Kidney Diet

Kidney Diet

*March - National Kidney Health Awareness Month*

*Functions of Kidneys-*

- Kidneys are filters of body that remove waste, toxins & extra water through urine.

- regulate blood pressure

- converts vit D into its active form & control production of RBCs.

*What Impairs Kidney Functions- (CKD, Renal Stones, Gout)*

- High Blood Sugar

- Hight blood Pressure

- Obesity

- Acidic Blood pH 

&

Lifestyle factors like

- Overusing painkillers

- Inadequate water intake

- Alcohol & Smoking Binge

- Sedentary Lifestyle

- Over Eating of Processed Meat & Food.

*Preventive Nutrition Therapy for Renal Care Helps to*

- Maintain alkaline blood pH 

- Regulate blood pressure and blood glucose levels.

- Incorporate Healthy Lifestyle

- Achieve Healthy Body weight

- Initiate Healthy cellular cycle 

All these over a period of time improves renal function & reduces metabolic waste burden on it.

*Short note by Prachi A. Managute*

Dietitian & Health Coach

http://www.amtopmfitness.com/nutrition

Nutrition Care for Liver Health

 

              

Know it's Importance

          - Liver is like water filter / purifier of Fats, Hormones & Medicines.

        - It is one of the organ to metabolize Fats, Carbohydrates and Proteins.

Unique Feature

👉Good news is Liver repairs & regenerates it's tissue. Therefore unlike kidney, liver disease of earlier stage can be reversible if we address its care in a holistic way.

👉But with age as well as with increasing pollution and unhealthy lifestyle, it's regeneration efficiency deteriorates.

👉Few metabolic issues when we forget to look into Liver Care. But if we focus on liver tissue repair & regeneration, we can reverse these problems :

E.g.

 1. High Cholesterol

As liver loses its efficiency to metabolize fats, cholesterol remains unfiltered showing high level in blood lipid profile.

We try to manage cholesterol with medicines and by reducing cholesterol food. But it remains either temporary or unresolving solution.

 2. Vit.D Deficiency

Liver plays important role in vitamin D synthesis into its active form. Therefore only vit. D dosage is not useful unless liver is able convert it into its functionally active form. 

 3. Indigestion Issues like Bloating, Constipation

 Liver takes care of all Macronutrients & most of Micronutrients metabolism, activates digestive enzymes. Functional inefficiency of liver may leads to digestive tract imbalances.

 Key Lifestyle Care for Liver is therefore important when we experience these metabolic problems or rather Prevent them to occur

# Take Liver detox or nourishing herbs like turmeric, milk thistle. They are tonic to liver cells. They can reset it's functions.

# Correct Sleep timetable accelerates cell repair. 

# Reducing processed / packed food that have some or other artificial chemical.

# Avoid Alcohol.

# Avoid OTC Drugs usage without physician's prescription.

# Maintain Healthy Body Weight.

# Practice Yogasan like backward bending, twisting.

- Short Write-up By Prachi A. Managute

  Dietitian and Health Coach

Making Mind our Friend and not Foe for Health

               Spirituality guides that our outer world is mirror of our inner world.

               The WHO constitution states:"Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity."

            Ayurveda talks about Aachar (Behaviour), Vichar (Thoughts) before Ahaaar (Food) & Vihaar (Exercise, Sleep) as pillars of Holistic Health.

 
                 Yama (moral discipline),

Niyama (observances) are first two limbs from the Eight Limbs of Yog. 

So by putting all principles together here is a writeup that tries to explain how the state of mind and state of body are reasons and results of each other. 

Every Thought has Emotions and Emotions vibrate Energy. Reflection of thinking thereby our Emotions towards Money (we earn & spend), towards People (inner circle as well as outer circle), towards Work (As a student, as a homemaker as well as a professional) and towards self is seen on Our Physical Health. 

Unhealthy Emotions like....Having Jealousy, Insecurity, Fear, Pain, Comparison, Competition, Anger, Possesiveness, Untruthful, Ego with people around. 

Being Stingy, Geedy, Mindless towards Money. 

