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44 THE QUEENS COURIER • HEALTH • APRIL 6, 2017 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM health Are you at risk for kidney disease? Edward Beans could be described as a man with great purpose who makes the most out of all life has to offer. He is a husband, father, business owner and a basketball coach. And, as of five years ago, he is a dialysis patient. Beans found out he had kidney disease while at a routine doctor visit. His primary care doctor ran a full range of blood tests, including one to measure his kidney function, or glomerular filtration rate (GFR). The results showed Bean’s kidneys were failing. “I was fortunate my doctor checked my GFR, or else I might not have had the chance to make a healthy transition to dialysis,” Beans says. “I encourage everyone to ask to have their GFR checked as part of their yearly physical.” Kidney disease is the ninth leading cause of death in the U.S. More than 31 million adults have been diagnosed with the disease, which is often called a “silent killer” because it can be symptomless until immediate medical attention is needed. Once kidney disease progresses to kidney failure, dialysis or a kidney transplant is necessary for survival. When caught early enough, the progression of kidney disease may be slowed, and in some cases, prevented altogether. A simple GFR blood test can assess if someone has or is at risk of having kidney disease. Beans recognizes that high blood pressure and poor dietary choices contributed to his kidney disease. In fact, diabetes and high blood pressure are the leading causes of kidney disease in the U.S. One in three people with diabetes and one in five people with high blood pressure also have kidney disease, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Moreover, minority populations - particularly Hispanics, African-Americans and Native Americans - are at a disproportionately higher risk of developing kidney disease. Additional risk factors include people with cardiovascular disease, obesity, high cholesterol, lupus and a family history of the disease. Beans, like many people with kidney failure, chooses to live life to its fullest while managing the disease. He remains a committed family man, continues working as a property manager, and volunteers as a children’s basketball coach in his community - all while completing dialysis treatments three times a week. “I’m still coaching, still running a business and still doing everything I want to do. But now I have to factor in time in a dialysis chair,” Beans says. Beans is a good example of how it is possible to live a high quality of life after a kidney disease diagnosis. Staying employed after being diagnosed or while on dialysis has many potential benefits, including lower rates of depression, sustained income and, in many cases, more choices in medical insurance. “If you choose to be active, you can still take care of yourself and slow it down. I choose to continue to work and coach and spend time with my family because it gives my life purpose.” Take a one-minute quiz to find out if you may be at risk for kidney disease at DaVita.com/LearnYourRisk. Courtesy BPT Fiber: What it is and why you need more of it in your diet Eat more fiber. If your doctor didn’t give you this advice at your last checkup, she probably should have: 97 percent of Americans don’t get the recommended daily amount of dietary fiber they need to stay healthy. But what is fiber, and why is it good for you? Dietary fiber, sometimes called “roughage,” is a plant-based carbohydrate found in fruits, vegetables, beans, nuts, seeds and whole grains such as rice and wheat. Our bodies have a difficult time digesting fiber, which is actually a good thing - as fiber passes through the body undigested, it does a lot of good along the way! Fiber has many proven health benefits. It has been shown to improve heart health, lower cholesterol, control blood sugar, decrease the risk of stroke, help you feel fuller longer, prevent constipation and boost digestive health and your immune system. Experts like the Food and Drug Administration recommend we consume about 28 grams of fiber each day - which, it turns out, is a lot of food. You’d have to eat about 94 baby carrots, 47 stalks of celery, or 15 slices of wholewheat bread to get your daily dose of fiber from food alone! To help people get the fiber they need, the FDA has approved seven ingredients that can be taken as supplements or added to food to boost the amount of dietary fiber they contain. One of those ingredients you may find on your food label is cellulose gel, or microcrystalline cellulose. Cellulose gel is derived from cellulose, an essential component of fruits, vegetables and trees. In fact, cellulose is so important to plants in nature, it is the most abundant organic compound on Earth! Cellulose gel offers the same great health benefits as the dietary fiber we find in fruits, vegetables and whole grains and can be found in foods such as yogurt, cereal bars and protein shakes. So when cellulose gel or microcrystalline cellulose appears on your food label, it means you’re getting the same plant fiber found in broccoli and apples - without having to eat a lot of broccoli and apples (and without the hassle of cooking and meal planning!). To learn more about cellulose gel and other food ingredients that make our favorite foods better for us, visit www. foodsciencematters.com. Courtesy BPT


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