A new research has revealed that for patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD), diets with a high acid content may increase their risk of developing kidney failure.
Researcher Tanushree Banerjee and her colleagues examined whether acid-inducing diets might play a role in developing kidney failure. Low acid diets are rich in fruits and vegetables, while high acid diets comprise of more meats. The researchers analyzed information on 1486 adults with CKD, who were followed for a median of 14.2 years.
The research team found that higher levels of dietary acid load were strongly linked with progression to kidney failure among the study participants. Patients who consumed high acid diets were thrice more likely to develop kidney failure than patients who consumed low acid diets.
Banerjee said, "Patients with chronic kidney disease may want to pay more attention to diet consumption of acid rich foods to reduce progression to kidney failure, in addition to employing recommended guidelines such as taking kidney-sparing medication and avoiding kidney toxins. The high costs and suboptimal quality of life that dialysis treatments bring may be avoided by adopting a more healthy diet that is rich in fruits and vegetables."
The study is published in the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology (JASN).