Chronic Kidney Disease Caused By This Common Food

It’s a fact that chronic kidney disease (CKD) is at least partly caused by diet and lifestyle factors.

But doctors struggle to identify what food is the biggest culprit.

A new study in the journal Kidney Medicine reveals a common type of food that’s a serious contributor to CKD, especially for a specific group of people. You need to cut your consumption of this type of food down right now.

The researchers had two aims:

1. They wanted to investigate the effects of different diets on CKD risk and progression.

2. They wanted to see if the link between diet and kidney health changed depending on whether the participants had a gene that put humans at risk of CKD.

Here is what they found.

Approximately 13% of African Americans carry certain risky genetic types known as apolipoprotein L1 (APOL1). However, not all of them will develop CKD, suggesting there might be another factor influencing the disease. The scientists thought it might be diet.

To find out, they followed a group of 5,640 African American participants in the Reasons for Geographic and Racial Differences in Stroke study. They identified five types of diets based on the participants’ food questionnaires: convenience foods, Southern, sweets and fats, plant-based, and alcohol/salads.

They checked for new cases of CKD, worsening CKD, and kidney failure.

New CKD was defined as a decrease in kidney function to below a certain level or development of kidney failure in those with normal kidney function. Worsening CKD was defined as a significant decrease in kidney function or development of kidney failure in those who had blood tests at the start and end of the study.

They then checked for a link between the types of diets and new CKD (4,188 cases), worsening CKD (5,640 cases), and kidney failure (5,640 cases). They also checked whether the link between diet and CKD outcomes changed depending on APOL1 genotypes.

This is what they found.

1. Those who followed a Southern diet and had CKD were 28% more likely to have their CKD worsen, but those who followed a Southern diet and did not have CKD were not more likely to develop new CKD or have kidney failure.

2. No other diets were linked with CKD risk, progression, or kidney failure.

3. Those with the risky APOL1 genotypes and who adhered most closely to the plant or Southern diets had a lower chance of CKD progression than if they adhered to one of the other diets, but this conclusion did not reach statistical significance.

All of this means that a Southern diet was linked with a higher risk of CKD worsening among African American participants, but we cannot draw any conclusions with regard to genetic contributions.

Since it is something you should avoid if you already have chronic kidney disease, it is important to know what the Southern diet is and which foods it includes.

It includes deep-fried foods such as fried chicken and fish, lots of fatty red meat, high-fat dairy products, white bread, biscuits with creamy gravy, deep-fried cornmeal batter formed into small balls (hush puppies), pies, cakes, and cobblers. Even gumbo and jambalaya can be unhealthy if they are made with processed meats.

If your CKD isn’t caused by this diet, what then? Fortunately, thousands of readers have already reversed their CKD using simple lifestyle changes. You can follow their example using the simple steps explained here…