So many different situations and paths to take! In March I went to a nephrologist because, out of the blue, my diabetic checkup showed 3B kidney disease because of the eGFR of 34 (diabetic readings were actually fine). It was a shock and I was frankly scared.

I was put on a primarily plant based diet--almost all of my protein would now come from plants--and one of my blood pressure meds (for mild blood pressure problems) was given at a lower dose. I was told I could eat foods with sodium but in moderation and look carefully at all labels to keep track of numbers on sodium and protein which I shared with my nutritionist. There were no other restrictions.

I did this for three months. Just recently got the testing back. My eGFR rose by 21 points. This is solid 3A range. Creatinine dropped into a normal range. All other readings on the CMP were normal. Interestingly my A1C also improved from 6.5 to 6.2. And, from my viewpoint, my chronic IBS which I've had all my life and tends towards constipation responded better with all those beans! My doctor will not prescribe any kidney meds for now but keep those in a back pocket should anything not work out in the future.

I will keep eating like this and hope things will remain stable or even improve a bit. It was not easy to break life-long habits eating meat but this is worth it. The doctor told me if I could get the eGFR up another 5 points I would no longer be able to get a referral to a nephrologist (which to me is crazy!) since at age 76 an eGFR of 60 is considered borderline "normal". Will keep eating like this and see him again in 6 months.