Cholesterol
and the cardiorenal (heart-kidney) connection
Kimberlee
Langford, RN BSN CCM CPC
Let’s talk about plumbing
today! In particular – the plumbing that
makes up your cardiovascular system.
What would happen if I came over
to your house every day and poured bacon grease down your kitchen sink - besides your not liking me very much!
Much like bacon
grease sticks to the lining of your pipes, so too does cholesterol stick to the
inner walls of your blood vessels and narrows the diameter…..until the water –
or blood, as the case may be cannot pass through due to the blockage.
As in the case of the kitchen
sink – sometimes you have to call on the RotoRooter Man – to snake out that
blockage so that water can flow through again. In the case of your blood vessels, let’s
talk about the non-surgical kinds of things you can do to ‘knock the plaque off’
– so to speak.
1)
Eat more FIBER! – There are two types of
fiber: Soluble and Non-soluble
fiber. As example non-soluble fiber does
not break down…think of the ribs on a stalk of celery…you can’t digest it. This kind of fiber acts a little bit like the
RotoRooter – in the colon; it helps clean out the colon. Soluble fiber breaks down enough to act in a
similar way, but in the bloodstream.
Think of the fiber in your whole vegetables, fruit, wholegrain bread,
oats and grains. Keep in mind the LEAST
refined – the better!!! The more we
refine a food, the more of the truly good stuff is stripped away…including
fiber.
2)
Exercise! – Okay,
tell the truth….. have you ever run a volume of hot water down the drain after
pouring something greasy? You’re hoping
if you flush enough hot water, you’ll move that fat through, right? Exercise keeps thing moving through. Movement creates health in our economy, in
our rivers and streams, and in our bodies.
When movement slows too much or stagnates it diminishes health and gives
cholesterol more of a chance to settle in.
Why do we talk about cholesterol
in terms of kidney health? Isn’t that
just related to heart health? Well, the plumbing in the heart is the same
plumbing that goes to the liver, to the brain, to your toe, AND your
kidneys.
If you have high cholesterol,
then chances are high that you can have some plaque buildup on the inner walls
of your blood vessels – EVERYWHERE; and when circulation is impeded, the organs
served suffer. This includes not just
your heart – but your kidneys as well as those other organs we talked
about! And this plaque can be tenfold
worse if you smoke. If you smoke,
remember that smoking reduces your body’s ability to utilize vitamin C – which makes
the collagen that keeps your blood vessels (and other parts) nice and pliable –
elastic. When blood vessels lose their elasticity,
they are more prone to damage – which cholesterol tries to repair – which further
shrinks the diameter of the blood vessels.
So, 3) – If you smoke –
QUIT! Sounds easy, but we know it’s not
always easy to stop. We’ll talk about
that later. But for now, just be open to
the idea of not smoking if you do. Be
open to thinking about quitting, and you may want to talk to your doctor about
taking extra vitamin C while you are working on quitting smoking.
Our bodies aren’t made of
separate systems – they truly are integrated to function as one whole. Taking care of ALL of you will help you enjoy
a greater level of well-being and health.
Cardio-renal-hepatic: Heart –
Kidneys – Liver – these systems are all benefitted by your healthy lifestyle:
eating a high fiber, low fat, low salt -
balanced diet; exercising regularly; and
NOT smoking all work together to protect yourself from kidney, heart and liver
disease!
