Kidneys are a powerhouse. They are small bean shaped organs that have a very important role to play in regulating numerous functions in the body.
These small organs are a powerhouse and they are not only responsible for taking out the waste product from the body but are also in charge of releasing hormones that regulate and affect blood pressure. Most importantly the kidneys balance the fluids very well and also produce urine.
However, The kidneys can be damaged in a number of ways.
- High blood pressure and diabetes are very common for a kidney disease. Uncontrolled high blood pressure and blood sugar is very dangerous because it can damage the kidney and the blood vessels that regulate it.
- Obesity, genetics, smoking, age and gender can also out you at an increased risk.
- When the kidneys stop functioning properly waste products start accumulating in the blood. This also includes waste and toxins from food consumed, that should have been flushed out.
Therefore, when someone has a kidney problem, it’s very important for them to follow a proper diet.
The following foods need to be limited to an extent:
- Sodium: This ingredient is found in a number of food items and is a significant component of table salt. When you have a damaged kidney, filtering out excess sodium can be a bit of a problem. Excessive sodium can cause blood levels to rise which in turn affects the kidney. This is why the acceptable sodium limit is around 2,000 mg per day.
- Potassium: This ingredient plays a very important role for regulating the body, however if you have a kidney disease, it is best if you limit your consumption of potassium. It is important that you limit potassium to 2,000 mg per day as well.
- Phosphorus: A damaged kidney cannot remove an excess of phosphorus from the body, which in turn damages it severely. The amount of phosphorus should be limited from 800-1000 mg every day. A lot of foods have a high phosphorus content, which is why everything you eat should be monitored.
- Protein: Protein is again a nutrient which needs to be limited because waste products coming from protein cannot be combated by kidneys that are damaged. But people who undergo dialysis (treatment for filtering and cleaning blood) have more protein needs.
Sometimes a person needs surgical operation to get the kidney problem fixed. Here is when a nephrectomy is recommended. The cost of nephrectomy treatment in india is substantial but the doctors are very good. Nephrectomy is a surgical procedure to remove the entire kidney or just a part of it. When the entire kidney is removed it is called radical nephrectomy. Here, the surgeon removes one kidney along with a part of the tube that connects the bladder to the kidney and other structures around it like the lymph nodes and the adrenal gland.
Partial nephrectomy is a surgery, also known as the kidney sparing surgery. The surgeon only removes a diseased/problematic tissue from the kidney and leaves the rest of it as it was.