Having lack of confidence, Greed, Doubt, Unhappiness, Indesciplined towards Work we do. And unhealthy relationships with self like low self-esteem, guilt, painful past memories... 

These emotions create an unhealthy energy flow inside (prana through nadis) and outside our body (aura) . These energy blockages, blocks Energy Chakra (seven chakras where nadis meet). 

In modern medicine they are our endocrine system, which controls all our body systems like Digestive, Excretory, Reproductive, Cardiovascular, Musculoskeletal, Nervous and Immunity. 

Energy blocks at chakras therefore also responsible for dysfunctioning one or more of these system functions. 

In yogic philosophy from texts like PatanjaliPatanjali Yogsutra, Psychosomatic Disorders concept is explained on the same note where Mind Body Yog given prominence.  

My Blog on same-  https://www.amtopmfitness.com/stress-and-its-impact-on-body

                    When we see disturbances at any of Somatic (Body) level ranging from even a smallest signs like acne to major signs like Hypothyroid, type 2 Diabetes, Obesity, PCOD, Arthritis....Also when we are unable to sleep on time, tend to wake up late, unable to control food cravings, having hunger pangs, feeling laziness that skips exercise...fear / inhibitions to adopt new healthy habits, having addictions like smoking, alcohol intake...Then, Only Diet & Exercise don't help. 

We feel it's hereditary or nowadays it's common to have these ailments and think that they are the reason for getting other related dysfunctions as well as emotional imbalances. 

E.g. Because of PCOD I have mood swings, because of hypothyroidism I'm short tempered, because of Diabetes I get anxious, etc. 

And unaware to see them as results of emotional distress and then get caught into its vicious cycle of Psychosomatic Disorder / Syndrome. 

Spiritual guidance through spiritual coaches, practicing meditation & pranayam, life coach counseling will be helpful to recognize hidden emotional baggage. And then releasing them through supreme knowledge guidance &  counseling will start improving our emotional wellbeing and we feel healthy inside out. 

There are different practices like Neuro Linguistic Program Techniques, Psychological Counseling, Spiritual Practices like Rajyog meditation, Inner engineering, Sudarshan kriya, etc. developed through spiritual coaches, reading their books, videos have shown remarkable changes towards Resourceful Emotion, Behavioral Modifications, Healthy Thinking and even Reversing Metabolic Disturbances by mass population including us. 

This shift then helpful to follow lifestyle modifications like correct sleeping cycle, healthy eating and exercise discipline in an easier, sustainable way. 

This writeup is summary from our recent learning through courses like NLP, Mind Body Partnership with Disease, Yogic Philosophy and readings books of spiritual coaches like BK Shivani, Gaur Gopal Das & Sadguriji.

Build a Fitness Legacy for your Family #FathersDay

Men's health is generally less talked about by awareness programs and by themselves than women's health. This is the observation from my professional experience of 16 + years. 

In this short write-up, I have tried to explain about-

Mistakes and Misconceptions men have about healthy habits and lifestyle modifications, especially in the context of fathers and prospective fathers. 

# Exercise:

- There is a proverb in the Marathi language "Khaeen tar tupashi nahi tar upashi". This Means either I'll have food cooked in ghee Or I'll better stay hungry. 

What does this mean here, men feel either they' 'll do Gymming Or do Nothing. So in between paths like yogasan, body-functional workouts are ignored or looked at them as feminine exercise. 

- Few remove some time for walking or swimming or some sports, but as their flexibility and strength were not focused most end up getting injuries. 

- Biggest population of men, just don't do exercise as they have no time for that. But this is the population either sitting 24*7 or are on their toes in field jobs travelling around 8 to 12 hours a day. This stiffness and exhausted body is actually starving for good exercise. 

# Healthy Eating:

- Women's mind is programmed to be body conscious. Also as they start showing hormonal disturbing signs at a younger age, it becomes a need for them to start eating correctly.

             But men on the opposite metabolically have high BMR, don't face any signs of hormonal imbalance, have stronger muscular skeletons and do not so look conscious; don't create a need to eat right. 

