Show Your Kidneys Some Love

With March being Nation­al Kid­ney Month, now is the per­fect time to give your kid­neys some love and atten­tion. One of the best ways to do this is through prop­er nutri­tion. Ang­ie Zanger-Geisel­man is the Dial­y­sis Coor­di­na­tor at Quin­cy Med­ical Group (QMG) and a Reg­is­tered Dietit­ian spe­cial­iz­ing in renal health.

Chron­ic kid­ney dis­ease (CKD) affects an esti­mat­ed 37 mil­lion Amer­i­cans, amount­ing to 1 in 7 U.S. adults, and is most com­mon in peo­ple over age 65. CKD caus­es dam­age to the kid­neys and lim­its their abil­i­ty to fil­ter blood, which can lead to kid­ney fail­ure and may neces­si­tate a trans­plant or dial­y­sis. Since peo­ple with ear­ly-stage kid­ney dis­ease usu­al­ly do not expe­ri­ence symp­toms, 9 in 10 adults liv­ing with CKD remain unaware they have the disease.

She has the fol­low­ing tips for you to main­tain your kid­ney health.

Work with a Renal Dietitian.

Whether you are in the ear­li­er stages of kid­ney dis­ease or on dial­y­sis, you will most like­ly part­ner with a renal dietit­ian, like me. Renal dieti­tians are experts in diet and nutri­tion specif­i­cal­ly for peo­ple with kid­ney dis­ease. There is a lot of infor­ma­tion out there about what food is good and bad for your kid­neys. Work­ing with a renal dietit­ian, you will devel­op a per­son­al­ized plan for you to help you be as healthy as possible.

Eat Fruits and Vegetables.

One impor­tant way to care for your kid­neys is to eat more fruits and veg­gies. I rec­om­mend 2 – 3 serv­ings of fruit and at least 3 serv­ings of veg­eta­bles each day. They’re full of fiber, vit­a­mins, and min­er­als. Stud­ies show with that a low intake of fruits and veg­eta­bles increas­es the risk of devel­op­ing kid­ney failure.

There’s no ​“I” in team.

Your health is an ongo­ing pur­suit. Man­ag­ing CKD is a life-long jour­ney. Along the way, you will have a team to help you be healthy and hap­py. To live your best qual­i­ty of life, it’s impor­tant that you be an active mem­ber of your team. This includes know­ing and under­stand­ing your labs and med­ica­tion; part­ner­ing with your physi­cian on your treat­ment and dis­cussing your health goals; ask­ing for addi­tion­al help, if need­ed, from oth­er health­care part­ners, includ­ing a dietit­ian or social work­er; and ask­ing ques­tions to ensure you under­stand your diag­no­sis and treat­ment plan.

Get mov­ing.

Exer­cise is an impor­tant part of your health jour­ney. Reg­u­lar activ­i­ty not only helps your phys­i­cal health but your men­tal health too. The Kid­ney Dis­ease Improv­ing Glob­al Out­comes (KDI­GO) guide­lines rec­om­mend that peo­ple with CKD under­take phys­i­cal activ­i­ty com­pat­i­ble with car­dio­vas­cu­lar health and tol­er­ance and aim for at least 30 min­utes 5 times per week. Move­ment mat­ters for sev­er­al aspects of your health and can lead to low­er blood pres­sure, bet­ter blood sug­ar man­age­ment, a decrease in car­dio­vas­cu­lar risk, improved bal­ance and strength, and improved well-being and men­tal health.

Mind­set matters.

A diag­no­sis of chron­ic kid­ney dis­ease can be dif­fi­cult to come to terms with, but it’s a chal­lenge you don’t have to face alone. Our team at QMG is here to sup­port you. You will face both ups and downs, but your mind­set plays a vital role in your health. Your health is a jour­ney. Cel­e­brate the wins and the progress you make with your health.

For more infor­ma­tion on our Nephrol­o­gy team and ser­vices, vis­it quin​cymed​group​.com.