June 11, 2024 • 35 mins
Ever wondered how keeping your kidneys healthy could greatly affect your life day to day? Join us as we uncover the crucial role of kidney health and detoxification with Jen Hernandez RDN, CSR, LDN, a seasoned dietician who specializes in kidney health. Jen provides you with practical and easy to calculate tips to keep your kidneys in top shape.
In this episode, we also explore the powerful world of plant-based nutrition and discuss the big media buzzword: detoxification!
Tune in for a wealth of knowledge that will help you prioritize your kidney health and make informed nutritional choices.
Jen Hernandez's IG:
@plantpoweredkidneys
https://www.plantpoweredkidneys.com
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome back to Confessions of a Wannabe it Girl
, the podcast helping you filterout the BS in pursuit of
becoming the next it girl, andin today's episode we are
touching on health.
I think it's fair to say thatwhen you feel good, when you're
taking care of your health, lifejust becomes a little easier to
be grinding, hustling, pursuingthat wannabe it girl life.
(00:22):
I love doing health episodesbecause it's something no matter
what you're doing in life ifyou are becoming a professional
athlete or you just want to be ahuman and live a long life,
health is obviously superimportant.
So in this episode we aretalking about detoxification and
(00:44):
kidney health.
We are joined by Jen, adietician, to talk about what's
really going on with our kidneys, why kidney health is important
, and, of course, we talk aboutkind of that buzzword in media
detox.
A little bit about health andlike nutrition-y points as well.
So I'm excited for you tolisten to this episode and keep
(01:06):
improving that health yin.
Welcome to Confessions of aWannabe it Girl.
I'm your host, marley Fregging,and I'm here to help you filter
out all the bullshit and becomethe next it Girl.
This podcast explores thereality of what it really takes
to make it out there.
As it turns out, it is way lessInstagrammable than I thought
it really takes to make it outthere as it turns out.
(01:28):
It is way less Instagrammablethan I thought it was going to
be.
I'm still very much a work inprogress, but there's simply
nothing else I'd rather be doingthan chasing my dreams.
So let's learn from my mistakesand work together to achieve
our dreams with more confidence,clarity and direction.
Let's get after it.
Well, hi, jen, welcome.
So much to the podcast.
I'm very excited to have youhere today to talk about all
(01:51):
things nutrition and kidneyhealth.
So thanks for joining us.
Speaker 2 (01:55):
Thanks so much for having me, Marley.
I'm really excited to chat withyou today and always excited to
geek out on kidney stuff.
Speaker 1 (02:04):
We love that.
So for somebody like myself who, you know, maybe went to
college and high school but, youknow, didn't really maybe
retain the information regardinga kidney, can you tell us a
little bit about kidney healthand you know what our kidneys do
for us and why it's importantto have healthy kidneys?
Speaker 2 (02:24):
So the kidneys do a lot of the stuff on the back end
of our health.
It's taking care of our bloodpressure.
It's making red blood cells toget oxygen through to our body,
which is incredibly important.
All of our cells, all of ourorgans need oxygen, so it's
creating the vehicles to help dothat.
It's balancing our acid-basebalance A lot of people talk
(02:45):
about alkalinity and acidity,and the kidneys are really
functioning to help take care ofthat and it takes care of our
bone health.
It regulates and createshormones.
I mean, the kidneys are anincredibly important organ and
unfortunately, it's just one ofthose things that we don't
really think about until there'ssomething wrong and then all of
a sudden it turns into totalpanic.
Speaker 1 (03:08):
Yeah, I was going to say the same thing.
I think it's like somethingwe're like.
We know we have kidneys,they're working, but we're like,
and then they're like, oh,something's wrong with your
kidney.
So what's some signs of anunhealthy kidney?
Speaker 2 (03:22):
So there can be quite a lot of signs and some of them
, unfortunately, are a bit morebroad.
So, like a common sign isfeeling fatigued, which can be
covered by so many differentsituations.
But I do think if a person isfeeling really drained of energy
and just cannot keep up withthings, then it's a good thing
to go to the doctor and justmake sure you kind of run the
(03:43):
gamut and just check through allof these things, especially if
you do have a family history ofhigh blood pressure, diabetes
and, of course, kidney disease,because a lot of these things
are hereditary and so if youhave family members that are
predisposed to them, it's areally important thing to talk
to your healthcare providerabout so that they know what to
track for you kind of down theroad and when something like
(04:04):
this comes up.
So fatigue is a really bigthing to be looking into If you
have blood pressure issues thatcan cause kidney problems down
the road.
If you have diabetes, any typeof blood sugar control issues
that also can cause kidneydamage down the road.
Other signs could be swellingof the extremities, so some
people might get swelling aroundtheir ankles.
(04:26):
This is typically more of alate stage kidney disease
problem.
However, it's reallyunfortunate that a lot of people
don't actually learn aboutkidney damage until it's at a
very late stage.
In fact, most people don'tlearn about kidney damage until
they qualify for dialysis or atransplant, which is end stage
kidney failure.
Speaker 1 (04:46):
Right.
So that's like the yikes-ostatus that we obviously don't
want to be getting towards.
Is there, like you mentioned,that it's pretty hereditary, but
like?
Are there things maybe like inour day-to-day life that we
don't think of, that iscurrently damaging our kidneys?
Speaker 2 (05:03):
don't think of that is currently damaging our
kidneys.
Definitely, hydration is really, really important, so it is
incredibly important.
I mean, it's getting warmer nowso it's easier for us to be
thinking about staying hydratedand drinking plenty of water,
but also, just throughout theyear, making sure that we are
drinking enough water throughoutthe day, not thinking that we
have to chug a whole bunch ofwater at one point and we're
(05:25):
going to be good for a while,but really kind of continuously
drinking fluids, beverages,primarily water, throughout the
day is incredibly important.
It's basically giving yourkidneys the roadway in order to
help filter out wastes, which isone of the roles.
One of the things that it doesis it produces urine to help get
rid of toxins and waste out ofour body.
So we want to make sure thatwe're staying really, really
(05:47):
hydrated so that the kidneys cando that function for us and can
keep going.
Speaker 1 (05:52):
Well, I love that you brought up drinking water,
because I feel like we kind ofall hear like we should drink
more water and then everyone'slike, well, how much is enough
water?
Which I know is like a verytricky question because
everybody's different sizes andweight but like, how do we know
we're getting enough water?
Speaker 2 (06:09):
Yeah, it can be really tricky.
For sure, a general rule ofthumb that you that most people
can kind of go off of is abouthalf of your weight in pounds
would be the ounces of water orfluids for you to drink.
And I go back and forth betweensaying water and fluid because,
yes, coffee and teas and allkinds of beverages, those still
(06:30):
count as hydration, they havesome diuretic effect, but it's
not like you drink eight ouncesof coffee, you pee eight ounces,
so they still count as fluidsto stay hydrated.
So back to the water or fluids.
For example, a person that is150 pounds would be aiming for
about 75 ounces of fluidsthroughout the day, and so
(06:51):
that's a really good startingpoint and you can always check
with your doctor to make sureyou're on the right track.
You might need a little bitmore.
If you're like in a really hotarea that you're sweating a lot,
or if you're working out a lot,you might need more fluids.
But at least that gives youkind of a starting point.
Speaker 1 (07:10):
No, I love that.
We need just like a hot tipthat we can like figure out
quickly on the go and just belike.
This is, like my base startingpoint.
It's very actionable.
You know, we think about thekidneys a lot in like flushing
out the toxins and somethingthat's become very trendy
through social media and alsolike maybe in the health and
wellness space is saunas andwhatnot Like does this help our
kidneys or is this like not theneed?
Speaker 2 (07:32):
No, this is really not.
It's, if anything, it's goingto be creating more of that
dehydration effect by having yousweat more and eliminate more
fluids.
So it's definitely important,if you're using a sauna, that
you really want to stay hydrated.
We have liver.
Even our skin is detoxing forus, like our body is pretty
(08:00):
capable of detoxifying thingsfor us, on our behalf, and it's
incredibly resilient of what itcan do and the things that we
give our bodies right.
