Prevention of Kidney Disease May Start with a Healthy Diet

According to an analysis published in the upcoming issue ofCJASN, maintaining a healthy diet may help prevent chronic kidney disease (CKD). As dietary changes can help slow the progression of the disease to form, it is still not clear if a healthier diet can protect against the development of the disease.

The analysis, ran by Jaimon Kelly, PhD, Katrina Bach, and their colleagues, included 18 studies with a total of 630,108 participants. Each participant was followed for an average of 10 years and were monitored for a healthy dietary pattern, consisting of high vegetable, fruit, nut, and whole grain intake.

This dietary pattern was associated with a 30% lower incidence of CKD and a 23% lower incidence of albuminuria, which is an early indicator of kidney damage.

Healthy dietary patterns, such as the Mediterranean diet or DASH diet, have potential benefits to preventing chronic conditions, such as type 2 diabetes, cognitive decline, and cancer, according to Dr.Kelly. "These results may assist in developing public health prevention programs for CKD, which may assist in reducing the burden of the disease,” he said in a prepared statement.

Dr. Kelly also noted that dietary approaches to kidney health that target individual or multiple nutrients can be difficult, but focusing on whole foods rather than nutrients can make it easier for clinicians to educate patients and easier for patients to carry out.

Reference

A healthy diet may help prevent kidney disease.Science Dailywebsite. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/09/190924175716.htm. Published September 24, 2019. Accessed September 25, 2019.