Can fruits and veggies help kidneys in patients with hypertension?

Researchers have examined whether following certain dietary habits may help improve kidney function and the risk of cardiovascular disease in patients with primary hypertension and macroalbuminuria.

In a study published in The American Journal of Medicine, the researchers randomly assigned 153 patients with primary hypertension, normal kidney function and macroalbuminuria to increase their consumption of fruits and vegetables, receive oral sodium bicarbonate supplementation or undergo usual care with standard medications.

Both the patients in the fruits and vegetables group and sodium bicarbonate supplementation group demonstrated slower kidney function decline and reduced albuminuria progression compared with the usual care group. However, compared with the sodium bicarbonate supplementation and usual care groups, the fruits and vegetables group experienced greater reductions in systolic blood pressure and improvements in their markers of cardiovascular disease risk — including low-density lipoprotein cholesterol and body mass index.

The researchers concluded that increasing the intake of fruits and vegetables could be considered part of a primary treatment strategy in patients with hypertension. Further studies may be needed to determine whether patients with less severe albuminuria show similar responses to dietary changes.

Read more: The American Journal of Medicine

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