Positive Press

An excerpt from upcoming new book on chronic kidney disease:

So I was not dieting super-well. I was having two pieces of bread minimum per meal, my pizza had pepperoni & sausage action, and I was having some salty food and a fair amount of red meat.

And when I got my lab results, my GFR was up one point. For those who don’t know, GFR going up is GOOD. So I was glad, but didn’t know what to attribute the higher level to.

I supposed I’d been trying to be obedient, and maybe the Lord was rewarding me. Also, I don’t use a salt shaker at all, and I am cognizant of most foods that I take in. As mentioned before, I only eat one egg with breakfast. That’s 1-3 times per week, and I don’t eat much of the yolk; maybe 10% at most, and that’s mostly residual yolk that sneaks happily onto my toast. 

I do eat two hard-boiled eggs per week with lunch, and that’s two egg yolks, so I keep that meal to a minimum; two per week is my refrigerator dry-erase board schedule, but I stick to it. 

I avoid drinking a lot of milk. I do have milk in my cereal and very seldom a four ounce glass of milk with a sweet, but otherwise, I only drink milk with tea and cereal. Might I succumb when craving a milkshake annually? Maybe, but milk is high in potassium and phosphorus, so I limit my intake of the tasty beverage. 

If I have the choice between an apple and an orange, I choose the apple most times. As to orange juice, I only have about 2-3 ounces per half gallon of Crystal Light. 

I take in sweets on a limited basis: The occasional splurge on bag of mini-chocolates and gummies, a delicious oatmeal rasin cookie now and then, and ice cream maybe 4-5 times per year; but we don’t do dessert at our home often, nor out much, so my sugar (which my Zyprexa keeps borderline diabetic), is probably reasonably okay.

So I’m not pouring or sprinkling any salt on foods, I watch how much potassium I take in, this all curbs my snacking somewhat, and the Lord is good to help me stay on point personally (and sometimes I do maintain good life practices), and that is all I can imagine allowed my GFR to not go down. I don’t want to jinx it, but for the moment, it is holding steady.

ꭥ

“Lord, you alone are my portion and my cup; you make my lot secure.”

— Psalm 16:5