Jinxing Myself?

"Researching" this post will undoubtedly contaminate my social media (principally Facebook) feed for too long, but I did resolve to write more this year or at least the six months until a new year dawns. Now having only one kidney, I innocently clicked "See more" after a post about something kidney-related. My feed is now one kidney disease "cure" after another interspersed with diet and lifestyle information related to keeping one's kidney(s) healthy. After reading several of those posts today to get some subject matter for this post, I expect not to see the end for some time. 

I have now been offered four different "cures" for the chronic kidney disease to which my solitary kidney makes me susceptible. All offer slightly different (at least to my reading as a medical know-not-a-lot) reasons for why they work. I could spend time researching those reasons in greater detail than shown here but can't justify that in terms of other things I want or need to do. The presenter of each cure (and there are several for each) notes that there are multiple products of that substance but after many words narrows things down to one particular brand. Said brand is usually noted as being more expensive than the other brands but that's okay because this one works. It's also often produced in finite quantities by a small, typically family-owned business, so ordering now is advised. The first order is usually offered at a discounted price, and there is usually a guarantee of some sort that money will be refunded if the product does not work within a certain time period. 

Where to begin? Well, one suggested cause of chronic kidney disease, kidney failure, or whatever is something called "oxidative stress" in renal tissue. So just what is "oxidative stress"? According to the AI accompanying Google on my phone (I usually skip over the AI, but in this case it's simpler to use it), oxidative stress is "an imbalance between unstable molecules called free radicals and the antioxidants that neutralize them." Kidney disease is not mentioned here as one of the conditions to which this imbalance contributes. Remember antioxidants, though; they come up quite regularly. The produce touted as reducing oxidative stress in renal tissue is a specific brand of pumpkin seed oil. I won't say which brand because that would really jinx me. Said oil comes in capsules; since I did not click through to the order form, I cannot say just how much a bag of these will set you back.

If swallowing capsules is not your thing, how does drinking tea sound? Specifically, whole-flower hibiscus tea. The brand in question is said to contain anthocyanins, said by AI to be " water-soluble vacuolar plant pigments that belong to the flavonoid category of polyphenols, rendering intense red, purple, blue, or black colors to fruits, vegetables, and flowers." Beyond the dye effect, these are said to be powerful antioxidants, ones that the ads say reduce inflammation and support nephrons naturally. From the photos accompanying the posts, I can say that hibiscus tea is definitely bright red, but I cannot tell you much of its taste other than that some people do add a sweetener such as honey. As with the pumpkin seed oil, there is only one brand that works, and it is apparently not any of the ones sold by Amazon. 

Continuing with colors in the red family is pomegranate juice. Pomegranates contain punicalagins, "antioxidants and the most abundant polyphenols found in pomegranates." They are primarily concentrated in the peel and husk rather than the seeds and are said in the ads to be "one of the most powerful" antioxidants. That they are in the peel and husk is likely why the product in question is juice and provides a benefit not attained by simply eating pomegranate seeds. AI tells me that punicalagins have many health benefits though beyond general anti-inflammatory powers nothing kidney-related is mentioned. 

Finally, while I have Vietnamese cinnamon on my spice rack, true Ceylon cinnamon is the final "cure" I've seen suggested. It supposedly helps activate something called GLUT4 (Glucose Transporter Type 4), "the primary insulin-regulated glucose transporter in the human body, encoded by the ALC2A4 Gene." As with punicalagins, GLUT4's positive effects are not stated in specific kidney-related terms. Insulin is, of course, related to diabetes, and that is a condition often mentioned in conjunction with kidney issues, so this product may have a more concrete kidney connection. As with all the others, there is only one formulation that provides the stated benefits, and now is the time to obtain that brand.

I of course have to wonder if combining all four products would have four times the positive benefits. One could take pumpkin seed oil capsules with pomegranate juice before enjoying Ceylon cinnamon toast while sipping hibiscus tea. Or would that be too much of a good thing? It would certainly set one back financially, though I admit to not having looked at the actual prices of the above things. 

I have also been a bit bombarded with "sponsored" posts for various renal diet cookbooks. While I have been advised to consume at least two liters of water (liquid?) daily and limit my sodium to under 2,000 mg, the only other dietary guidance I have been given is to eat a healthy diet. I have been given no specific guidance on potassium, something else I have seen in relation to kidney health, or protein, though I have seen a low-protein diet mentioned as being more kidney-friendly. While I might actually look into procuring such a cookbook as opposed to the supplements mentioned above, I'm right now following the more general advice the nephrologist gave me: keep myself healthy, and my kidney will stay healthy. I'm not at all sure that pumpkin seed oil, hibiscus tea, pomegranates, and Ceylon cinnamon are critical for that, though I'm sure Facebook will keep telling me that for quite a while now that I've looked into them for this post.