Fasting And Kidney Disease: A guide to improving kidney function with intermittent fasting

Episode 29: Fasting And Kidney Disease: A guide to improving kidney function with intermittent fasting. Is fasting and kidney disease safe or can it cause additional kidney damage? I found intermittent fasting helpful for me during my fight against chronic kidney disease and I strongly recommend you talk to your doctor to see if intermittent fasting may be a beneficial part of your strategy to fight chronic kidney disease and improve your kidney function. The results of intermittent fasting before and after can be shocking - in a good way.

To learn more about the strategy I used in fighting and beating Chronic Kidney Disease, visit https://www.DadviceTV.com/

IMPORTANT: I AM NOT A DOCTOR. Patients should always be under the care of a physician and defer to their physician for any and all treatment decisions. This video is not meant to replace a physician’s advice, supervision, and counsel. No information in the video should be construed as medical advice. All medical decisions should be made by the patient and a qualified physician. This video is for informational purposes only and DOES NOT CONSTITUTE THE PROVIDING OF MEDICAL ADVICE.

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Intermittent fasting is eating on a set schedule while fasting (not eating) for certain prolonged periods of time. Can have water, unsweetened tea or coffee during the fasting period, but that is all.

Lots of researching showing the potential benefits of intermittent fasting for a number of issues people face. It is very common and effective with certain diets, like the Keto diet. But what about a chronic kidney disease diet?

As mentioned, you can only have water, unsweetened tea, and unsweetened coffee during the intermittent fasting period. It is a lot easier than you think! You are not going to go a whole day without eating! I myself fast for about 18 hours every day. There are fasting methods where you don’t eat for an entire day, but that is just too difficult, and I have found no data showing that is any better than the partial fasting I’m talking about.

The easiest way to take advantage of intermittent fasting is to extend the fasting you are already doing while you are asleep. I eat my first meal around noon, then a snack a few hours later, and then finish my dinner by 6pm. That 6-hour window is when I eat, the rest of the day, including while I am asleep, I’m fasting.

You may not be able to change over to an 18 hour fast every day – you may need to work yourself up to it, and the common target is 16 hours of fasting with an 8-hour window for eating. For most people they push their first meal, typically breakfast, later and eat dinner earlier. Then a week or so later they do that same thing again, shortening their eating window and increasing their fasting window.

Is it helpful for Kidney Disease patients?
First, you always need to speak to your health care team before making any changes to your diet or treatment plan. But for me, it was a game changer, both while on the renal diet from stage 5 to stage 3, and now while on the Keto diet. My renal dietitian recommended it to me and I’ve been doing it since shortly after being diagnosed.

Benefits of Intermittent Fasting and kidney disease:
• It certainly helps your body with inflammation – and that is something everyone with kidney disease should be concerned about. Putting stress on your kidneys causes inflammation which decreased their filtering ability, can damage more nephrons (the little filters), which drops your GFR and increases waste and toxins in your blood.
• It also helps your body manage the stress placed on it.
• It can help promote and accelerate weight loss - Lose weight fast!
• Helps manage and regulate your blood sugar. Important to keep an eye they don’t go to low if you are diabetic. Your health care team can help you there.
• Your kidneys are now focused on processing the current state of your blood and not fighting against digestion which is constantly changing it.

Eat your more fatty foods and lower carbs during your last meal of the day. The fat keeps you feeling full and makes it possible to go your entire fasting window without snacking. Lower carbs have been shown to help you sleep better, and getting sleep is very important for all of us.
Fasting is much easier for men. It is harder for women due to hormone levels but don’t let that stop you if your health care team recommends intermittent fasting for you.

To help ease yourself into this schedule, pick 2 non-consecutive days to do this first, such as a Monday and Wednesday. Do a 12 hour fast – finish dinner by 7pm and don’t eat again until 7am on those days. On those days don’t do heavy exercise, just stick to the basics like walking, yoga, and playing with the kids. You can then slowly expand this to more days, then more hours until you find the right balance for you.