Speaker 1 (08:07):
Well, and like I feel like we became so buzzword
obsessed for a while there aboutlike the detox or the cleanse,
and like you know, also being anutritionist who obviously
focuses in kidney health butlike what's your take on like
the juice cleanse and like isthis actually helping her health
or no?
Speaker 2 (08:26):
Well, I mean just like a juice cleanse.
Okay, I'll tell you somethingreally quick.
Um, back in when I first becamea dietitian, this was like 10
years ago.
Um, there was like a juice barthat opened up when I where I
was living in Texas and I waslike, okay, they were selling
this like juice cleanse thing.
I was like, all right, let mejust try this out, Cause I have
a lot of clients that areinterested in this, I kid you
(08:47):
not.
I think I lasted like six hoursbefore I had to eat something.
My husband was like you boughtlike I don't know $100 worth of
juices.
That, like we ordered pizzabecause I was starving and I was
like cannot, cannot, absolutelydo this.
So it's really not healthy tobe doing anything, that you are
restricting yourself so much.
(09:09):
And while juices can have a lotof great nutrients and a lot of
great benefits, they caninclude amazing nutrients,
vitamins, minerals that our bodyneeds.
It's not all inclusive and it'sjust not going to cover all of
the things, including calories,that our body needs just simply
to keep our heart pumping andour lungs breathing and our
(09:32):
brain thinking.
So it's really, reallyimportant to make sure that
we're getting enough nutrientsand a more balanced diet.
And again, if you want toinclude juices, by all means,
that definitely can be a greatoption, but it wouldn't just be
the only thing that I wouldrecommend.
Speaker 1 (09:44):
Well, you recommend some great stuff on your
Instagram.
Your content is really allabout the swaps you can make to
be promoting healthier choices,to be helping your kidney and
overall wellbeing.
What are?
Are some like food swaps you'rereally into right now?
Oh my gosh.
Speaker 2 (10:00):
I am a huge fan of beans and I feel like beans are
like the low key superhero ofnutrition.
Speaker 1 (10:09):
Go off because I love beans.
Speaker 2 (10:11):
Good, good, I we um, yeah, they're.
They're really, really fabulousand you can include them in so
many ways and just the purevariations of beans that there
are.
It's incredible that you canhave a category of food and not
get bored of it, like you couldwith like chicken or something.
But the really amazing thingabout beans is that it's not
(10:32):
only providing protein for usthat we need and just another
kind of thing maybe we can getinto this in a bit but like it's
providing plant protein andit's not providing a sheer
overwhelm of protein, but it'salso providing us with fiber and
a whole array of vitamins andminerals.
Like it is very comprehensivein the nutrition.
And I know already people aremaybe thinking about like this
(10:56):
idea of a complete protein andthat's been debunked.
That's no longer a thing.
We know that our body does havesome amino acid stores and that
we are able to kind of puttogether amino acids which are
the building blocks of protein,based off of foods that we eat,
as long as we're eating avariety of foods in our diet.
So beans, I think, are a greatswap for a lot of ground meat
(11:18):
options.
Like you could do it for tacos,you can do it for like bean
burgers.
You can incorporate them intolasagnas and casseroles.
You can, like, air fry them andturn them into a nice, really
really good, like crispy crunchysnack.
They're so good.
They're so good and they're soaffordable.
I mean this day, same age, withthe cost of food going up so
(11:39):
crazy.
Dry beans, canned beans, thoseare all really really good,
affordable options.
Speaker 1 (11:44):
Well, we're going to go right where you wanted to go,
which is talking about aplant-based diet.
As somebody who has been apescatarian I think I've been a
pescatarian since seventh gradeand I was a vegetarian maybe for
like two years I'm obviously abig fan of the plant-based diet.
I mean, I'm closer to 30 than Iam fifth grade now and I'm
(12:05):
still at it, so I obviouslyreally like it.
What you know and especiallyright now I'm feeling and
hearing so much about you knowthis push for like heavy meat
diets and whatnot.
What is it about theplant-based diet that is so
successful, or being moreplant-based, even focused?
Speaker 2 (12:23):
Yeah, yeah.
The funny thing is is like weuse the term plant-based a lot
but there's not actually like adefinition, a true definition of
what plant-based means.
So I mean, I use it a lot, justthinking.
I'm the age where, like I grewup and then in my nutrition
school, like the food pyramid,like the classic food pyramid
yes, the iconic food pyramid,yes, yes, that is what I grew up
(12:44):
learning and so I always thinkabout the base of the pyramid
being the fruits and vegetables.
It's like that's where my mindgoes to when I think about a
plant-based diet is, as long asyour foundation is including
plenty of fruits and vegetables,then those smaller parts of the
pyramid are going to be moremodifiable and adjustable and
they can still be a part, youknow, whatever those smaller
(13:06):
pieces are.
But if you have that foundationof plants, you're really
setting yourself up for success.
And there are so many reasons asto why having a plant-based or
plant-forward diet is healthy.
I mean, for one, the gut, whichis a really, really big popular
thing right now such a bigconversation, right.
So including a variety ofplants in our diet is actually
(13:29):
going to give us more of thosehealthy microbes to help take
care of toxins and that actuallyconnects back to the kidneys,
because a healthy gut is afoundation of what gets absorbed
into the bloodstream and thenis filtered by the kidneys.
So having a healthy gut thatcan take away some of these
toxins is really going tosupport not just I mean, you
(13:50):
know so many other things butalso our kidney health too.
So I love having more plants inthe diet for that reason
there's also kind of in linewith that as well as having
enough fiber, which most of usdon't get nearly enough fiber in
our day.
So including more plants is areally, really good option of
how to do that.
And when we talk about plantsit's fruits, vegetables, even
(14:11):
whole grains, nuts, legumes,seeds, like it's a.
It's a big variety of foods.
So those are some of thebenefits.
But there's also research tolook into how a plant-based diet
can help prevent or eliminatediabetes, like type two diabetes
.
It can help with mental healthissues.
It can help with just brainhealth overall, with long-term
longevity of how we're gettingolder and the way that our body
(14:37):
kind of breaks down essentially.
But the plants are reallyhelpful in keeping that better
quality of life later in lifeand I've seen that with so many
clients.
Speaker 1 (14:46):
Wow, even switching at an older age to a plant.
Speaker 2 (14:50):
Mm-hmm.
Speaker 1 (14:51):
Well, and this takes me to something because you know
, being a pescatarian for quitesome time, I have definitely
seen the rise of you know beinga pescatarian for quite some
time, I have definitely seen therise of, you know, the
impossible burger and the beyondburger.
And you know, I saw on yourInstagram a little bit about
this, about like really lookingat what's in them, like what is
your take on kind of the veganvegetarian food out there?
(15:12):
Like what do we need to reallybe looking at and maybe what we
should steer to look for?
Speaker 2 (15:19):
Yeah, I think that there's been a good place of
some of these food items to beintegrated.
When somebody is thinking aboutlike how can I eliminate or
reduce my animal proteinconsumption, I think it's a good
stepping stone.
There are some things that Ilike to look at when it comes to
the nutrition profile of thesetypes of substitutes, because
(15:41):
oftentimes they're not that muchhealthier than if you were just
to stick with the animalprotein option in the first
place.
Right, Just because it's vegan,it doesn't mean it's healthier
right, yes, but they love themarketing, they love putting
that out there and they lovetalking just about how they can
say we're vegan, we'replant-based.
(16:01):
I mean, it's such a goodselling, and then they can also
probably double their profitsjust by putting that out there
too.
Speaker 1 (16:07):
Yeah, absolutely.
So what are the things you lookfor in those foods?
Speaker 2 (16:14):
So saturated fat.
For sure, it's important thatwe be careful with how much
saturated fat we're getting inour diet, and animal fats,
particularly red meats, do tendto have higher saturated fat
amounts.
But then some of theseplant-based alternatives they
might use fats to, for whateverreason, that they're creating
the substitute, this lookalikethey might be having a high
(16:37):
saturated fat load as well, andso that's something that it can
be better to come from a plant.
But also we need to look atjust the bottom line of the
saturated fat content as well.
So, keeping that in mindespecially if you have a history
or personal concerns about,like heart disease,
cardiovascular disease, it'sit's important to watch out for
(16:59):
something like that.
