CM: Thank you for adding me to your natural health ping list.
I have a specific health concern that perhaps someone can help me with. I am an 83 year old woman in generally good health. I have been talking supplements for 50 years sparked by fear of developing varicose veins after childbirth and my mother’s history of severe vericosities and ankle ulcers resulting in her vein stripping surgery at age 45. Fortunately Adelle Davis’s books provided me with the information to avoid all that. Most recently I have reversed my cataract development with additional supplements.
The problem that concerns me now is my kidneys. Kaiser Permanente assigned doctor has expressed concern about my kidneys for several years. Annual blood tests for the past 4 years show my GFR fluctuating between 33 and 37. This says I am in a risk category. I am wondering if some of the supplements I take daily are causing this problem. I watch my urine and try to keep the color pale yellow with enough water. I have shrunk 2 inches to 5’3” but slowed it down with more calcium/magnesiium and boron. While caring for my late husband’s long dying from Alzheimer’s my weight crept up to 165 and in the year after his death I dieted (convential) down to 155lb. Then I discovered Atkins and dieted down to the 130’s. My stable pre pregnancy weight in my 20s was 123 lb. In the past 4 years my weight has fluctuated from 130s to 150 depending on stress level and holiday feasting. I am now at 140 lbs. My usual diet is mostly low carb vegetables, modest meat, fowl, seafood, cheese and eggs. modest amounte of whole grains, seeds and nuts, brown rice, flax seed, chia, quinja, millet, beans and garbanzos. Either no milk or lots of milk depending on whether I am doing Atkins or not. Ancestors had dairy farms. At any rate the test numbers for GFR have not seemed to change much with diet.
So I wonder if one of my many kinds of supplements could be causing this problem or if this is just heredity. My brother has had a kidney stone in the past. My parentst lived to 90 and had more health problems than I do. I have been more disciplined with my supplements. All but one of my mother’s 5 siblings died in their low 90s. My paternal grandfather lived to 98. All but one of his siblings lived to 90s and one to 103. I have elevated cholesterol but have resisted Lipitor. My KP doctor no longer mentions it or my kidney issue which we have discussed with no recommendations from him. I don’t DO excercise, but live in a 4 story house with kitchen and laundry in basement and bedroom on 3rd floor. In growing season I drive 180 miles to beach cottage and mow a large lawn an hour a day over several days with gas mower. I also do carpentry and other house renovation activities.
Any thoughts would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.
Just a thought, try and see what happens if you increase your water intake.
This is a recent thread with a few items offered:
https://freerepublic.com/focus/chat/4034895/posts
Reduce weight, consider tocotrienols, and senolytics might help.
What is your serum creatinine? It looks like losing weight and taking 200 mg of EVNol SupraBio, twice a day, might so a lot to improve your kidney situation, according to the study at the bottom of the prior link I gave.
Can you post your supplement list? You might do well to cut down to just the basics.
Don’t worry about your creatinine level—I can computer it back from what you already gave.
It looks like your creatinine stays between .82 and .94. Those aren't terrible, but you can bring that down. Do note the eGFR is an estimation at uses your age to bring down the number:
That eGFR number can be off seemingly by up to 30%, but your creatinine should be accurate, until it gets rather low. The eGFR appears to be less accurate for “elderly” people, that reference states.
If taking the tocotrienols, consider stopping your Vitamin E sources, as Vitamin E interferes with tocotrienol absorption quite a bit. Tocotrienols are likely better absorbed and more useful than Vitamin E, according to recent research. If taking Vitamin E, take it at least six hours apart from tocotrienols.
That study in the other thread on tocotrienols is with a form that has some Vitaimin E still with it. An even better, more pure form of exclusively tocotrienols is DeltaGold, made from annatto rather than red palm oil, but I'd say stay with the EVnol form to mirror the study.
We personally take the Swanson Tocotrienols, which are DeltaGold.
Apparently the study used “200mg EVNol SupraBio” twice daily.
We have used this for that EVNol SupraBio form:
Healthy Origins Tocomin SupraBio Tocotrienols
Each of those provides 312.5 mg of EVNol SupraBio, so taking two a day would give over 600 mg of EVNol SupraBio, but only 100 mg of actual tocotrienols.
We currently take 300 mg of tocotrienols a day, to see how that may positively affect us (my wife and I).
So that others can see the tocotrienol study more easily, I post it here:
https://tocotrienol.org/en/red-palm-oil-derived-supplement-may-help-diabetic-kidney-disease/
People on keto diets have kidney problems a lot more often. I suggest stopping it and consuming sugar until feeling full.
Either no milk or lots of milk depending on whether I am doing Atkins or not.
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Foods have more vitamin a than we need. Milk sellers threatened by the U.S. government add vitamin a to skim milk. I suggest not consuming foods with added vitamin a. Excess vitamin a causes kidney problems.
CORRECTION of your eGFR:
I did something wrong in my initial calculation. Your creatinine appears to be between 1.35 and 1.52.
I apologize! Had my attention split.