Could a Mediterranean Diet Benefit Kidney Health?

Often lauded for its benefits in heart health, a Mediterranean-style diet may promote better kidney health as well, according to a new study in the Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology.

A Mediterranean-style diet typically includes higher consumption of fruits, vegetables, fish, legumes, and heart-healthy fats, while minimizing red meats, processed foods, and sweets. Researchers found that study participants who adhered to this type of diet showed a significantly reduced risk of developing chronic kidney disease.
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“The Mediterranean diet has been shown to reduce cardiovascular disease risk, but data on kidney disease outcomes is limited,” says lead study author Minesh Khatri, MD, an associate professor of medicine at Columbia University Medical Center in New York. “While we cannot demonstrate causality due to the observational nature of this study, we did find an association between increased adherence to a Mediterranean diet and reduced risk of incident chronic kidney disease and rapid kidney function decline.”

Khatri and his colleagues examined the associations of varying degrees of the Mediterranean diet on long-term kidney function in an observational, community-based, prospective study. They analyzed data from 900 patients who were followed for nearly 7 years in the Northern Manhattan Study.

They measured adherence to the diet with a Mediterranean diet score—each time a participant’s score went up by one point, their risk for developing chronic kidney disease decreased by 17%.

Those who stayed on track with the diet had a 50% lower risk of developing chronic kidney disease and a 42% lower risk of experiencing rapid kidney function decline.

“There is increasing evidence to suggest that poor dietary patterns may negatively impact kidney health, and this study adds to that knowledge base,” Khatri says.

He also stresses that more established risk factors for kidney disease, such as hypertension and diabetes, need to be optimally controlled as well in order to promote kidney health.

“Diet clearly plays a large role in hypertension and diabetes, and dietary strategies to reduce salt intake and blood glucose levels respectively also have favorable kidney effects,” Khatri says. “Mediterranean diet has been associated with improvements in inflammation, blood pressure, and endothelial function, which could lead to renal benefits.”

Currently, Khatri and his colleagues are continuing to work on observational studies to identify possible mechanisms of action to explain how better adherence to the Mediterranean diet is linked to a reduced risk of developing chronic kidney disease.

“Ultimately, this hypothesis needs to be tested in a randomized clinical trial,” he says. If this is rigorously tested in controlled trials, this may provide another way to treat and prevent kidney disease.”

—Colleen Mullarkey

Reference

Khatri M, Moon YP, Scarmeas N, Gu Y, Gardener H, Cheung K, et al. The association between a Mediterranean-style diet and kidney function in the Northern Manhattan Study Cohort. Clin J Am Soc Nephrol. 2014 Oct 30. [Epub ahead of print].