And then, along that line aswell, is sodium, because while
an animal meat burger may or maynot have added sodium depending
on if it's just the meat or ifit's been kind of pre-seasoned
or something a lot of the plantsubstitutes can be quite high in
salt, and one of my easy ruleof thumbs when it comes to
(17:21):
sodium in any type of packagedfood is to, to the best of your
capability, look for somethingthat has less milligrams of
sodium than it does calories,and that will help you keep to a
lower sodium diet, which isimportant for pretty much
everybody because we get a lotof salt in our diet.
But, for example, you seesomething that's 200 calories
(17:44):
but it's 350 milligrams ofsodium.
That's going to be quite a highsodium load for the amount of
calories that you're getting.
Speaker 1 (17:52):
I have never heard that and I'm so into it because
I do feel like with the fitnesstrackers and the tracking, the
calories, people are just allabout the calories but really
like what's the health benefitof it?
And I want to pivot back to,you know, seeing we're kind of
talking about like the macros Iput in quotations here.
You mentioned fiber.
(18:12):
Like we don't seem to getenough fiber, which obviously
you know helps people go to thebathroom and like you know, in
your line of work, like what,how many times should we be
going to the bathroom?
How much fiber is too littlefiber?
How do we increase our fiber?
Speaker 2 (18:31):
Yeah, yeah, let's do like a fiber one-on-one Cause I
do feel like this is soimportant and you're right, it's
definitely not talked about asmuch but it really should be,
especially for, like I would say, like younger generations.
We see a lot of things that arelike supplemented with fiber,
but they're not talking aboutlike fiber from whole foods or
even the purpose of it, right?
So I would say to start withfiber goals for the day 25 grams
(18:55):
per day for women, 38 grams perday for men those are the
standards, but when you follow amore plant forward diet, you
will easily go well beyond that.
I have clients hitting 50, 60plus grams of fiber per day easy
, not even thinking about it.
That's just something becauseof the plants that they're
including.
So that's the target that youwant to be aiming for and coming
(19:17):
from primarily whole foodsources.
So it's not target that youwant to be aiming for and coming
from primarily whole foodsources.
So it's not going to be thesame necessarily.
I mean fiber products, fiberrich products can be great, can
be a stepping stone again, butat the end of the day, we want
to make sure that we're gettingour nutrients primarily from
food as much as possible.
Speaker 1 (19:35):
Well, that kind of brings me to you know protein
powders as well.
I feel like you're going to saythey're part of like a stepping
stone.
There's so many options, You'vegot the raw, you got the vegan,
you got the whey.
How do you really like pick aprotein powder and also like not
think it's the be all end allof getting your protein?
(19:56):
And I've definitely been guiltyof that, of thinking, well, I
drink protein powder today, I'mgood.
Speaker 2 (20:02):
Yeah, that is a big thing.
I mean.
So many people feel like it isan absolute necessity, but most
of us don't need as much proteinas we think and I know there's
a lot of people, a lot ofinfluencers, that'll come out
and say, no, you need like somuch more, but I would.
I would counter that with.
There are plenty of otherpeople that are not eating as
(20:26):
significant amounts ofplant-based and a lot of
research has shown that youdon't need to have such a
substantial amount of proteinbecause one that can be really
hard, and if you're, if yourbrain is a hundred percent
always wired thinking you haveto get your protein, that's not
healthy either.
So, incorporating a betterbalance in your diet and, of
(20:47):
course, if you want to includesome protein supplements, if you
feel like that is best for you,or if it's something when
you're like on the run and youdo need something that's just
grab and go, that can be great.
Um, so, like a whey protein ispretty much like the gold
standard also can be a reallyaffordable protein option
because it is everywhere,basically, um.
(21:08):
So if that's something that youwant to do, that is absolutely
a possibility.
There's um.
I don't even know if it's likenecessarily a trend anymore, but
the like ultra filtered milkproducts, the ones that are not
necessarily using like a proteinpowder per se, but they're just
, they're kind of condensing themilk a little bit more to
(21:30):
increase the protein content ofthe milk.
You know I'm talking about likeI don't want to shut up certain
brands, but there are somebrands of milk that, um, that do
have a higher protein contentbecause they've just gotten rid
of some of the extra fat,carbohydrates, water, um, to
help condense that protein, andthat can be a really good option
as well.
That can be easier to find too.
But, um, usually the startingpoint for protein is 0.8 grams
(21:55):
per kilogram of your body weightand it's not that it's it's,
it's not crazy high.
Like a person who's about, letme see, I'm not great at math I
don't know.
Speaker 1 (22:04):
I'm teaching these calculators.
Love that Podcasters also usecalculators.
Speaker 2 (22:14):
But, um, I want to say I was just actually plugging
calculators into some of myblog articles today on my
website for references.
Yeah, it's a great idea.
So let me see if I can rememberwhat I was plugging in.
A 150-pound person would begetting, should be targeting
about, I want to say 60, I thinkit was 60 or so grams of
(22:35):
protein.
I think it was 60 or so gramsof protein.
So you know a lot of these likemeals that we see that are like
super heavy or some of like youtalk about.
Like some of these proteinshakes and supplements.
I have seen some that are likecrazy high.
You know, like a 40 gramprotein shake for somebody who
needs 60 grams for the day.
Like, yeah, that's going tocover a lot of your protein but
it's not going to get you thecalories you need and it's
(22:57):
definitely not going to get youthe other like fiber and other
nutrients that your body needstoo.
So I would say, making surethat you are getting your
protein from these other wholefoods, like another shout out to
beans, because it's going togive you so many more nutrients
that your body really, reallyneeds and loves and appreciates.
Speaker 1 (23:15):
I love that you do a lot of work with a renal diet.
Speaker 2 (23:18):
What is the renal diet?
It is our like nerdy way ofsaying the kidney diet basically
.
So renal is another term ofkidneys and so for different
stages of kidney disease we havedifferent types of renal diets.
So like an earlier stage wouldbe like, for example, like a
(23:39):
normal protein diet, a normalpotassium, lower sodium still,
and then it goes down into likelate stage renal disease and
that's maybe lower protein,lower potassium, maybe more of
the nutrients like magnesium orsomething, depending on what's
going on situation.
And then there's dialysis,which is end stage prenatal
(24:00):
disease.
So it's, it's just basicallyanother fancy term.
You know, in healthcare like wealways have to have 10
different terms for like the onething we're talking about.
We can't make it easy, we haveto make it difficult, we have to
make it complicated, we have touse as much medical jargon as
possible.
So people are confused andtotally reliant on healthcare.
Speaker 1 (24:22):
Love that you know, and I'm sure you have a lot of
conversations with people andI'm kind of wondering, you know,
in today's world with, like youknow, the price of food going
up and everything like, what arethe common conversations you
find yourself having?
Like, what are issues that youseem to be hearing a lot about
that maybe we can start to watchout for.
Speaker 2 (24:42):
There's been a lot of conversations about potassium,
which is another nutrient, kindof like fiber, that people just
don't typically get enough of,and even for people with kidney
issues.
Historically we thought thatthere had to be a lower
potassium diet, but now theresearch is saying that actually
no potassium is still reallyhelpful, even for people with
(25:04):
kidney disease in various stages, and so a lot of my work is
involved about talking about howto get more potassium into the
diet, which I still, to this day, have people commenting or
DMing to say I thought Icouldn't have bananas.
I mean it breaks my heart Likeone of my students had messaged
to say she didn't have a bananafor like four years because she
(25:29):
thought she couldn't.
Yeah, she thought she couldn'tbecause of her kidney issues,
and we finally like went throughit.
We talked about the importanceof potassium and she
reintegrated bananas, like oneof her favorite fruits, back
into her diet, and so that islike something that I definitely
talk about a lot when it comesto like getting a very lesser
(25:49):
known nutrient back into thediet, and that's actually a fun
fact.
People not getting enoughpotassium is one of the reasons
why you're going to start seeingit on nutrition labels now
because Americans don't getenough potassium and so they're
putting it in the bottomdownlink by the vitamin D area
to help show people where thereare good sources of potassium.
Speaker 1 (26:11):
I also feel like is it possible to have too high of
potassium, or have I just madethat up?