- Unless blood profile reports show warning signals or waistlines start increasing after age 40, or when someone from their social circle gets a heart stroke; men don't start focusing on correcting their food habits. 

- Most men don't have cooking skills and families don't expect them to learn. They don't take responsibility to plan or cook their healthy diet; when they need to stay outstation for work. 

# Positive Mindset and Peace of Mind

- To put this straight, as it's been nurtured to say "Mard ko Dard nahi hota", men take their mental health for granted. 

- Today's working fathers are equally vulnerable as working mothers. And this is worst in nuclear families. The stress level of working fathers is an undercurrent reason for stroke, diabetes, etc. 

- But unfortunately, the solution for men to fix this stress is lunch time smoking and (+ or) peg of whiskey (or any alcohol) after dinner or on the weekends. 

Metabolic Health Issues which majorly Men start facing especially when they are Young Fathers:-

Gall bladder or Kidney stones, Gout, Hernia, Fatty Liver, Prediabetes, Diabetes, Hypertension, High Cholesterol, Abdominal Obesity, Irritable Bowel Syndrome. 

Lifestyle Modifications For Working Fathers:-

- Smoking and Alcohol addiction need therapy. Take it before it becomes non-effective. They are a silent killer. 

- Learn and participate in healthy menu planning; if not for family but at least for yours. Learn basic cooking skills that minimize your dependency on outside food. 

- Reduce socializing over food. Excess empty calories every week increase visceral fat and digestion issues. 

- Dedicate weekly at least three hours for holistic fitness (Strength, Endurance, Flexibility). 

- Learn and Practice Meditation and Pranayam for inner calmness and bliss. 

- Simplify life to reduce unnecessary stress. 

         Remember, Alongside being an income earner, father is a role model and emotional support for his family's health. His every health choices make the destiny of his family. Every family deserves a healthy & fit father figure. Father's Health is the true Wealth of his Family. Value it.

Does Exercise Help in Weight Loss?

Exercise helps in Weight Loss. Two sides of a coin. Let's elaborate. 

# Yes.

- It does help. Contributing to around 20% weight loss needs. 

- If our food habits are correct, adding exercise definitely helps in fat loss. 

- If a person is obese with a sedentary lifestyle, adding exercise will be helpful to reduce the first 5 to 10 kgs extra weight. 

- Different intensity of cardio exercise uses 100 to 350 calories while doing exercise. So it demands more calorie usage than our daily routine work. Something is always better than nothing. 

- Weight training increases muscle tissue, muscles are like 24*7 active machinery which increases metabolism (24 hrs after effect calories burning). More muscle means the body is using calories continuously. 

# No. 

- Unless food & rest pattern improves which are contributing to around 80 to 90% weight loss needed, exercise alone can't contribute to sustainable fat loss. 

- Extra Calories output resulting from  exercise can get easily compensated with calories input from even a little incorrect food intake.

         Therefore, those who are doing only  exercise is good for improving their fitness (strength, flexibility, endurance) but without changing other lifestyle essentials one can't achieve belly or hip line fat loss, and over weight or obese person can't reach to their ideal bodyweight.

- Over-cardio exercise for the sake of weight loss leads to muscle & bone loss that in turn reduces metabolism and strength. 

- Weight training exercise increases muscle weight, but if there is no corrected food intake, body fat weight remains the same leading to an increase in body size and weight.

- Exercise without a healthy sleeping timetable and rest results in adrenaline fatigue i.e. increase stress hormones production. Stress hormones for example cortisol reduces metabolism and immunity. Stress hormones increase blood pressure and blood glucose. 

Conclusion:

# One theory of weight loss that is calorie output more than calories input is not a healthy & sustainable choice for weight loss as it may create a mindset of an unscientific exercise schedule (more cardio exercise, everyday weight training, two forms of exercises in a one day, no rest) and inadequate nutrition intake. 

