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If you\u2019ve ever scanned a food label, you\u2019ve probably seen \u201csodium phosphate\u201d or \u201cphosphoric acid.\u201d<\/p>\nIf you\u2019ve ever scanned a food label, you\u2019ve probably seen \u201csodium phosphate\u201d or \u201cphosphoric acid.\u201d<\/p>\n
These phosphorus-based additives are in everything from soft drinks to processed cheese.<\/p>\n
And according to a new study in the Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology<\/em>, cutting back on them could do big things for your chronic kidney disease (CKD).<\/p>\n Phosphorus is a mineral your body needs.<\/p>\n But the form added to processed foods \u2014 inorganic phosphate \u2014 gets absorbed too quickly into the bloodstream.<\/p>\n That\u2019s especially dangerous for people with CKD, who already struggle to regulate phosphorus.<\/p>\n High phosphorus levels are linked to kidney damage, heart problems, bone weakness, and inflammation.<\/p>\n But until now, scientists weren\u2019t sure how much simply reducing additives could help.<\/p>\n Researchers at the University of Alabama at Birmingham ran an 8-week feeding study to find out.<\/p>\n They followed 50 people: 39 healthy adults and 11 with CKD.<\/p>\n Everyone ate a high-phosphorus-additive diet for two weeks, then switched to the exact same meals \u2014 minus the additives \u2014 for six weeks.<\/p>\n The only difference was the presence of those food additives.<\/p>\n Researchers tracked blood and urine changes, focusing on fibroblast growth factor 23 (FGF23) \u2014 a hormone tied to phosphorus balance, inflammation, and organ damage.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s what they found:<\/em><\/p>\n 2.\tIn CKD patients, FGF23 dropped 25% and parathyroid hormone (PTH) dropped 20%.<\/p>\n 3.\tIn healthy adults, FGF23 dropped 22% \u2014 but only in White participants. The sample size was too small to draw conclusions for others.<\/p>\n 4.\tIn healthy people, PTH stayed the same. But again, CKD patients saw a 20% drop.\n<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n Bottom line: removing phosphorus additives reduces your phosphorus load and lowers harmful hormone levels, helping prevent more kidney and heart damage.<\/p>\n To do this yourself:<\/em><\/p>\n ●\tWhen buying packaged food, scan the label and skip anything with \u201cphosphate\u201d or \u201cphosphoric\u201d listed.\n<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n Your kidneys can recover \u2014 but not from food labels alone.<\/p>\n\n
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