Speaker 2 (26:18):
Well, if you have kidney issues, then, yes, there
is a possibility.
Yes, gotcha, but our bodies areincredibly resilient and in
fact, even our gut helps toremove potassium through bowel
movements and through justhealthy waste removal.
So our bodies are really reallygood at managing how much
potassium we have in our bodyand it is one of those things
(26:39):
where it really does need a lotof it.
But you know, we don'tnecessarily get it.
Give it as much.
But yeah, in the event that youdo have too much and your body
is like okay, this is, you know,this is plenty, we're good,
it'll eliminate it.
Now, if you are a person in likelater stage kidney disease,
where you have a very low kidneyfunction left, your kidneys
might not be able to handle ahigh potassium load, and that is
(27:03):
something that can becomereally, really serious.
It's the medical term ishyperkalemia, it's high
potassium in the blood, and thiscan lead to really serious
health complications, includingparalysis or death.
I remember talking to adialysis patient of mine and he
told me how he had.
So dialysis is where you have10% or less of kidney function
(27:25):
and you require a medicaltreatment to clean your blood.
But he told me that one morninghe woke up and he couldn't get
out of bed.
His potassium was high and hewas literally paralyzed, and so
it's like I can't imagine howterrifying that would be to wake
up and not be able to move andto be in such a scary situation
(27:45):
like that.
Speaker 1 (27:47):
I mean, it's fair to say, like your health is
definitely not something to youknow.
Play with so continually seeingdoctors working with dietitians
or nutritionists to really liketackle.
What you need is, you know, allwe have is our health on some
level, you know.
So I totally agree, you know.
I wanted to ask you a littlefun question here, though you
(28:08):
know, clearly, being in thisspace, what is your day-to-day
like?
Ideal days in your meals, like,what are you waking up?
Or in grabbing to eat, what areyour favorite foods?
You can even shout out somebrands and whatnot that you're
absolutely loving.
Speaker 2 (28:26):
Yeah, oh my gosh, I love this.
So, um, in the morning I, rightnow I'm everyone goes through
like their food kicks right,like just your, like trends
right.
So right now I am just totallyin love with some delicious
avocado toast using sourdoughbread and avocados, but I have
to mash the avocados and I mixin hemp seeds and some
(28:50):
everything but the bagelseasoning and then, of course,
chili flakes or some chilicrunch, chili oil.
Speaker 1 (28:56):
It's got to have the same palette.
Speaker 2 (28:57):
Yeah, I'm definitely a savory breakfast person Same.
So, yeah, that's been my likesolid go-to now and I just I
don't think I'll ever I don'tknow if I'll ever get tired of
it.
It's just always such a win.
Um, if I do feel a little bithungry later which, you know,
avocado toast is great, but it'snot necessarily going to keep
(29:17):
me going for like four plushours Um, so later in the
morning I might throw togetherlike a fruit smoothie frozen
blueberries are always in ourfreezer, always it's a go-to and
then I'll use a soy milk.
I'll throw in like a little bitof oats, because I love the
texture and even the flavor thatit gives, and then some almond
butter.
So that's kind of like a reallygood um morning, kind of mid
(29:40):
morning.
Pick me up, uh, for my lunch.
I'm always a fan.
Even though I work from home, Iam working really solid hours
and seeing a lot of clients andso, um, I don't always get my
full hour.
Um, so what I'll go to is Iwill use like a frozen bag of
veggies Um, right now I've got areally big one, a really good
(30:00):
blend from Costco.
It's like a Primavera, uhsummer squash blend, and I'll do
that with some broken up tofuor some tempeh, which I'm a
really big fan of too, and thensome coconut aminos.
It has to have a good sauce,and I've been a really big fan
(30:21):
of blending some cashews somelike boiled cashews, because it
softens them up with some likejarred pesto or some kind of
sauce and then some nutritionalyeast.
Make a really really good sauceout of that.
I'm a dietician.
I could talk about food all day, just to warn you, absolutely
yeah.
And then I'll do that with likesome rice or some noodles or
ramen or something, some kind ofgrain to help like.
(30:43):
Really, you know, keep me goingthrough the rest of the
afternoon, cause I don'ttypically do like afternoon
snacks, although this afternoonI, on a whim, decided to make
some energy bites and I usedoats I use old fashioned oats,
almond butter, honey and chiaseeds and some peanut butter
(31:04):
powder, some of that PB fit,which I think is a really great
way of having some anotheroption for a protein and I just
kind of mixed that all togetherand made some little oat energy
balls and got those in thefridge, and I may have had like
two or three of them, as I madethem, cause you know, that's the
whole point.
Right, that's the whole point.
Speaker 1 (31:23):
Yeah, absolutely, the snack is you're doing, and then
what's on the.
You know what's in your mindfor dinner, maybe as well.
Speaker 2 (31:30):
For dinner.
Honestly, I'm normally reallyreally good about meal planning,
but I just got back from twoback-to-back conferences and so
I'm kind of still playing catchup on my life and reorganize and
refiguring things out.
So I think what I have plannedtonight is I think I have a
whole pot of beans, sea beans,beans, it's like a yeah, it's
(31:51):
it's so easy.
Yeah, it is, and you know, wejust do a can.
We have a couple of candleblacks beans, and then I'm going
to do some quinoa, and thenagain those sauteed veggies and
a really good salsa, and thenwe've got some avocado too, so
some like a burrito bowl kind ofstyle I think is going to be.
Um, it's going to be key.
Speaker 1 (32:11):
Well, we absolutely love entrepreneurial women on
this podcast.
It's like a huge part of theshow as well.
Can you tell us a little bit,to wrap us out, about why you
chose this line of work and likebalancing it all as a female as
well?
Speaker 2 (32:27):
Thanks, yeah, it is really, um, totally rewarding to
be an entrepreneur.
It's, it's terrifying, and notsomething I ever went to school,
you know, for they did notteach dietitians how to create a
private practice.
They should, but not part ofour curriculum.
But, um, yeah, I startedplant-powered kidneys back in
(32:49):
2018.
And this was when I was goingthrough.
I had already been working indialysis for several years and
even before that, like taking onthe role of working in dialysis
, I was really terrified aboutthat renal diet for end-stage
kidney disease, because it's onething to like know about
nutrition, but to teach somebodywhose life is literally
(33:09):
depending on this, like that'sterrifying, like what, what a
responsibility.
And so I got really into thatand I got really good.
I was, you know, really reallygood at being a dialysis
dietitian and I was able to helpmy patients.
But it broke my heart everytime when I had a new patient
come in and they had this likedeer in headlights, look, and
(33:30):
they were just like I had noidea.
I did like I.
Some of them would say I knewthat I had kidney disease.
I just didn't think it wouldhappen like this.
Some of them would say like Ihad no idea at all either way,
like they just didn't expectthemselves to end up in dialysis
, and so that's when I startedplant powered kidneys and I
started just getting onInstagram and sharing
information and teaching peopleto, like you know, pay attention
(33:53):
to this, talk to your family,you know, learn from each other,
be role models for each otherabout eating to take care of
yourselves, and it's had areally a great ripple effect
that I know that even when I'mteaching like a client or a
student, that they're helpingtheir family because I'm telling
them, like you are officiallythe kidney spokesperson for your
(34:15):
family and, you know, leadingby example and including more
plants and being active andtaking care of yourself, going
to your doctor's appointments,like all of that I can feel that
ripple effect from what weteach, which, you know, it's
what brings me back to thisevery day and helps me continue
to learn and practice and keepdoing what I'm doing Because,
(34:40):
you know, as long as there aredialysis clinics that continue
to pop up, there's a need forpeople to learn more about what
to do to protect their kidneysand not necessarily end up in
dialysis because it ispreventable.
Speaker 1 (34:53):
I love to hear that there's.
You know there's reallyopportunities to change your
health course here through diet.
Jen, you are wonderful.
Thank you so much for takingthe time to share all this with
us on the podcast.
Can you please make sure thatour audience knows where to find
you on Instagram?
All the good things.
Speaker 2 (35:12):
Thanks so much, Marley.
Yeah, you can find us onInstagram at plant powered
kidneys.
We're on Facebook as well andyou can get a ton of free
resources.