# Another theory of weight loss that equips the body to improve metabolism and digestion that further prevents producing toxic metabolic byproducts, and improves hormonal functionality that synchronizes hormones like insulin - glucagon, ghrelin - leptin, cortisol - serotonin, estrogen - testosterone etc. And this theory is only possible with scientific scheduling of exercise for fitness (endurance, strength, flexibility), healthy sleep patterns, peace of mind and healthy eating habits.

# Exercise should not turn into exertion for the sake of calorie burning.

# Exercise with healthy eating and a healthy lifestyle is like the Cherry on Cake. 

# But exercise doing for weight loss without healthy eating and lifestyle is like a half-baked cake that can't enjoy. 

Therefore,  Do not undervalue or misuse exercise by doing it just for weight loss but do it for optimal fitness to stand, walk, run, dance, play, trek on our feet lifelong. 

 

How Mindprogramming & Media affect our Health

Today we know more about foods, nutrients, supplements, medicines, & their side effects than our own parents and grandparents did. Today we have gadgets, apps, health /exercise studios, and consultants a click away. 

But despite the flood of this information and relative services, millions around the world constantly struggling with minor or major health issues. 

Isn't this contradictory !! 

Growth in Health information/services availability and Growth in Sickness are unfortunately becoming directly proportional. 

When given a thought on this, the Reasons could be: 

1. Limiting Mindset:-(Mind Programming) 

# Ignorance:-  

As this information is easily & freely available in different media. And there is no value put on receiving this information, it just goes through our senses and is not received at conscious and subconscious mind levels. 

# Procrastination:- 

As information and services are there and will be there, some people don't have a sense of urgency. Becoming healthier gets delayed. It's generally opted when health starts deteriorating and not when we are at state of good health and want to take it to optimal. 

Education on health and its application is like insurance. We don't know when and whether we need it, but it's always the best investment decision. 

# Lack of Priority:-

We need to do exercise either by Choice now to improve fitness or at some point in life by Compulsion suggested by an Ortho doctor to repair /rehab the muscular-skeletal system. 

We need to start healthy eating in the discipline either now by choice to improve our body weight composition or at some phase of life by compulsion as part of medical nutrition therapy suggested for controlling metabolic challenges. 

Priority comes with a goal. There is a famous proverb "Pay now & Play later or Play now & Pay later".

# Confusion:- 

With abundant information, we get confused about what's there for us. 

Body science is not like mathematics 1+1=2.

Body's needs & responses change with genetics, gender, age, geography around and also emotional state. Therefore one pattern doesn't suit all and what suits a person at one phase of life may not suit him all time. Which seeks customizations & systematic applications of information. 

# Association:- 

Friends & Family

It is said that our income is an average of five people we mostly associate with. The same applies to our health. Our food and fitness choices are more dependent on the people we associate more. Even though we feel like doing something towards improving health; starting and remaining consistent in healthy eating and fitness habits purely depends on the friends and family we have around. If they prioritize fitness, we also do. If they don't, we also ignore. 

When it's said diabetes runs through family genes, it actually means it runs through our family lifestyle. 

Another point is the identity we built through our habits, is very difficult to break unless we are headstrong or our family and friends support us. When a gentleman decides to reduce going for weekend partying, our association either breaks us or makes us to follow it. 

2. Media

Time consumption in consuming entertainment content on media like television or web series, short video binging, etc takes away our valuable time on planning and executing a healthy lifestyle. 

Binge-watching also adversely affects our mindfulness, mental health and sleep quality. 

At the same time, an advertisement

 pop-ups of packed and junk foods,  influence us to consume unhealthy food options. 

3. One-sided Video Coaching:-

This is to put it as highlight here that although health content is freely and thoroughly available in the media, don't take counsel from videos. They are there for awareness. As we can't learn sports, swimming and car driving, etc. from videos unless there is a coach with us in the field. Same way Exercise and Diet Plans discussed in media are always a piece of general information, the speaker doesn't know your in-depth health and fitness status.  Therefore, taking counselling from it could be injurious to health. 

These short videos are just for our & their dopamine reward and should not be applied without checking with our personal coach and doctor. 

Information, knowledge and wisdom are different levels of learning in any field. 

