Test results

Did another mini-blood test to see how things are going. I was especially curious as my blood pressure has been fairly low lately (without medication) and so I thought (hoped) that might things were improving in the kidney department.

Unfortunately it was not the case and curiously the results came back with EXACTLY the same numbers as 6 weeks ago:

Serum Creatinine 2.4 mg/dL > (normal: 0.8 - 1.5 mg/dL)

Blood Urea Nitrogen 11 mg/dL (normal: 9 -20 mg/dL)

Although it's disappointing not to see ANY improvement after so many lifestyle changes (diet and less work hours), I have to admit that I do feel much healthier for them and so should feel grateful rather than cheated... on other hand, maybe it means that indulging in some of the pizza I crave from time to time isn't going to make anything worse!

Results so far

This blog was created to chart my progress in trying to cure my chronic kidney disease, in the hope that it may help others. Three months later I really can't report any tangible improvement in my kidney function, however I can say that:

1. It hasn't got worse! And it's current level is perfectly acceptable (Serum creatine 2-2.5)

2. By adjusting my diet my general health and wellness has improved significantly, and my blood pressure has dropped dramatically (from 150/90 to 125/70).

Therefore I definitely recommend experimenting with your diet to see what works for you. For me fasting was a beneficial experience as it brought me in closer contact with my body and made me realize that many of my eating habits were just that: unnecessary habits. The general diet recommendation is:

Less: Salt, Meat, Eggs, Dairy, Wheat and other Grains, Cooked Food.

More: Fresh Fruits, Fresh Vegetables.

The big downside to this diet is the amount of time it takes to prepare and eat the volume of food required to feel satisfied! My solution has been to try and consider food preparation time as a relaxation time and turn it in to meditative experience... even so, many delicous fruits and vegetables go bad in our house because I never get around to preparing them.

I still believe that the ultimate cure (to any health problem) is in being happy, loving yourself and opening yourself up to "universal energy" (or God, or Love, or whatever you like to call it). I believe that adjusting your diet is a step on this path.

Grains

I came across this nicely researched article that outlines some of detrimental effects of the dramatic increase in human grain consumption in the last 10,000 years. While on one hand human populations boomed after grain agriculture, the incidence of many diseases and nutritional problems increased.

http://www.thepaleodiet.com/articles/Cereal%20article.pdf

The relevance to chronic kidney disease is that grains are also implicated in auto-immune diseases, although, as usual, nothing is very clear.

At a personal level, I had been suffering from a lot of abdominal gas and, after doing some research, decided to try cutting out wheat completely. After a few days there was a definite reduction in the amount of gas. Relevance to the kidneys? My research has led to think of the body (including the mind) as a single organ and that symptoms in any part are caused by an underlying probleming. I believe that eliminating any symptoms (even, or especially, pyschological ones), by treating underlying causes, are important steps on the path to wellness.