Our blog has a lot ofinformation, Like I mentioned.
I was just putting in some plugand play calculators for
protein in there atplantpoweredkidneyscom.
Speaker 1 (35:32):
Thank you so much for listening to Confessions of a
Wannabe it Girl.
Don't forget to rate andsubscribe to the show.
As always, we'll see you nextTuesday.
Welcome back to Confessions of a Wannabe it Girl
, the podcast helping you filterout the BS in pursuit of
becoming the next it girl, andin today's episode we are
touching on health.
I think it's fair to say thatwhen you feel good, when you're
taking care of your health, lifejust becomes a little easier to
be grinding, hustling, pursuingthat wannabe it girl life.
(00:22):
I love doing health episodesbecause it's something no matter
what you're doing in life ifyou are becoming a professional
athlete or you just want to be ahuman and live a long life,
health is obviously superimportant.
So in this episode we aretalking about detoxification and
(00:44):
kidney health.
We are joined by Jen, adietician, to talk about what's
really going on with our kidneys, why kidney health is important
, and, of course, we talk aboutkind of that buzzword in media
detox.
A little bit about health andlike nutrition-y points as well.
So I'm excited for you tolisten to this episode and keep
(01:06):
improving that health yin.
Welcome to Confessions of aWannabe it Girl.
I'm your host, marley Fregging,and I'm here to help you filter
out all the bullshit and becomethe next it Girl.
This podcast explores thereality of what it really takes
to make it out there.
As it turns out, it is way lessInstagrammable than I thought
it really takes to make it outthere as it turns out.
(01:28):
It is way less Instagrammablethan I thought it was going to
be.
I'm still very much a work inprogress, but there's simply
nothing else I'd rather be doingthan chasing my dreams.
So let's learn from my mistakesand work together to achieve
our dreams with more confidence,clarity and direction.
Let's get after it.
Well, hi, jen, welcome.
So much to the podcast.
I'm very excited to have youhere today to talk about all
(01:51):
things nutrition and kidneyhealth.
So thanks for joining us.
Speaker 2 (01:55):
Thanks so much for having me, Marley.
I'm really excited to chat withyou today and always excited to
geek out on kidney stuff.
Speaker 1 (02:04):
We love that.
So for somebody like myself who, you know, maybe went to
college and high school but, youknow, didn't really maybe
retain the information regardinga kidney, can you tell us a
little bit about kidney healthand you know what our kidneys do
for us and why it's importantto have healthy kidneys?
Speaker 2 (02:24):
So the kidneys do a lot of the stuff on the back end
of our health.
It's taking care of our bloodpressure.
It's making red blood cells toget oxygen through to our body,
which is incredibly important.
All of our cells, all of ourorgans need oxygen, so it's
creating the vehicles to help dothat.
It's balancing our acid-basebalance A lot of people talk
(02:45):
about alkalinity and acidity,and the kidneys are really
functioning to help take care ofthat and it takes care of our
bone health.
It regulates and createshormones.
I mean, the kidneys are anincredibly important organ and
unfortunately, it's just one ofthose things that we don't
really think about until there'ssomething wrong and then all of
a sudden it turns into totalpanic.
Speaker 1 (03:08):
Yeah, I was going to say the same thing.
I think it's like somethingwe're like.
We know we have kidneys,they're working, but we're like,
and then they're like, oh,something's wrong with your
kidney.
So what's some signs of anunhealthy kidney?
Speaker 2 (03:22):
So there can be quite a lot of signs and some of them
, unfortunately, are a bit morebroad.
So, like a common sign isfeeling fatigued, which can be
covered by so many differentsituations.
But I do think if a person isfeeling really drained of energy
and just cannot keep up withthings, then it's a good thing
to go to the doctor and justmake sure you kind of run the
(03:43):
gamut and just check through allof these things, especially if
you do have a family history ofhigh blood pressure, diabetes
and, of course, kidney disease,because a lot of these things
are hereditary and so if youhave family members that are
predisposed to them, it's areally important thing to talk
to your healthcare providerabout so that they know what to
track for you kind of down theroad and when something like
(04:04):
this comes up.
So fatigue is a really bigthing to be looking into If you
have blood pressure issues thatcan cause kidney problems down
the road.
If you have diabetes, any typeof blood sugar control issues
that also can cause kidneydamage down the road.
Other signs could be swellingof the extremities, so some
people might get swelling aroundtheir ankles.
(04:26):
This is typically more of alate stage kidney disease
problem.
However, it's reallyunfortunate that a lot of people
don't actually learn aboutkidney damage until it's at a
very late stage.
In fact, most people don'tlearn about kidney damage until
they qualify for dialysis or atransplant, which is end stage
kidney failure.
Speaker 1 (04:46):
Right.
So that's like the yikes-ostatus that we obviously don't
want to be getting towards.
Is there, like you mentioned,that it's pretty hereditary, but
like?
Are there things maybe like inour day-to-day life that we
don't think of, that iscurrently damaging our kidneys?
Speaker 2 (05:03):
don't think of that is currently damaging our
kidneys.
Definitely, hydration is really, really important, so it is
incredibly important.
I mean, it's getting warmer nowso it's easier for us to be
thinking about staying hydratedand drinking plenty of water,
but also, just throughout theyear, making sure that we are
drinking enough water throughoutthe day, not thinking that we
have to chug a whole bunch ofwater at one point and we're
(05:25):
going to be good for a while,but really kind of continuously
drinking fluids, beverages,primarily water, throughout the
day is incredibly important.
It's basically giving yourkidneys the roadway in order to
help filter out wastes, which isone of the roles.
One of the things that it doesis it produces urine to help get
rid of toxins and waste out ofour body.
So we want to make sure thatwe're staying really, really
(05:47):
hydrated so that the kidneys cando that function for us and can
keep going.
Speaker 1 (05:52):
Well, I love that you brought up drinking water,
because I feel like we kind ofall hear like we should drink
more water and then everyone'slike, well, how much is enough
water?
Which I know is like a verytricky question because
everybody's different sizes andweight but like, how do we know
we're getting enough water?
Speaker 2 (06:09):
Yeah, it can be really tricky.
For sure, a general rule ofthumb that you that most people
can kind of go off of is abouthalf of your weight in pounds
would be the ounces of water orfluids for you to drink.
And I go back and forth betweensaying water and fluid because,
yes, coffee and teas and allkinds of beverages, those still
(06:30):
count as hydration, they havesome diuretic effect, but it's
not like you drink eight ouncesof coffee, you pee eight ounces,
so they still count as fluidsto stay hydrated.
So back to the water or fluids.
For example, a person that is150 pounds would be aiming for
about 75 ounces of fluidsthroughout the day, and so
(06:51):
that's a really good startingpoint and you can always check
with your doctor to make sureyou're on the right track.
You might need a little bitmore.
If you're like in a really hotarea that you're sweating a lot,
or if you're working out a lot,you might need more fluids.
But at least that gives youkind of a starting point.
Speaker 1 (07:10):
No, I love that.
We need just like a hot tipthat we can like figure out
quickly on the go and just belike.
This is, like my base startingpoint.
It's very actionable.
You know, we think about thekidneys a lot in like flushing
out the toxins and somethingthat's become very trendy
through social media and alsolike maybe in the health and
wellness space is saunas andwhatnot Like does this help our
kidneys or is this like not theneed?
Speaker 2 (07:32):
No, this is really not.
It's, if anything, it's goingto be creating more of that
dehydration effect by having yousweat more and eliminate more
fluids.
So it's definitely important,if you're using a sauna, that
you really want to stay hydrated.
We have liver.
Even our skin is detoxing forus, like our body is pretty
(08:00):
capable of detoxifying thingsfor us, on our behalf, and it's
incredibly resilient of what itcan do and the things that we
give our bodies right.
Speaker 1 (08:07):
Well, and like I feel like we became so buzzword
obsessed for a while there aboutlike the detox or the cleanse,
and like you know, also being anutritionist who obviously
focuses in kidney health butlike what's your take on like
the juice cleanse and like isthis actually helping her health
or no?
Speaker 2 (08:26):
Well, I mean just like a juice cleanse.
Okay, I'll tell you somethingreally quick.