Wisdom doesn't come with information but it comes with knowledge received from the right source in a continuous and progressive momentum backed by our own actions and applications. 

It's our choice whether & when to receive this wisdom and make wise choices for our and our family's health. 

This is then gradually reprogram our mind towards health. 

Eat Wisely & Don't Avoid Blindly.

Opinions about food is a broad subject that emerged from individual experiences, food industries' narratives, suggesting superficial solutions, passing information from incorrect sources and lack of interest in learning facts about the important subject of life i.e health. 

Here I have tried to explain my views from my educational expertise, personal and professional experience. 

Q. Can I have sugarcane juice/ mango/ banana/grapes/ rice/ potatoes/ dates, etc if I have diabetes/ want to lose weight?

My Answer. Yes, you can.
This question comes into consideration with confusion about sugar content because of its sweeter taste. Type 2 Diabetes or any other health issues comes with a long list of avoid food items.
Agree, it's important to know what's not suitable for certain metabolic challenges. But by just avoiding certain foods, the problem is not going to get solved.
Wisdom comes with learning and experiencing eating all foods more healthily and smartly. And this may help to even reverse the health issue.
Coming back to the question, these foods contain natural sugar. So our body knows how to metabolize it. The glycemic index GI of food is an indicator that determines how fast it increases blood sugar. This index is generally used to make avoid food lists for diabetes or PCOS or weight loss. But again the effect of this value differs with the glycemic load index (it measures by portion sizes of each food that increases blood sugar).
So food having a higher Glycemic Index can be eaten in lesser portions.
         Glycemic Index can be lowered with a combination of food with what we can eat for example fat, fiber and proteins. Menus like dal-rice ghee, rice with vegetables and curd slow down blood glucose release than single rice. And anyways we don't eat only rice as a meal. 

The impact of GI can be reduced by eating them at the right time, i.e. post exercise/ sports, the first meal of the day. Mango eaten as breakfast is the best way to start the day more sweetly and energetically. Mashed cheese Potato is the best snack to eat Pre-exercise or at an early evening meal while grape juice can be considered for post-exercise when glucose gets absorbed into muscles as glycogen storage.
Therefore rather than compromising on any food, it's always better to learn how to eat it.
And it is surprising to know our favourite foods like mango, and banana have medium GI which really doesn't need to worry about if eaten in the right way.
To take this point ahead, what we really need to worry about is glucose injection, modern farming practices do, but we can say it's not in our control. What's in our control is to choose fruits and vegetables seasonally and available locally. Again most important to put in avoid list is artificial sweeteners directly or indirectly available in tablets, solutions form or in foods where it's written sugar-free packets foods. Our body doesn't know how to take care of these chemical molecules. But they trigger insulin response with its sweetness (Biochemical reaction starts with sensory experience). So even if it doesn't have sugar or calories per se, it holds responsibility for sweetness addiction and insulin resistance.

Bottomline is to learn eating natural sugar in the right way and become smart to avoid artificial sugar in any way. 

Q. My cholesterol is on the higher side. Do I need to avoid ghee, egg, curd, paneer, and cheese? 

My Answer. No, you don't need to avoid. Yes, you heard me correctly. Having higher cholesterol or having arterial blockages, first we need to understand the reasons behind these blockages. They are plaques called atherosclerosis i.e. hardening of arteries because of chronic internal inflammation. Causes of any inflammatory diseases are the body's response to an unsuitable environment like mental as well as physical stress, environmental inorganic chemical pollution outside and chemical pollution inside the body through increased consumption of inorganic molecules in foods like artificial sweeteners, preservatives, pesticides, fertilizers, colours, alcohol or smoking. Today inflammation is also caused by excess consumption of refined food, glucose, gluten, and trans fats (processed fats). To put it simply, inflammation is what we see on muscles when we fall or on the skin when we get some skin cut. Above inorganic molecules lead to similar injuries at the internal body parts like arteries and different organ systems. Frequent /overconsumption /

 over-exposure to the above inflammatory triggering factors leads to repeated injuries/swelling which turns into chronic /permanent inflammation. When it's inside the arteries, it gradually builds up into plaques.

