Kidney Function Declines During Aging-Can It Be Reversed?

[Mike Lustgarten]

In the video: 

Data for changes in kidney function during aging, kidney function values that are associated with an increased risk of death for all causes

What's my data for kidney function, 2006 - 2020?

Can diet impact kidney function? Within my data, which foods are correlated with good kidney function?

How are the individual components of these foods (fiber, protein, omega-3 fatty acids) correlated with kidney function?

 

[corybroo]

Thanks Mike.  This was very informative.

[Gordo]

Nice work. 

[drewab]

I really enjoyed this video Mike. It's quite interesting to see how your 2006-2013 values compare to your 2015-2020 values. Congratulations on improving your kidney function in a clear and measurable way. I've also got to commend you on your 25 servings per day of vegetables! I had to listen to it twice since for a moment I thought that the 2000/g per day might include all whole plant foods, but it certainly sounds like pure veg to me! 

Have you ever posted your complete diet anywhere? I would be very interested in taking a look. By the way, your kidney values towards 2006 were the worst included (though certainly comparable to average). Why do you think there weren't as good then?

[drewab]

Well, I found part of the answer here from 2015, though I'm not sure if your diet has changed since then? Either way, it looks great to me!

[Mike Lustgarten]

Thanks Gordo and drewab. In terms of my recent diet, a more recent version (Nov. 2020), that is closest to my current intake starts at 3:36 of this video: 

 

[Clinton]

Great video Mike,

Seeing such dramatic improvement in kidney function is quite inspiring!

Any guess on which veggies are more protective than others?  Lately I’ve been convinced that cruciferous vegetables are/ (sulforaphane) is the most impressive phytonutrient there is...

Are you taking any supplements beyond micronutrients such as green tea or nicotinamide riboside??

Edited February 7, 2021 by Clinton

[Mike Lustgarten]

Thanks Clinton. I eat ~1000g of broccoli+cauliflower/day, so it may be a cruciferous vegetable mediated effect. I also eat ~400g of carrots, ~350g of red bell peppers, ~150g spinach, 20g of parsley, and 150g of raw beets/day. Individually, none are correlated with eGFR as strongly as the sum of them all.

I drink loose leaf green tea every morning (20 oz), so I don't supplement with the extract. In terms of suppplements, I take L-thyroxine for hypothyroidism, Vit D in the winter, and a methylfolate/methylB12/B6 stack to help with homocysteine. No NMN or NR, either.

[Clinton]

Nice vegetable intake!! 
I also prioritize spinach, carrots and cruciferous veggies.

 I assume you are taking the parsley for the apigenin??

 I used to be keen on parsley for apigenin but read that the bioavailability of apigenin is very low... however it is an extremely compelling nutrient to be sure; highly anti-cancerous and generally impressive 

[Mike Lustgarten]

Nice on the veggie intake for you, too! Yep, parsley for the apigenin. I'm in the boat where some, as you mentioned, is likely better than none.

[Sibiriak]

9 hours ago, Clinton said:

parsley for the apigenin

While not on the level of parsley,  chamomile seems to be a decent source of apigenin:
 

Quote

Apigenin is particularly abundant in the flowers of chamomile plants, constituting 68% of total flavonoids.^[4]

Dried parsley can contain about 45 mg/gram and dried chamomile flower about 3-5 mg/gram apigenin.^[5]

  (Wikipedia)

(Of course, there's a lot more to chamomile than just  apigenin.  See:  Chamomile: A herbal medicine of the past with bright future)

Chamomile extracts are usually standardized to 1.2% apigenin,  for example:

Nature's Way Chamomile   Serving Size: 2 Capsules Other Ingredients Plant-derived capsule (hypromellose).
Servings per Container: 30
	Amount Per Serving	% Daily Value
Chamomile (flower)	440 mg	**
Chamomile Extract (flower) standardized to 1.2% apigenin (3.0 mg)	250 mg

Do either of you erudite gentlemen know  approx. how many  milligrams  of apigenin you need to get the effects you are seeking (including muscle growth/function effects)?

 

[Mike Lustgarten]

I looked into the Chamomile tea studies for apigenin, and there's a lot of variability-it can be from 1 mg/500 mL to 90 mg/500 mL. See 13:13 of this video:
 

 

[Sibiriak]

Thanks Mike.      I wasn't actually suggesting chamomile tea (potency varying as well with chamomile amount used and extraction method), but rather standardized chamomile extracts.  And not as a an alternative to dried parsley, but as a supplemental source,  keeping in mind that chamomile has a lot of potential health benefits and medicinal uses apart from the effects of its  modest apigenin content.

But I see you're aiming at a mega-dose of  at least 288mg apigenin /day (71 kg person)--  translating straight from mice studies.  Chamomile wouldn't be much help in that case,  you're right.

Of course, as you point out, the efficacy of that dosage remains highly speculative  until backed by  human trials as well.   Most importantly,   such a potent dose would require  human studies to verify long-term safety.

It would  be extremely surprising to find out that apigenin was not a double-edged sword like most other polyphenols such as resveratrol and many others.

Compare the lurking potential dangers in ursolic acid supplementation:  https://www.crsociety.org/topic/11395-prostate-cancer-prevention/?page=2&tab=comments#comment-22324

 

Edited February 8, 2021 by Sibiriak

[Mike Lustgarten]

Yes, Sibiriak, I agree 100%. For most of the reasons that you mentioned, I eat fresh parsley to get apigenin into my diet. Whether that's enough to positively impact muscle mass or NAD+ metabolism is unknown, but I'd bet that some is better than none.

[Ron Put]

Thanks, Mike. This was interesting. I had never calculated my GFR before and just did, based on my creatinine levels. I used this online calculator.

Currently, my creatinine has dropped to 0.6mg/dL:

Result:

■ By using the IDMS-traceable MDRD study equation, the estimated GFR value is: 138.38 mL/min/1.73 m²
■ By using the CKD-EPI Formula, the estimated GFR value is: 110.83 mL/min/1.73 m²
■ By using the Mayo Quadratic Formula, the estimated GFR value is: 118.07 mL/min/1.73 m²

I significantly changed my diet about 3 years ago (in large part because of this forum and my own research), moving from a vegetarian closer to vegan and reducing processed products, including pasta, bread, most grains (switched to seeds like flax), and oils (I used to consume a lot of EVOO).

Before the dietary change, my creatinine was 0.8mg/dL, which translates to:
 

Result:

■ By using the IDMS-traceable MDRD study equation, the estimated GFR value is: 100.00 mL/min/1.73 m²
■ By using the CKD-EPI Formula, the estimated GFR value is: 99.86 mL/min/1.73 m²
■ By using the Mayo Quadratic Formula, the estimated GFR value is: 119.70 mL/min/1.73 m²

[Mike Lustgarten]

Good job, Ron! Creatinine is proportional to muscle mass, so hopefully that hasn't changed over the past 3y?

[Ron Put]

6 minutes ago, Mike Lustgarten said:

Good job, Ron! Creatinine is proportional to muscle mass, so hopefully that hasn't changed over the past 3y?

Thanks, Mike. Actually, I did a DEXA scan in 2019 and another in 2020 and my lean mass has improved :)

[Mike Lustgarten]

18 minutes ago, Ron Put said:

Thanks, Mike. Actually, I did a DEXA scan in 2019 and another in 2020 and my lean mass has improved 🙂

increased lean mass but decreased fat mass, nice!