Um, back in when I first becamea dietitian, this was like 10
years ago.
Um, there was like a juice barthat opened up when I where I
was living in Texas and I waslike, okay, they were selling
this like juice cleanse thing.
I was like, all right, let mejust try this out, Cause I have
a lot of clients that areinterested in this, I kid you
(08:47):
not.
I think I lasted like six hoursbefore I had to eat something.
My husband was like you boughtlike I don't know $100 worth of
juices.
That, like we ordered pizzabecause I was starving and I was
like cannot, cannot, absolutelydo this.
So it's really not healthy tobe doing anything, that you are
restricting yourself so much.
(09:09):
And while juices can have a lotof great nutrients and a lot of
great benefits, they caninclude amazing nutrients,
vitamins, minerals that our bodyneeds.
It's not all inclusive and it'sjust not going to cover all of
the things, including calories,that our body needs just simply
to keep our heart pumping andour lungs breathing and our
(09:32):
brain thinking.
So it's really, reallyimportant to make sure that
we're getting enough nutrientsand a more balanced diet.
And again, if you want toinclude juices, by all means,
that definitely can be a greatoption, but it wouldn't just be
the only thing that I wouldrecommend.
Speaker 1 (09:44):
Well, you recommend some great stuff on your
Instagram.
Your content is really allabout the swaps you can make to
be promoting healthier choices,to be helping your kidney and
overall wellbeing.
What are?
Are some like food swaps you'rereally into right now?
Oh my gosh.
Speaker 2 (10:00):
I am a huge fan of beans and I feel like beans are
like the low key superhero ofnutrition.
Speaker 1 (10:09):
Go off because I love beans.
Speaker 2 (10:11):
Good, good, I we um, yeah, they're.
They're really, really fabulousand you can include them in so
many ways and just the purevariations of beans that there
are.
It's incredible that you canhave a category of food and not
get bored of it, like you couldwith like chicken or something.
But the really amazing thingabout beans is that it's not
(10:32):
only providing protein for usthat we need and just another
kind of thing maybe we can getinto this in a bit but like it's
providing plant protein andit's not providing a sheer
overwhelm of protein, but it'salso providing us with fiber and
a whole array of vitamins andminerals.
Like it is very comprehensivein the nutrition.
And I know already people aremaybe thinking about like this
(10:56):
idea of a complete protein andthat's been debunked.
That's no longer a thing.
We know that our body does havesome amino acid stores and that
we are able to kind of puttogether amino acids which are
the building blocks of protein,based off of foods that we eat,
as long as we're eating avariety of foods in our diet.
So beans, I think, are a greatswap for a lot of ground meat
(11:18):
options.
Like you could do it for tacos,you can do it for like bean
burgers.
You can incorporate them intolasagnas and casseroles.
You can, like, air fry them andturn them into a nice, really
really good, like crispy crunchysnack.
They're so good.
They're so good and they're soaffordable.
I mean this day, same age, withthe cost of food going up so
(11:39):
crazy.
Dry beans, canned beans, thoseare all really really good,
affordable options.
Speaker 1 (11:44):
Well, we're going to go right where you wanted to go,
which is talking about aplant-based diet.
As somebody who has been apescatarian I think I've been a
pescatarian since seventh gradeand I was a vegetarian maybe for
like two years I'm obviously abig fan of the plant-based diet.
I mean, I'm closer to 30 than Iam fifth grade now and I'm
(12:05):
still at it, so I obviouslyreally like it.
What you know and especiallyright now I'm feeling and
hearing so much about you knowthis push for like heavy meat
diets and whatnot.
What is it about theplant-based diet that is so
successful, or being moreplant-based, even focused?
Speaker 2 (12:23):
Yeah, yeah.
The funny thing is is like weuse the term plant-based a lot
but there's not actually like adefinition, a true definition of
what plant-based means.
So I mean, I use it a lot, justthinking.
I'm the age where, like I grewup and then in my nutrition
school, like the food pyramid,like the classic food pyramid
yes, the iconic food pyramid,yes, yes, that is what I grew up
(12:44):
learning and so I always thinkabout the base of the pyramid
being the fruits and vegetables.
It's like that's where my mindgoes to when I think about a
plant-based diet is, as long asyour foundation is including
plenty of fruits and vegetables,then those smaller parts of the
pyramid are going to be moremodifiable and adjustable and
they can still be a part, youknow, whatever those smaller
(13:06):
pieces are.
But if you have that foundationof plants, you're really
setting yourself up for success.
And there are so many reasons asto why having a plant-based or
plant-forward diet is healthy.
I mean, for one, the gut, whichis a really, really big popular
thing right now such a bigconversation, right.
So including a variety ofplants in our diet is actually
(13:29):
going to give us more of thosehealthy microbes to help take
care of toxins and that actuallyconnects back to the kidneys,
because a healthy gut is afoundation of what gets absorbed
into the bloodstream and thenis filtered by the kidneys.
So having a healthy gut thatcan take away some of these
toxins is really going tosupport not just I mean, you
(13:50):
know so many other things butalso our kidney health too.
So I love having more plants inthe diet for that reason
there's also kind of in linewith that as well as having
enough fiber, which most of usdon't get nearly enough fiber in
our day.
So including more plants is areally, really good option of
how to do that.
And when we talk about plantsit's fruits, vegetables, even
(14:11):
whole grains, nuts, legumes,seeds, like it's a.
It's a big variety of foods.
So those are some of thebenefits.
But there's also research tolook into how a plant-based diet
can help prevent or eliminatediabetes, like type two diabetes
.
It can help with mental healthissues.
It can help with just brainhealth overall, with long-term
longevity of how we're gettingolder and the way that our body
(14:37):
kind of breaks down essentially.
But the plants are reallyhelpful in keeping that better
quality of life later in lifeand I've seen that with so many
clients.
Speaker 1 (14:46):
Wow, even switching at an older age to a plant.
Speaker 2 (14:50):
Mm-hmm.
Speaker 1 (14:51):
Well, and this takes me to something because you know
, being a pescatarian for quitesome time, I have definitely
seen the rise of you know beinga pescatarian for quite some
time, I have definitely seen therise of, you know, the
impossible burger and the beyondburger.
And you know, I saw on yourInstagram a little bit about
this, about like really lookingat what's in them, like what is
your take on kind of the veganvegetarian food out there?
(15:12):
Like what do we need to reallybe looking at and maybe what we
should steer to look for?
Speaker 2 (15:19):
Yeah, I think that there's been a good place of
some of these food items to beintegrated.
When somebody is thinking aboutlike how can I eliminate or
reduce my animal proteinconsumption, I think it's a good
stepping stone.
There are some things that Ilike to look at when it comes to
the nutrition profile of thesetypes of substitutes, because
(15:41):
oftentimes they're not that muchhealthier than if you were just
to stick with the animalprotein option in the first
place.
Right, Just because it's vegan,it doesn't mean it's healthier
right, yes, but they love themarketing, they love putting
that out there and they lovetalking just about how they can
say we're vegan, we'replant-based.
(16:01):
I mean, it's such a goodselling, and then they can also
probably double their profitsjust by putting that out there
too.
Speaker 1 (16:07):
Yeah, absolutely.
So what are the things you lookfor in those foods?
Speaker 2 (16:14):
So saturated fat.
For sure, it's important thatwe be careful with how much
saturated fat we're getting inour diet, and animal fats,
particularly red meats, do tendto have higher saturated fat
amounts.
But then some of theseplant-based alternatives they
might use fats to, for whateverreason, that they're creating
the substitute, this lookalikethey might be having a high
(16:37):
saturated fat load as well, andso that's something that it can
be better to come from a plant.
But also we need to look atjust the bottom line of the
saturated fat content as well.
So, keeping that in mindespecially if you have a history
or personal concerns about,like heart disease,
cardiovascular disease, it'sit's important to watch out for
(16:59):
something like that.
And then, along that line aswell, is sodium, because while
an animal meat burger may or maynot have added sodium depending
on if it's just the meat or ifit's been kind of pre-seasoned
or something a lot of the plantsubstitutes can be quite high in
salt, and one of my easy ruleof thumbs when it comes to
(17:21):
sodium in any type of packagedfood is to, to the best of your
capability, look for somethingthat has less milligrams of
sodium than it does calories,and that will help you keep to a
lower sodium diet, which isimportant for pretty much
everybody because we get a lotof salt in our diet.
