a concern these heavy metals are, and at what level is it unsafe. Also, because this report is not new, where's our FDA on this?

[michelel]

As always, very interesting and inspiring! Thank you so much!

[rbp]

recently did a lab test. my urine Ph was 8, healthy range marked by the lab 5-8. So it is the most alkaline possible within the healthy range

[janefreeman]

I just finished reading the book Breath by Nestor and started the often gentle and slow nasal breathing practises. I have a healthy lifestyle.... Low oil Vegan for a decade, properly supplement, excercise daily. Even tho I've had very consistent normal blood pressure, since starting these breathing exercises my resting heart rate has gone down by 10, so even better. My BMs have never been such a perfectly formed works of art! The breathing is the only real difference in my life. I definitely feel clearer and more content. I haven't seen any real info on breathing related to digestion / intestinal tract.

[chadz]

I do think eating plants and whole foods is the best diet, meat included. But every example he gives of someone improving their health from eating more plant based also has a huge drop in bodyweight. Is there any evidence health markers improve if there is no weight loss?

[Edaryion]

Hi Dr. Michael Greger. I would really appreciate it if you made a video on green peas (grašak)? I can not find any valid information or tests which confirm it is healthy, or unhealthy, or what it does to the body. Maybe I just do not know where to look, but I would feel a lot more confident if I got the information from you. It is a common legume in Vojvodina. (Voyvodina).

[mikemaldanado]

** EDIT i would like to apologize to dr greger as there seems to be only one or two videos that question his scientific acumen. Only reason i thought this was bigger than it was is when i would recommend dr greger on other videos and there would always be a person claiming that dr greger omits important points, overstastes how good the WFP diet is, but who knows who these people were and what their agenda was. All i know is that following dr . gregers's advice help me lpst 40lbs, lowere my cholesterol, reduce my bp, and make my life better in all sorts of ways.

Dr. Greger I have the upmost respect for you and this channel is by far the best on the vegan diet and it's benefits. Lately though i have seen videos from other doctors critisizing you for omitting certain information to make the vegan diet sound better than it is. It's quite possible these other doctors are wrong or you may be omitting certain non essentail info to keep the video length down but it would be greatly appreciated if you could post a response to some of these videos.

[richmorg]

Anthony William the medical spirit of compassion has the truth of all nutrition

[virginialoebach]

I'm curious if starting my day with 2 T. ACV added to 20 oz. warm water is NOT A GOOD IDEA? I'm doing Mastering Diabetes Food Program ( 1 yr. of counseling)

[hawathuts]

What about protien from Spirulina and Chlorella, are they good for protien leaking kidney?

[GaiaCarney]

Thanks for creating & sharing this, Dr. Greger 🍐

[pmw]

Have been whole-food vegan for about a year, but I am thinking of adding-in some oily fish a couple of times a week. Although I take B12 and omega 3 algae capsules, I would prefer to get these nutrients from a natural dietary source.

I eat walnuts and a little flax, chia and hemp, but I hear that, because these sources do not provide preformed omega 3, they might not be as effective as fish.