The Top SUPERFOODS for the Kidneys—Explained by Dr. Berg
Summary
TLDRThis video script discusses dietary recommendations for individuals with chronic kidney disease. It emphasizes the importance of avoiding refined and processed foods, high sugar, and foods high in phosphorus and oxalates. The speaker suggests consuming lower phosphorus proteins like cod and seabass, and recommends vegetables low in oxalates and lectins. Additionally, the script highlights the benefits of spirulina, fermented foods, and certain oils for kidney health, while cautioning against excessive sodium intake and the use of CAT scans. The advice is to work closely with a doctor and focus on whole, nutrient-dense foods to potentially extend life.
Takeaways
- 🍽️ **Diet Modification**: For those with chronic kidney disease, it's crucial to adjust your diet to manage phosphorus, potassium, and sodium levels, and avoid deficiencies in other nutrients.
- 🚫 **Avoid Refined Foods**: Refrain from consuming refined foods and anything processed, including foods from boxes, cans, or junk food, to reduce kidney damage.
- 🍬 **Cut Sugar Intake**: High sugar intake, often a result of diabetes, is a major cause of kidney damage, so reducing sugar is essential.
- 🐟 **Choose Protein Wisely**: Opt for moderate amounts of protein, particularly lower phosphorus proteins like cod and seabass, and avoid high phosphorus foods like liver and nuts.
- 🚫 **Avoid High Mercury Fish**: Some fish, while high in mercury, can cause kidney and autoimmune issues, so choose fish like sardine and salmon in moderation.
- 🌱 **Limit Oxalate Intake**: Foods high in oxalates, like almonds, spinach, and chocolate, can increase kidney inflammation and should be avoided.
- 🥬 **Select Kidney-Friendly Vegetables**: Asparagus, celery, lettuce, avocado, cucumber, garlic, cabbage, cauliflower, and mushrooms are safe choices for those with kidney disease.
- 🌿 **Avoid High Lectin Foods**: Foods with high lectin content, like eggplant, potatoes, beans, and grains, can be problematic for kidney health.
- 🌱 **Consider Spirulina**: Spirulina, a type of algae, can be beneficial for advanced kidney problems, reducing kidney toxicity and helping with anemia and fluid retention.
- 🧂 **Choose Better Salt Alternatives**: For those with kidney issues, consider using Baja gold salt, which has a lower sodium content compared to regular salt.
- 💊 **Minimize Medication and Radiation Exposure**: Certain medications, alcohol, and radiation from CAT scans can damage the kidneys, so opt for safer alternatives like ultrasounds or MRIs when possible.
Q & A
What are the primary functions of nephrons in the kidneys?
-Nephrons are the tiny filters in the kidneys that not only filter waste but also regulate a lot of things in the blood, including recycling electrolytes, hormones, minerals, vitamins, and proteins.
Why should someone with chronic kidney disease change their diet?
-Diet changes are necessary for someone with chronic kidney disease because damaged nephrons can lead to a buildup of phosphorus, potassium, sodium, and deficiencies of other nutrients, requiring a shift in dietary intake to manage these imbalances.
What is the recommended approach to food consumption for kidney patients?
-It is highly recommended for kidney patients to avoid eating out and instead make their own foods, focusing on whole foods, and avoiding refined and processed foods to manage nutrient intake effectively.
Why is sugar intake a concern for kidney patients?
-Sugar intake is a concern for kidney patients because the number one cause of kidney damage is diabetes, which is a high sugar situation, and high sugar intake can exacerbate kidney problems.
What types of proteins are suggested for kidney patients?
-Kidney patients should consume moderate to slightly lower amounts of protein, focusing on lower phosphorus proteins like cod and seabass, while avoiding high phosphorus sources like liver and nuts.
Why should kidney patients avoid high-phosphorus foods?
-High-phosphorus foods should be avoided by kidney patients because the damaged nephrons can't filter out excess phosphorus effectively, leading to a buildup that can further damage the kidneys.
What are some low-oxalate vegetables recommended for kidney patients?
-Asparagus, celery, lettuce, avocado, cucumber, garlic, cabbage, cauliflower, and mushrooms are recommended as they are low in oxalates, which can increase inflammation of the kidneys.
