TweetThis is not mine, but a good read!


All this muscle we have places a nice added stress on our kidneys. All I hear (usually when talking about trenbolone) is "bro drink alot of water and take loads of cranberry extract and you will be fine"

But.. umm.. I know alot of us are skeptical. So what's the real scoop on kidney function?

First of all (in my opinion), TOSS THE CRANBERRY EXTRACT. Yes, it guards against urinary tract infection, which DOES impair the kidneys, but if you don't have infections, is it really helping? My best guess is NO (correct me if i'm wrong). Get this:

Urology 2001 Jan;57(1):26-9 Related Articles, Books, LinkOut

Dietary supplementation with cranberry concentrate tablets may increase the risk of nephrolithiasis.

Terris MK, Issa MM, Tacker JR.

Department of Urology, Stanford University Medical Center, Stanford, California, USA.

OBJECTIVES: Cranberry juice has been recommended for patients with recurrent urinary tract infections. However, cranberry juice has a moderately high concentration of oxalate, a common component of kidney stones, and should be limited in patients with a history of nephrolithiasis. Cranberry concentrate tablets are currently available at nutrition stores and are sold as promoters of urinary tract health. After one of our patients with a distant history of calcium oxalate nephrolithiasis developed recurrent stones following self-administration of cranberry concentrate tablets, we sought to investigate the potential lithogenic properties of cranberry supplements. METHODS: Five healthy volunteers on a normal diet provided 24-hour urine collection for pH, volume, creatinine, oxalate, calcium, phosphate, uric acid, sodium, citrate, magnesium, and potassium. Cranberry tablets were administered to these volunteers at the manufacturer's recommended dosage for 7 days. On the seventh day, a second 24-hour urine collection was obtained. RESULTS: The urinary oxalate levels in the volunteers significantly increased (P = 0.01) by an average of 43.4% while receiving cranberry tablets. The excretion of potential lithogenic ions calcium, phosphate, and sodium also increased. However, inhibitors of stone formation, magnesium and potassium, rose as well. CONCLUSIONS: Cranberry concentrate tablets are marketed for urinary tract ailments. Physicians and manufacturers of cranberry products should make an effort to educate patients at risk for nephrolithiasis against ingestion of these dietary supplements.


Cranberry is BAD for kidneys?

Not only am I going out on a limb suggesting that cranberry doesn't do anything, but according to the above study, it might actually *HURT* THE KIDNEYS. if it does increase risk of kidney stones.. then it does. why? well, kidney stones are correlated with renal impairment, so, one might assume that something that causes kidney stones places additional stress on the kidneys.


What is chronic renal failure, anyway?

"Unlike acute renal failure with its sudden reversible failure of kidney function, chronic renal failure is slowly progressive. It most often results from any disease that causes gradual destruction of the kidneys. It can range from mild dysfunction to severe kidney failure. Progression may continue to end-stage renal disease. Chronic renal failure usually occurs over a number of years as the internal structures of the kidney are slowly destroyed. In the early stages, there may be no symptoms. In fact, progression may be so gradual that symptoms do not occur until kidney function is less than one-tenth of normal.

Chronic renal failure occurs in approximately 2 out of 10,000 people. Causative diseases include glomerulonephritis of any type (one of the most common causes), polycystic kidney disease, hypertension, Alport syndrome, reflux nephropathy, obstructive uropathy, kidney stones and infection, and analgesic nephropathy. Diabetes mellitus is a major cause of chronic renal failure."


So now what.....?

Well, given that list of causes, the only one I think applies to all of us would be hypertension. In general, the lower the BP, the happier the kidneys. So, protection of the kidneys should focus on blood pressure and blood flow.

One replacement herbal we all can start taking is Hawthorn extract. Hawthorn is cool: it lowers BP, increases blood flow, has a diuretic effect, and has antioxidant properties. Given all those, it sounds a whole hell of a lot better than cranberry for kidney protection. By the way, you want whole plant extract, which includes the stem, leaves, and berries. Also, Hawthorn has been more or less proven to reduce heart problems, so, I'm thinking none of us really have a good reason NOT to take it (it is cheap).

Another point of interest is that studies have shown that beer significantly reduces the incidence of kidney stones. Kidney stones hurt the kidneys so... maybe we all should consider tossing some beer into our regimen as well (come on, do you NEED a reason to drink beer? )

There are some other herbs to consider, but blah.. someone else evaluate em. The final information I am presenting is the traditional medical approach:

"Blood pressure has to be managed aggressively to slow down the inevitable deterioration in renal function. ACE inhibitors are the main stay of treatment. Renal artery stenosis is more common amongst diabetics and an ACEI should be withdrawn if there is an abrupt rise in creatinine after starting an ACEI. Additional agents might include

a cardioselective beta blocker - e.g. atenolol
an alpha blocker - doxazosin
a calcium channel blocker - amlodipine, nifedipine LA
a loop diuretic - frusemide
a centrally acting drug - moxonidine

The lower the better is the rule for the blood pressure!"


One thing of note: it seems half of us are loaded up on ECA 24/7; ECA increases BP, and this of course is probably a bad thing. Not to mention aspirin, being an NSAID, impairs kidneys directly all by itself.


This is by no means the final word on kidney protection, but I think it's a step in the right direction. In short:

1. Toss the cranberry
2. Get hawthorn
3. Drink an assload of water as usual
4. Watch your BP; try to keep it as low as possible
5. Oh yeah.. and keep the fridge stocked with beer!

Tweetgreat post wh you da man

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Originally posted by jack hust
great post wh you da man

NO your tha man!

TweetI like the suggestion about BEER.

:p