I’m writing from my experience with kidney problems even though I certainly am not an expert. I want to share our struggles and solutions as a spring board for those seeking ideas. We have addressed all of our issues with a doctor but I have found that I’ve been able to greatly contribute to our healing simply by researching, implementing diet changes, and adding supplements that were okayed by him as well.
Our first red flag for kidney problems became obvious years ago from an Organic Acids Test, commonly referred to as an OATs test or an OAT. Information gleaned from the test includes: intestinal microbial overgrowth (yeast, fungal, bacterial); metabolic markers such as: oxalate, glycoltyic cycle, Krebs cycle, neurotransmitter, detox, and folate. The test rates ketones and fatty acid oxidation, important nutritional markers, amino acid and bone metabolites, and measures creatinine. Results come back with a complimentary interpretation by Great Plains Laboratory; however, you will definitely want a functional doctor to interpret the results. Functional doctors operate in reference ranges that detect problems long before a conventional doctor which means easy fixes are still within reach. Several OATs might need to be performed to get a good picture of the processes happening inside. None-the-less, even one OAT is still a comprehensive diagnostic tool that a doctor can use alongside other tests and observations to piece together an otherwise complicated health puzzle to make good judgement calls.
We always learned many things from our OAT tests, but the issue I want to focus on is the kidneys. A marker for kidney problems is the Oxalic acid (oxalate) marker from the test. Ours was typically high unless a low/no oxalate diet was implemented. And with regular OAT testing, we could see the positive results of using a low/no ox diet – that marker would reduce in number. I wrote about Oxalates in a post here if interested.
Despite a low ox diet we recently have another kidney issue which is inflammation. It is not in both kidneys, just the right one. It seems to not be viral or bacterial but irritated. I am assuming minerals may be irritating it but I do not know why the right one is irritated while the left one is fine. Either way, I have applied some suggestions from our doctor as well as from my own research and the relief is obvious and remarkable so far.
Zero Water Filter – Filtering out TDS (total dissolved solids) using a water filter removes a big source of potential kidney problems. The Zero Water system is the only counter/pitcher filter that also filters out glyphosate. This filter is affordable (unless your TDS value is incredibly high, then you might want to look into a whole house system.) Since the kidneys filter out minerals (TDS) in their filters (called glomeruli) they can get coated in material and not filter very well (kind of like all filters – they get dirty.) It is important that our water sources be free of Total Dissolved Solids (and glyphosate.)
Reducing Potassium – This means cutting out or reducing portions of salt, bananas, nuts, seeds, white rice, red meat and other foods that are high in potassium. I completely cut them out because the whole kidney thing is making me nervous and I wanted pain relief. Now.
Cranberry Juice – I added cranberry juice as a medicine, so we are taking 1/4 cup several times/day. Cranberry juice can kill viral and bacterial infections that may be present and reduce inflammation. It is also one of the few berries that are low oxalate. Some urinary problems are worsened by cranberry, so you want to play close attention to any adverse side effects.
Watermelon – A large watermelon per day is helping us flush the system and it also has healing qualities specific for the kidneys.
Huang Bai Tea – This kind of tea is phellodendron (not to be confused with the plant with a close but different spelling) which contains berberine, known to be good for the kidneys.
Recovery – A supplement obtained through our doctor.
Narayani Kidney 4C – This is a homeopathic you would need to obtain from a homeopath when it is clear you have a need for it. If you need a homeopathic intake you can contact me at New Leaf Holistic.
Berberine Vulgaris 200C – Also another homeopathic that is very specific in it’s symptoms but useful for kidney pain and healing.
Chamomilla 200C – This is a homeopathic for pain relief which is often for right sided ailments. But you want to have a homeopath do a actual intake for your chronic case. If you are looking for one, you can contact me at New Leaf Holistic.
Calcium – for absorption of oxalates so they can be removed from the body in other ways besides the urinary tract, which is painful given the pointy, burr-like formation of oxalates. I have actually found that Oat Milk provides a good deal of calcium with little/no oxalates. You could also take a Calcium chew, for example, however, the body prefers food for it’s vitamins and minerals.
I was only thinking about oxalates for kidney problems, but in our case, I see potassium may be an issue too. I wanted to write about that in case there were others who may have missed this important part of the puzzle, like I did. Healthy kidneys will help us detox better so we can manage auto-immune disease and kidney pain will flat out bring a person to their knees; no one can function like that. We are doing really well so far and the pain is noticeably reduced already.
The Detox Depot 