How can spirulina benefit kidney patients?
-Spirulina, a type of algae, can benefit kidney patients by decreasing the kidney burden of toxins, helping to reduce the toxicity of urine, aiding with anemia, and balancing fluid retention associated with kidney problems.
Why should kidney patients be cautious about certain types of fats and oils?
-Kidney patients should avoid seed oils like corn oil, soy oil, cotton seed oil, and canola oil due to their potential inflammatory effects and contribution to kidney damage.
What are some dietary recommendations for managing sodium intake in kidney patients?
-Kidney patients should be cautious about sodium intake and consider using alternative salts like Baja gold, which contains less sodium chloride compared to regular sea salt.
How important is vitamin D for kidney patients, and what should they do about it?
-Vitamin D is crucial for kidney patients as the kidneys help convert inactive to active vitamin D. Since damaged kidneys can lead to low vitamin D levels, supplementation might be necessary, but it should be done under a doctor's guidance.
What are some potential non-dietary factors that can damage the kidneys?
-Non-dietary factors that can damage the kidneys include drugs, medications, alcohol, especially pain medication, smoking, and exposure to radiation from certain medical scans like CAT scans.
What types of foods are considered high in lectins and should be avoided by kidney patients?
-Foods high in lectins, which should be avoided by kidney patients, include eggplant, potatoes, beans, grains, and nuts. These can potentially irritate the kidneys and block the absorption of essential minerals.
Why is it recommended to choose ultrasound or MRI over a CAT scan for kidney patients?
-Ultrasound or MRI are recommended over CAT scans for kidney patients because CAT scans expose the kidneys to a significant amount of radiation, which can potentially cause further damage.
Outlines
🥗 Diet Recommendations for Chronic Kidney Disease
This paragraph discusses the dietary changes necessary for individuals with chronic kidney disease. It emphasizes the importance of understanding the kidney's role in filtering waste and recycling nutrients. The speaker advises against consuming refined foods and sugars, as well as high-phosphorus proteins like certain fish and liver. Instead, they recommend whole foods and suggests that lower phosphorus proteins like cod and seabass are preferable. The paragraph also cautions against foods high in oxalates, which can exacerbate kidney inflammation, and mentions the need to work closely with a doctor to monitor nutrient levels.
🥦 Safe Vegetables and Foods for Kidney Health
The second paragraph focuses on safe food options for those with kidney disease, including vegetables that are low in oxalates and other potentially harmful nutrients. It highlights asparagus, celery, lettuce, avocado, cucumber, garlic, cabbage, cauliflower, and mushrooms as beneficial choices. The speaker also advises against high-lectin foods like eggplant, potatoes, beans, grains, and nuts. Additionally, spirulina is introduced as a beneficial algae for advanced kidney problems, and fermented foods like sauerkraut and kimchi are recommended for their kidney-friendly properties. The paragraph concludes with a warning about the potential harm of CAT scans to the kidneys and a note on the importance of choosing healthier fats like those found in avocados and extra virgin olive oil.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Nephrons
💡Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD)
💡Phosphorus
💡Diabetes
💡Refined Foods
💡Oxalates
💡Lectins
💡Spirulina
💡Fermented Foods
💡Extra Virgin Olive Oil
💡Vitamin D
💡Sodium
Highlights
Focus on foods beneficial for kidneys with existing damage, specifically chronic kidney disease.
Kidneys are composed of nephrons, which filter and regulate substances in blood.
Kidney damage can lead to phosphorus, potassium, and sodium buildup, and nutrient deficiencies.
Homemade, whole foods are recommended over refined and processed options.
Diabetes is a leading cause of kidney damage due to high sugar intake.
Avoid refined sugars, starches, and ultra-refined products for kidney health.
Protein intake should be moderate to slightly lower, with attention to phosphorus content.
Cod and seabass are suggested as lower phosphorus protein sources.
Avoid high phosphorus foods like liver and nuts, which can also contain irritants for the kidneys.
Oxalates in certain foods can increase kidney inflammation and should be avoided.
Lectins in some vegetables may be problematic for those with kidney damage.
Safe vegetables for kidney disease include asparagus, celery, lettuce, and avocado.