But, for example, you seesomething that's 200 calories
(17:44):
but it's 350 milligrams ofsodium.
That's going to be quite a highsodium load for the amount of
calories that you're getting.
Speaker 1 (17:52):
I have never heard that and I'm so into it because
I do feel like with the fitnesstrackers and the tracking, the
calories, people are just allabout the calories but really
like what's the health benefitof it?
And I want to pivot back to,you know, seeing we're kind of
talking about like the macros Iput in quotations here.
You mentioned fiber.
(18:12):
Like we don't seem to getenough fiber, which obviously
you know helps people go to thebathroom and like you know, in
your line of work, like what,how many times should we be
going to the bathroom?
How much fiber is too littlefiber?
How do we increase our fiber?
Speaker 2 (18:31):
Yeah, yeah, let's do like a fiber one-on-one Cause I
do feel like this is soimportant and you're right, it's
definitely not talked about asmuch but it really should be,
especially for, like I would say, like younger generations.
We see a lot of things that arelike supplemented with fiber,
but they're not talking aboutlike fiber from whole foods or
even the purpose of it, right?
So I would say to start withfiber goals for the day 25 grams
(18:55):
per day for women, 38 grams perday for men those are the
standards, but when you follow amore plant forward diet, you
will easily go well beyond that.
I have clients hitting 50, 60plus grams of fiber per day easy
, not even thinking about it.
That's just something becauseof the plants that they're
including.
So that's the target that youwant to be aiming for and coming
(19:17):
from primarily whole foodsources.
So it's not target that youwant to be aiming for and coming
from primarily whole foodsources.
So it's not going to be thesame necessarily.
I mean fiber products, fiberrich products can be great, can
be a stepping stone again, butat the end of the day, we want
to make sure that we're gettingour nutrients primarily from
food as much as possible.
Speaker 1 (19:35):
Well, that kind of brings me to you know protein
powders as well.
I feel like you're going to saythey're part of like a stepping
stone.
There's so many options, You'vegot the raw, you got the vegan,
you got the whey.
How do you really like pick aprotein powder and also like not
think it's the be all end allof getting your protein?
(19:56):
And I've definitely been guiltyof that, of thinking, well, I
drink protein powder today, I'mgood.
Speaker 2 (20:02):
Yeah, that is a big thing.
I mean.
So many people feel like it isan absolute necessity, but most
of us don't need as much proteinas we think and I know there's
a lot of people, a lot ofinfluencers, that'll come out
and say, no, you need like somuch more, but I would.
I would counter that with.
There are plenty of otherpeople that are not eating as
(20:26):
significant amounts ofplant-based and a lot of
research has shown that youdon't need to have such a
substantial amount of proteinbecause one that can be really
hard, and if you're, if yourbrain is a hundred percent
always wired thinking you haveto get your protein, that's not
healthy either.
So, incorporating a betterbalance in your diet and, of
(20:47):
course, if you want to includesome protein supplements, if you
feel like that is best for you,or if it's something when
you're like on the run and youdo need something that's just
grab and go, that can be great.
Um, so, like a whey protein ispretty much like the gold
standard also can be a reallyaffordable protein option
because it is everywhere,basically, um.
(21:08):
So if that's something that youwant to do, that is absolutely
a possibility.
There's um.
I don't even know if it's likenecessarily a trend anymore, but
the like ultra filtered milkproducts, the ones that are not
necessarily using like a proteinpowder per se, but they're just
, they're kind of condensing themilk a little bit more to
(21:30):
increase the protein content ofthe milk.
You know I'm talking about likeI don't want to shut up certain
brands, but there are somebrands of milk that, um, that do
have a higher protein contentbecause they've just gotten rid
of some of the extra fat,carbohydrates, water, um, to
help condense that protein, andthat can be a really good option
as well.
That can be easier to find too.
But, um, usually the startingpoint for protein is 0.8 grams
(21:55):
per kilogram of your body weightand it's not that it's it's,
it's not crazy high.
Like a person who's about, letme see, I'm not great at math I
don't know.
Speaker 1 (22:04):
I'm teaching these calculators.
Love that Podcasters also usecalculators.
Speaker 2 (22:14):
But, um, I want to say I was just actually plugging
calculators into some of myblog articles today on my
website for references.
Yeah, it's a great idea.
So let me see if I can rememberwhat I was plugging in.
A 150-pound person would begetting, should be targeting
about, I want to say 60, I thinkit was 60 or so grams of
(22:35):
protein.
I think it was 60 or so gramsof protein.
So you know a lot of these likemeals that we see that are like
super heavy or some of like youtalk about.
Like some of these proteinshakes and supplements.
I have seen some that are likecrazy high.
You know, like a 40 gramprotein shake for somebody who
needs 60 grams for the day.
Like, yeah, that's going tocover a lot of your protein but
it's not going to get you thecalories you need and it's
(22:57):
definitely not going to get youthe other like fiber and other
nutrients that your body needstoo.
So I would say, making surethat you are getting your
protein from these other wholefoods, like another shout out to
beans, because it's going togive you so many more nutrients
that your body really, reallyneeds and loves and appreciates.
Speaker 1 (23:15):
I love that you do a lot of work with a renal diet.
Speaker 2 (23:18):
What is the renal diet?
It is our like nerdy way ofsaying the kidney diet basically
.
So renal is another term ofkidneys and so for different
stages of kidney disease we havedifferent types of renal diets.
So like an earlier stage wouldbe like, for example, like a
(23:39):
normal protein diet, a normalpotassium, lower sodium still,
and then it goes down into likelate stage renal disease and
that's maybe lower protein,lower potassium, maybe more of
the nutrients like magnesium orsomething, depending on what's
going on situation.
And then there's dialysis,which is end stage prenatal
(24:00):
disease.
So it's, it's just basicallyanother fancy term.
You know, in healthcare like wealways have to have 10
different terms for like the onething we're talking about.
We can't make it easy, we haveto make it difficult, we have to
make it complicated, we have touse as much medical jargon as
possible.
So people are confused andtotally reliant on healthcare.
Speaker 1 (24:22):
Love that you know, and I'm sure you have a lot of
conversations with people andI'm kind of wondering, you know,
in today's world with, like youknow, the price of food going
up and everything like, what arethe common conversations you
find yourself having?
Like, what are issues that youseem to be hearing a lot about
that maybe we can start to watchout for.
Speaker 2 (24:42):
There's been a lot of conversations about potassium,
which is another nutrient, kindof like fiber, that people just
don't typically get enough of,and even for people with kidney
issues.
Historically we thought thatthere had to be a lower
potassium diet, but now theresearch is saying that actually
no potassium is still reallyhelpful, even for people with
(25:04):
kidney disease in various stages, and so a lot of my work is
involved about talking about howto get more potassium into the
diet, which I still, to this day, have people commenting or
DMing to say I thought Icouldn't have bananas.
I mean it breaks my heart Likeone of my students had messaged
to say she didn't have a bananafor like four years because she
(25:29):
thought she couldn't.
Yeah, she thought she couldn'tbecause of her kidney issues,
and we finally like went throughit.
We talked about the importanceof potassium and she
reintegrated bananas, like oneof her favorite fruits, back
into her diet, and so that islike something that I definitely
talk about a lot when it comesto like getting a very lesser
(25:49):
known nutrient back into thediet, and that's actually a fun
fact.
People not getting enoughpotassium is one of the reasons
why you're going to start seeingit on nutrition labels now
because Americans don't getenough potassium and so they're
putting it in the bottomdownlink by the vitamin D area
to help show people where thereare good sources of potassium.
Speaker 1 (26:11):
I also feel like is it possible to have too high of
potassium, or have I just madethat up?
Speaker 2 (26:18):
Well, if you have kidney issues, then, yes, there
is a possibility.
Yes, gotcha, but our bodies areincredibly resilient and in
fact, even our gut helps toremove potassium through bowel
movements and through justhealthy waste removal.
So our bodies are really reallygood at managing how much
potassium we have in our bodyand it is one of those things
(26:39):
where it really does need a lotof it.
