Coping with complex challenges of chronic kidney disease (CKD) and cardiovascular disease (CVD) mortality is particularly prevalent in African-American communities, requiring innovative approaches beyond conventional medical strategies. The impact of socioeconomic factors on the high rates of these diseases requires targeted interventions. A new program aims to enhance the potential health benefits of these foods with practical cooking instructions, emphasizing a diet rich in fruits and vegetables. The strategy is rooted in understanding that dietary modification can play a crucial role in slowing down the development of CKD and reducing the risks associated with CVD, thus providing hope for significant health improvements through accessible means.
In this groundbreaking study published in kidney medicine, it was taught by Professor Donald Wesson of Dell Medical School (University of Texas) and Heather Kitzman of the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center ) and Professor Jan Simoni of Texas University of Technology and a dedicated team as well as from the Baylor Scott & White Institute, including Patricia Allison, Dr. Kristen Tecson, Abdullah Mamun, Mahbuba Khan and Dr. Aisha Montgomery, ,,,,, Revealing direct but influential strategies that traditionally influenced African American communities to fight CKD and CVD. This study brings significant health benefits of integrating fruits and vegetables into your diet and adds enhancement from cooking instruction.
Professor Weisen shared insights on the basis of this study: “Our group’s interventional study supports the addition of fruits and vegetables to individual diets identified by the healthcare system, which reduces kidney damage from early CKD and leads to a decrease in kidney function in proteinuria. Reduce, decreased renal function, decreased renal function, kidney damage, proteinuria, kidney damage, and kidney damage, and reduced parameters indicating cardiovascular risk, proved cost-effective. These early stages Many participants in the study benefited from the cooking instructions provided and the fruits and vegetables provided.”
The initiative adopts a community-based strategy targeting African-American adults, showing signs of kidney damage and risk of cardiovascular disease through an elevated urinary albumin-pro-butylanine ratio. The study divided participants into two groups: one received fruits and vegetables, and the other received the same time in the cooking instructions, which spanned several months.
“This feasibility trial importantly demonstrated that the magnitude of kidney injury markings in participants who received the cooking instructions with fruits and vegetables was more pronounced than those who received the fruits and vegetables alone. These findings underlined the added value of the cooking instructions. , to take advantage of the full health benefits of a diet rich in fruits and vegetables. ” Professor Weisen elaborated further.
The intervention is designed to be accessible and practical for community environments, providing hope for underserved populations. By providing simple dietary adjustments (increased fruit and vegetable intake and culinary education), this study marks a significant leap towards management and reversal of chronic disease progression.
“Previous studies in our lab show that interventions have led to improvements in kidney health indicators,” Professor Wesson noted. “Our current study reinforces cooking indicators along with fruit and vegetable intakes can effectively improve with CVD and CKD Increased risk associated with health markers. “The initiative not only shows promising results for reducing signs of kidney damage, but also highlights the key role of dietary education in enhancing health outcomes. These findings are rally calls to add more fruits and vegetables to our diet, focusing on the importance of cooking skills in optimizing these dietary transformations.
Journal Reference
Kitzman, H., Montgomery, AH, Khan, M., Mamun, A., Tecson, KM, Allison, P., Simoni, J. , & Wesson, DE (2023). Fruits and vegetables in kidney health study: a prospective randomized trial. Kidney Medicine, 5 (12), 100736. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.xkme.2023.100736.
About the Author
Dr. Wesson is the former president of Baylor Scott & White Health and Wellness Center in Dallas, Texas, and a professor of medicine at the University of Texas Dell School of Medicine, University of Texas at Austin. He is a long-time advocate for improving community health through focused, data-driven population health programs. Dr. Weisen is a thought leader in academic medicine and an internationally recognized researcher in the mechanisms of kidney acidification. He translated his basic scientific research into clinical research, examining the role of nutrition in population health and the kidney protection benefits of nutrition. He has written more than 100 peer-reviewed scientific papers on renal physiology, more than a dozen books on renal disease and hypertension, and many other papers on smoking and its effects on the kidneys.
Dr. Wesson received his undergraduate degree from Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He attended the University of Washington School of Medicine and received his medical degree from Baylor Medical School (Houston), completed his residency and internship as an internal medicine residency at Baylor Medical School, and a Nephrology Research Fellowship at the University of Illinois (Chicago) Completed a Kidney Research Fellowship. He received his MBA from the University of Texas (Austin). Dr. Weisen was appointed Secretary Treasurer of the American Society of Nephrology (ASN) in 2007 after serving on many ASN committees. 2008) and the former chairman of its foundation (2012-2014), and serves Abim 2001-2015. He also serves at the National Kidney Foundation. He is currently the associate clinical editor of the Journal of the American Academy of Nephrology.