Spirulina, a type of algae, can be beneficial for advanced kidney problems.
Fermented foods and avocados provide unique benefits for kidney health.
Extra virgin olive oil is anti-inflammatory and beneficial for the kidneys.
Organic cottage cheese and goat cheese are recommended dairy options for kidney health.
Vitamin D is crucial for kidney health, and supplementation may be necessary.
Baja gold salt is a better alternative to regular salt for those with kidney problems.
High-quality, organic, and grass-fed ingredients are preferred for kidney health.
Dr. Berg's basic healthy Keto Plan and intermittent fasting guide offers preventative kidney foods.
Transcripts
let's talk about the superfoods that are
the best foods for the kidneys now I'm
not talking about preventing a kidney
problem I'm talking about if you already
have kidney damage so let's say you have
this chronic kidney disease what do you
eat that's what I want to talk about now
the kidney is composed of these tiny
little things called nephrons okay not
neurons nephrons and a nephron is a a
super sophisticated complex little
filter that doesn't just filter it
regulates a lot of things in your blood
so it does filter waste but it recycles
a lot of electrolytes and hormones and
minerals and vitamins and protein so
when you end up damaging these filters
um you're going to have to really shift
what you eat because now you're going to
have a buildup of phosphorus
potassium sodium with deficiencies of
other nutrients as well so you can't
just just eat the same thing you've been
eating I highly recommend you don't go
out to dinner you actually make your own
foods and try to make these Foods as
whole as possible I would not consume
anything refined and also you need to
understand the number one cause of
kidney damage comes from having diabetes
which is a high sugar situation so
you're going to have to cut the sugar
right out and also those things that
create more damage than sugar that act
like sugar like the starches I'm talking
about multi
talking about the modified food starch
and the modified corn starch things that
are really Ultra refined so no more
eating anything out of a box or a can or
any quick junk Foods you're gon to have
to really think through what you eat
because what I'm going to show you will
definitely extend your life there are
other things that can destroy the kidney
as well drugs medications alcohol
especially pain medication smoking junk
food Ultra processed foods and that's a
combination of like like the seed oils
the corn oil the soy oil the cotton seed
oil the canola you need to just get rid
of those so let's start with protein
okay what type of protein should you
consume because you don't want to do um
a lot of protein you want to do a
moderate to slightly lower amounts of
protein and you really want to think
with your protein because most proteins
have high amounts of phosphorus so we
don't want to overload the kidney with
too much of that and by the way when
you're doing this always work with your
doctor because they're going to be
monitoring your levels of these
nutrients to make sure that they're in
check but I want to give you some other
things to think with that you're not
going to find usually when doing the
searches on the internet so let's start
out with the lower phosphorus proteins
because that is the problem with a lot
of fish it's high in mercury and Mercury
also can cause an autoimmune disease
with the kidney and most mercury
exposure is probably from fish um but
fish also has selenium or at least
certain types of fish like sardin and
salmon but both of those are a bit
higher in phosphorus I would just
consume them not as often as the other
ones but definitely on a regular basis
and I think out of all the fish that are
the lowest in phosphorus it's the cod
fish as well as a seab bass but I would
avoid turkey liver like beef liver or
any type of liver because that's going
to be high phosphorus egg yolks okay and
nuts now nuts also are loaded with this
other thing called fuc Fates which also
can irritate the kidney and block
certain nutrients that the kidneys need
like zinc and other minerals so it's
going to make it more difficult to get
the nutrients that you need so when
we're talking about the kidneys we're
talking about consuming foods that have
the lowest amount of toxicity and I'm
not just talking about the chemicals in
the food which are the obvious things
and the GMOs and the conventional foods
but I'm also talking about the toxicity
of other things in food like like
oxalates especially if you have kidney
damage can really tear up the kidneys so
you want to avoid things like almonds
spinach and chocolate those are three
big ones loaded with oxalates and
oxalates can increase inflammation of
the kidneys and we also have other
things in certain foods like tannins
like I wouldn't consume black tea but
green tea is low in tannins so that
would be fine there's also um this thing
called lectins right now I believe that
lectins are not a problem unless you
have you know gut damage or liver damage
or kidney damage or especially