          Now let's understand about high blood cholesterol. Cholesterol is a natural fat-like substance already there inside our body cells and is required for different functions like hormone mechanism, protection, and vitamin synthesis. It's synthesized in the liver. So it's necessary and not harmful. It flows through blood vessels like other nutrients.

       But like any other thing excess beyond normal is harmful, the same way cholesterol also. If there is a high blood cholesterol profile, firstly improve liver functioning by planning a diet to rest, heal and nourish liver cells. Include herbs like milk thistle, and turmeric that nourish liver cells. Improved liver functioning will thereby improve cholesterol metabolism. Considering its relation with arterial blockages, as it's wax-like in consistency, its flow gets affected or gets stuck on the plaques we discussed above. By understanding the above theories, we can see the culprit is not cholesterol but atherosclerosis is. If there is high cholesterol, we should first take care of the liver and look for an Anti-inflammatory lifestyle rather than just avoid cholesterol-containing foods. As we need to do servicing of water filters and keep the pipeline clean to avoid soiled water or drainage issues. The same care we need to follow in our body systems. Prevention is better, cost-effective and less stressful than repair/replacement. 

Q. I avoid eating tomatoes and guava. I heard their seeds causes kidney stones.

 
My Answer- Wrong perception about kidney stones. Kidney stones are the result of a metabolic disturbance in the excretory and electrolytes system. Urine has various wastes dissolved in it. When there is too much waste in too little liquid, crystals begin to form. The crystals attract other elements and join together to form a solid that will get larger unless it is passed out of the body with the urine.
The real causes are low levels of water intake and high-level salt and fructose. Obesity, diabetes, either no exercise or excess exercise, and unhealthy drastic weight loss are conditions that also lead to kidney stones. When the dilution of salt decreases, the pH level turns to an acidic level because our diet is more salty, spicy foods, including unhealthy fats, red meat, tea/coffee, carbonated beverages, alcohol and less in fruits, vegetables and water.
Above all reasons lead to concentrated blood that creates crystals of salt, uric acids and combines with minerals like calcium, oxalates, etc. Again that doesn't mean we need to reduce calcium. Because less dietary calcium demands bone calcium loss. And calcium is just a combining factor. So to prevent kidney stones or any other cysts formation we should have a balanced meal which we can name as Sattvik food. More fruits, vegetables, water, and alkaline grains like rice in meals will be more helpful than avoiding seeds containing fruits, vegetables and calcium sources. 

Q. Should I avoid Sour food as I have arthritis?

 

My Answer- There is no evidence to show direct relationships.
But there could be reasons to avoid lime-
1. Calcium needs an acidic medium for its absorption in the stomach. The citric acid in lime juice which turns alkaline after consumption can deteriorate calcium absorption.
But again if we maintain the correct time span between consuming calcium food and lime juice, this reason we can handle. 
2. If having vatta dominating prakriti that causes joint pain sometimes gets aggravated with a strong smell and aroma of lime. But again it's individual responses.
Therefore both reasons to avoid sour foods in arthritic conditions are can be handled. 
But on the other side, reasons to include lime juice/ amla and tomatoes are logically correct such as their antiinflammatory vitamin like C and A respectively.
In short, the conclusion is
-There is no need to completely avoid lime juice.
- Maybe during winter you can avoid it when the vatta is naturally high.
Additional information to consider is
1. Arthritis is an autoimmune disease, caused because of chronic inflammation.
2. Therefore inflammatory factors like foods (like sugar, red meat, gluten, processed food, fizzy drink), Smoking, alcohol, and stress should be considered to avoid.
3. And anti-inflammatory foods like Omega 3 fatty acids, antioxidants, fruit and vegetables should be considered to increase.

Above points are discussed to help us understand that if we learn what, why, when, how and how much to eat particular food, we can enjoy all foods. I don't want to get contradictory to any expert if they say to avoid particular food, but understand and discuss why it's said to avoid. If it's generalized opinion, don't follow. If it's customized prescription, do apply, experience and review.