But you know, we don'tnecessarily get it.
Give it as much.
But yeah, in the event that youdo have too much and your body
is like okay, this is, you know,this is plenty, we're good,
it'll eliminate it.
Now, if you are a person in likelater stage kidney disease,
where you have a very low kidneyfunction left, your kidneys
might not be able to handle ahigh potassium load, and that is
(27:03):
something that can becomereally, really serious.
It's the medical term ishyperkalemia, it's high
potassium in the blood, and thiscan lead to really serious
health complications, includingparalysis or death.
I remember talking to adialysis patient of mine and he
told me how he had.
So dialysis is where you have10% or less of kidney function
(27:25):
and you require a medicaltreatment to clean your blood.
But he told me that one morninghe woke up and he couldn't get
out of bed.
His potassium was high and hewas literally paralyzed, and so
it's like I can't imagine howterrifying that would be to wake
up and not be able to move andto be in such a scary situation
(27:45):
like that.
Speaker 1 (27:47):
I mean, it's fair to say, like your health is
definitely not something to youknow.
Play with so continually seeingdoctors working with dietitians
or nutritionists to really liketackle.
What you need is, you know, allwe have is our health on some
level, you know.
So I totally agree, you know.
I wanted to ask you a littlefun question here, though you
(28:08):
know, clearly, being in thisspace, what is your day-to-day
like?
Ideal days in your meals, like,what are you waking up?
Or in grabbing to eat, what areyour favorite foods?
You can even shout out somebrands and whatnot that you're
absolutely loving.
Speaker 2 (28:26):
Yeah, oh my gosh, I love this.
So, um, in the morning I, rightnow I'm everyone goes through
like their food kicks right,like just your, like trends
right.
So right now I am just totallyin love with some delicious
avocado toast using sourdoughbread and avocados, but I have
to mash the avocados and I mixin hemp seeds and some
(28:50):
everything but the bagelseasoning and then, of course,
chili flakes or some chilicrunch, chili oil.
Speaker 1 (28:56):
It's got to have the same palette.
Speaker 2 (28:57):
Yeah, I'm definitely a savory breakfast person Same.
So, yeah, that's been my likesolid go-to now and I just I
don't think I'll ever I don'tknow if I'll ever get tired of
it.
It's just always such a win.
Um, if I do feel a little bithungry later which, you know,
avocado toast is great, but it'snot necessarily going to keep
(29:17):
me going for like four plushours Um, so later in the
morning I might throw togetherlike a fruit smoothie frozen
blueberries are always in ourfreezer, always it's a go-to and
then I'll use a soy milk.
I'll throw in like a little bitof oats, because I love the
texture and even the flavor thatit gives, and then some almond
butter.
So that's kind of like a reallygood um morning, kind of mid
(29:40):
morning.
Pick me up, uh, for my lunch.
I'm always a fan.
Even though I work from home, Iam working really solid hours
and seeing a lot of clients andso, um, I don't always get my
full hour.
Um, so what I'll go to is Iwill use like a frozen bag of
veggies Um, right now I've got areally big one, a really good
(30:00):
blend from Costco.
It's like a Primavera, uhsummer squash blend, and I'll do
that with some broken up tofuor some tempeh, which I'm a
really big fan of too, and thensome coconut aminos.
It has to have a good sauce,and I've been a really big fan
(30:21):
of blending some cashews somelike boiled cashews, because it
softens them up with some likejarred pesto or some kind of
sauce and then some nutritionalyeast.
Make a really really good sauceout of that.
I'm a dietician.
I could talk about food all day, just to warn you, absolutely
yeah.
And then I'll do that with likesome rice or some noodles or
ramen or something, some kind ofgrain to help like.
(30:43):
Really, you know, keep me goingthrough the rest of the
afternoon, cause I don'ttypically do like afternoon
snacks, although this afternoonI, on a whim, decided to make
some energy bites and I usedoats I use old fashioned oats,
almond butter, honey and chiaseeds and some peanut butter
(31:04):
powder, some of that PB fit,which I think is a really great
way of having some anotheroption for a protein and I just
kind of mixed that all togetherand made some little oat energy
balls and got those in thefridge, and I may have had like
two or three of them, as I madethem, cause you know, that's the
whole point.
Right, that's the whole point.
Speaker 1 (31:23):
Yeah, absolutely, the snack is you're doing, and then
what's on the.
You know what's in your mindfor dinner, maybe as well.
Speaker 2 (31:30):
For dinner.
Honestly, I'm normally reallyreally good about meal planning,
but I just got back from twoback-to-back conferences and so
I'm kind of still playing catchup on my life and reorganize and
refiguring things out.
So I think what I have plannedtonight is I think I have a
whole pot of beans, sea beans,beans, it's like a yeah, it's
(31:51):
it's so easy.
Yeah, it is, and you know, wejust do a can.
We have a couple of candleblacks beans, and then I'm going
to do some quinoa, and thenagain those sauteed veggies and
a really good salsa, and thenwe've got some avocado too, so
some like a burrito bowl kind ofstyle I think is going to be.
Um, it's going to be key.
Speaker 1 (32:11):
Well, we absolutely love entrepreneurial women on
this podcast.
It's like a huge part of theshow as well.
Can you tell us a little bit,to wrap us out, about why you
chose this line of work and likebalancing it all as a female as
well?
Speaker 2 (32:27):
Thanks, yeah, it is really, um, totally rewarding to
be an entrepreneur.
It's, it's terrifying, and notsomething I ever went to school,
you know, for they did notteach dietitians how to create a
private practice.
They should, but not part ofour curriculum.
But, um, yeah, I startedplant-powered kidneys back in
(32:49):
2018.
And this was when I was goingthrough.
I had already been working indialysis for several years and
even before that, like taking onthe role of working in dialysis
, I was really terrified aboutthat renal diet for end-stage
kidney disease, because it's onething to like know about
nutrition, but to teach somebodywhose life is literally
(33:09):
depending on this, like that'sterrifying, like what, what a
responsibility.
And so I got really into thatand I got really good.
I was, you know, really reallygood at being a dialysis
dietitian and I was able to helpmy patients.
But it broke my heart everytime when I had a new patient
come in and they had this likedeer in headlights, look, and
(33:30):
they were just like I had noidea.
I did like I.
Some of them would say I knewthat I had kidney disease.
I just didn't think it wouldhappen like this.
Some of them would say like Ihad no idea at all either way,
like they just didn't expectthemselves to end up in dialysis
, and so that's when I startedplant powered kidneys and I
started just getting onInstagram and sharing
information and teaching peopleto, like you know, pay attention
(33:53):
to this, talk to your family,you know, learn from each other,
be role models for each otherabout eating to take care of
yourselves, and it's had areally a great ripple effect
that I know that even when I'mteaching like a client or a
student, that they're helpingtheir family because I'm telling
them, like you are officiallythe kidney spokesperson for your
(34:15):
family and, you know, leadingby example and including more
plants and being active andtaking care of yourself, going
to your doctor's appointments,like all of that I can feel that
ripple effect from what weteach, which, you know, it's
what brings me back to thisevery day and helps me continue
to learn and practice and keepdoing what I'm doing Because,
(34:40):
you know, as long as there aredialysis clinics that continue
to pop up, there's a need forpeople to learn more about what
to do to protect their kidneysand not necessarily end up in
dialysis because it ispreventable.
Speaker 1 (34:53):
I love to hear that there's.
You know there's reallyopportunities to change your
health course here through diet.
Jen, you are wonderful.
Thank you so much for takingthe time to share all this with
us on the podcast.
Can you please make sure thatour audience knows where to find
you on Instagram?
All the good things.
Speaker 2 (35:12):
Thanks so much, Marley.
Yeah, you can find us onInstagram at plant powered
kidneys.
We're on Facebook as well andyou can get a ton of free
resources.
Our blog has a lot ofinformation, Like I mentioned.
I was just putting in some plugand play calculators for
protein in there atplantpoweredkidneyscom.
Speaker 1 (35:32):
Thank you so much for listening to Confessions of a
Wannabe it Girl.
Don't forget to rate andsubscribe to the show.
As always, we'll see you nextTuesday.
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