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it naturally? Its understandable, creatinine levels are looked upon as the best determining factor of the
health of your kidneys, and is routinely tested for and discussed by your doctor.
But I must warn you, lowering creatinine SHOULD NOT be your ultimate goal, it is only secondary
to the bigger picture (keep reading to find out why).
So What is Creatinine?
Creatinine is a waste product of the major energy metabolite creatine.
Normal creatinine serum blood levels are:
- 0.6 to 1.2 mg/dl in males (53 to 106 umol/L)
- 0.5 to 1.1 mg/dl in females (44 to 97 umol/L)
Creatinine is usually found in higher quantities (within the blood) in young adults, and lesser
quantities in the elderly.
Those with one kidney will have higher than normal levels of creatinine circulating in their blood
(roughly 1.8 mg/dl or 160 umol/L).
Creatinine can be tested for via a blood sample or via a urine sample. On its own a blood sample is
more accurate than a urine sample, though combining them together to form what is called a
creatinine clearance test (both blood and urine) is the most accurate test
.
High creatinine levels occur due to any number of diseases that cause the kidneys to shut down,
including dehydration, shock, congestive heart failure, and bladder outlet obstruction.
There are no definitive symptoms that are caused by high creatinine levels, though the following
could be possibly linked: fatigued, shortness of breath, feeling dehydrated, and confusion.
Interesting stuff? Great! I hope you wont be disappointed then when I say you lets move on to the
next section because you have learnt all these is (worth) to know about creatinine. I would like to tell
you more about creatinine, but really that is all you need to know. Thats the crux of it.
What I would really like to discuss next is the substance that creatinine is a by-product of creatine.
If you are a gym junkie, or know someone that is, you probably have come across creatine before.
Creatine is touted by many body builders as the best natural substance for increasing energy reserves
especially for the explosive sports (because of its role in ATP production).
Creatine is naturally produced by the body and the majority of it is stored within the muscles (up to
95%). The body does this through the synthesis of the amino acids L-arginine, glycine, and Lmethionine via the liver, and because the body can make its own, creatine itself is not essential in the
diet. The dietary source of creatine however is any animal meat, such as beef, chicken, and fish.
Providing up to 1 gram a day of creatine for the typical meat-eater.
As previously mentioned, creatine has a key role to play in the production of ATP. This occurs in the
most important energy pathway of the body, known as the Krebs Cycle, or the Citric Acid Cycle. The
average human body uses over 2000mg of creatinine a day to fuel this important biochemical
pathway, for the purposes of producing the most vital energy source of the body.
OK, so now that we understand a little more about creatine, and that creatine is a necessary
molecule, we can now delve a little deeper into creatinine levels and how to lower them.
The Importance of Creatinine Levels
After many years study, and lengthy clinical trials, creatinine was found to be the best indicator of
kidney function. Why? Well, there are a few reasons for this, and they are as follows:
1. Creatinine is produced in a relatively constant rate (expect during strenuous exercise where it
increases*)
2. Creatinine is mainly eliminated from the body via the kidneys
3. Creatinine has virtually no reabsorption within the kidneys meaning there no recycling of
creatinine back into the blood stream. Reabsorption would cause a skew in the results, making this
molecule a poorer choice for assessing kidney function.
* Heres a tip, next time you have your renal function checked make sure you abstain for any
strenuous exercise beforehand as this will give you false decrease in renal function.
As you can see the very nature of this molecule and the way the body handles it makes it a
perfect choice to assess kidney function, but more importantly, I hope this demonstrates one
important factor that I have been eluding to: Lowering creatinine levels should not be your end
goal, because it is just a measure of kidney function, it is not the problem/cause of your kidney
disease.
For example if there was a treatment to lower creatinine levels but it did nothing else, it
wouldnt be very beneficial treatment, right? Right. This is because you would still have under
functioning kidneys, and as an example, possibly have high potassium, low vitamin d levels, and
low haemoglobin levels.
So why write an article on how to lower creatinine levels naturally? Good question. Because I believe
the real reason you typed in creatinine levels or how to lower creatinine levels naturally into
Google (or however you made your way here) is that you REALLY want to improve and increase
your kidney function. You probably dont even really care about creatinine per say, you just want it to
lower because it will indicate that your kidney health and kidney function is improving, and I right? I
hope so.
7 Easy Ways to Lower Creatinine Levels (and Improve Kidney Function) Naturally
Alrighty here they are, what I have put together is some really easy tips you can put into practice
straight away to help boost your kidney function, while having a direct impact on your creatinine
blood levels.
1. Vegetarian diet: By consuming a largely plant based diet you will be helping your body in a few
distinct ways
- Dietary sources of creatine and creatinine are only found within animal products, therefore you will
be reducing the burden of extra creatine and creatinine circulating through your blood by eating a
largely plant based diet.
- Clinical studies show that the consumption of red meat is detrimental to the health of kidneys, see
my article here.
- Plant based diets have show to reduce all the major risk factors of kidney disease. E.g. diabetes, and
high blood pressure (hypertension).
- Dairy products (milk, cheese, cream, yoghurt, ice cream, butter) have been shown in clinical studies