intestinal damage but when you have
kidney damage probably want to eat uh
certain things that are lower in lectins
now this relates to vegetables okay now
the other problem with vegetables is
that we have the oxalates and we also
have their level of potassium maybe
magnesium we don't want it to be super
high so what vegetables would be very
safe to consume for someone with kidney
disease well number one asparagus
asparagus will also decrease the load of
this waste like uric acid waste ammonia
celery is another one that can actually
decrease the uric acid and that's also
low in these other nutrients that I just
mentioned another one that's safe would
be lettuce I'm not talking about Swiss
chard or the beet greens those are high
in oxalates okay so you probably want to
avoid those so we have asparagus celery
lettuce avocado cucumber garlic
cabbage cauliflower and mushrooms even
though mushroom is not a vegetable and
they also create it like more of an
alkaline effect so if there's a bit more
acidity that builds up these will help
neutralize that the ones that you should
probably avoid because they're high in
lectin would be the egg plant the
potatoes the beans the grains and like I
said before the nuts so if you focus on
the list of vegetables that are on the
okay list you'll also get a lot of
antioxidants and that's going to prevent
a lot of the free radical damage that's
going on in the kidneys another really
good food to consume for advanced kidney
problems would be spirulina it's a type
of algae that seems to be very good for
advanced stage kidney problems it has a
lot of things it has vitamins and
minerals and phytonutrients and
chlorophyll and spirulina can actually
decrease the kidney burden of its toxins
so it helps to reduce the toxicity of
your urine at the same time helping you
with anemia which is one
side effect of having kidney problems as
well as help balance the fluid retention
that you see with kidney problems as
well and one additional thing I want to
mention um that damages the kidney is
CAT scans of the kidney itself very
unfortunately I had to have two cat
skins or maybe three of my kidneys uh
for various reasons but I had to have it
done but the problem is like but that's
a lot of radiation put into your kidneys
which potentially can damage the kidneys
themselves so if if you have a choice
between a CAT scan or an ultrasound or a
CAT scan and an MRI choose the
ultrasound or the MRI but not the cat
skan unless you absolutely need it now
another really good food for the kidney
to decrease the the toxicity uh is
fermented foods sauerkraut kimchi
pickles really good for the kidneys make
sure you get the sauerkraut the
kimchi in the refrigerated section of
the groc stor so it's raw also avocados
have a really interesting type of fat
that's really good for the kidneys and
the liver and also that fat can help
extract
phytonutrients that are more fat soble
in your salad with the next thing on the
list which is extra virgin olive oil
another really good oil for the kidney
it's anti-inflammatory it's loaded with
phytonutrients vitamin E virtually no
phosphorus now as far as hard cheeses uh
they're high in phosphorus but cottage
cheese make sure it's organic because
they add this modified food starch in
commercial cottage cheese so get the one
that's organic and also goats cheese is
another one that you can consume as well
that way you can get your calcium but it
comes from a food so we want these foods
that are good for the kidneys uh that
provide the right amount of nutrition
but not too much I would recommend
getting your nutrients from the food and
not from supplementation except for
vitamin D because it's going to be
really hard to get your vitamin d and
vitamin D is going to be very important
uh for your kidneys because also realize
that it's the kidneys that helps convert
the inactive to the active vitamin D and
the liver does some of that too but the
kidneys are very very important so if
those kidneys are damaged you're going
to have low vitamin D now another
mineral that you have to watch out for
is too much sodium and the problem with
even sea salt it it has all the minerals
but it's it's a bit high in sodium it's
like
98% sodium so there is another type of
salt that's really good for uh people
with kidney problems it's called Baja
gold which is a type of salt that is
like 70% sodium chloride and the rest
other minerals so that would be a a much
better salt for people with kidney
problems keep it simple follow this food
list I know it's boring but I think it's
going to extend your life try to make
sure those ingredients are the highest
quality like organic grass-fed
um nothing out of a box or a can these
are the foods not to prevent a kidney
problem they're foods that if you have a
kidney problem you should focus more on
if you want to know what foods that can
actually be more preventative i' would
go to drberg.com and download my basic
healthy Keto Plan and intermittent
fasting and you'll find the link Down
Below in the
description
Browse More Related Video
5.0 / 5 (0 votes)