Fruits & Vegetables Promote Kidney Health

In patients with kidney disease, the Western diet produces an acidic environment in the body that has numerous negative effects and worsens with age as kidney function declines. Nimirit Goraya, from Texas A&M College of Medicine (Texas, USA), and colleagues assessed whether consuming a diet high in fruits and vegetables that counteract this acidity might improve the kidney health. They enrolled 40 subjects with moderately reduced kidney function resultant from high blood pressure (hypertension). The team reported that 30 days of this diet reduced urine excretion of three indicators of kidney injury: albumin, transforming growth factor, and N-acetyl-beta-D-glucosaminidase. The researchers comment that: These preliminary studies support the need for larger long-term studies to determine if this simple and relatively inexpensive intervention helps reduce the risk of subsequent worsening of kidney function in patients with hypertension-associated kidney disease.”