I get asked a lot about creatinine; what is it, what causes high creatinine levels, and how to lower

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

to exacerbate kidney disease.

- Among many other reasons
2. Avoid creatine supplements: not only do high doses of this large molecule cause kidney problems
(because of its large size it can cause the kidneys to swell), but by supplying the body with extra
creatine, you will cause more creatine to be spontaneously converted to the by-product creatinine.
3. Avoid strenuous physical activity: thereby decreasing the breakdown of creatine into creatinine.
4. Nettle leaf tea: drink 1 to 2 cups a day. Nettle leaf tea is a simple yet powerful kidney tonic that
can improve kidney function and reduce serum creatinine levels. (Tip: Double check that it is the leaf
and not the root, the leaf if for your kidneys, the root is for male prostate disorders)
5. Avoid the over consumption of Vanadium: Although very beneficial for the body, particularly for
diabetes and blood sugar problems, over consumption of the mineral vanadium has been linked to
increased blood creatinine levels (stay under 100mcg a day).
6. Alpha lipoic acid: This is a fantastic nutrient! And one that I recommend every kidney disease
sufferer begin right away. It helps provide energy to the kidneys, it helps nutrialise toxins to make
them harmless to the body (so elimination does not damage the kidneys), it helps improve kidney
function, and of course helps lower creatinine levels. If you would like to know more info on alpha
lipoic acid, please check out my article here. I recommend a dosage of 300mg a day.
7. Chitosan: Chitosan maybe be better known for weight management, but believe it or not it has
another trick up its sleeve. Chitosan supplementation in clinical studies reduced urea, creatinine and
cholesterol levels in the blood, and increased haemoglobin production in patients with chronic kidney
disease. I recommend a dosage of 1000-4000mg a day.
So there you have it, 7 great tips on how to lower creatinine levels naturally. I hope that these really
help you. If you would like further tools to increase your kidney function and lower creatinine, then
please sign up to my free kidney ecourse.
Once more I would love to hear from your thoughts and comments below, and please make sure you
click the LIKE button below!

search kidney failu

High Creatinine Levels Causes,Symptoms,Diets,Treatment

2013-08-12 16:47
Creatinine consists of serum creatinine and urine creatinine and it often refers to serum
creatinine which is an important indicator to reflect kidney functions for CKD patients.
Persistently high creatinine levels are most possibly caused by kidney problems.
Causes of high creatinine levels
1. Dehydration or inadequate water intake such as high fever, sweating, diuresis can cause blood
concentration and reduced blood flow in the kidneys. Creatinine will increase.
2. Over-tiredness, lack of rest can cause elevation of creatinine level.
3. Urine abnormalities such as long term hematuria, proteinuria can be accompanied by high
creatinine.
4. Intake of drugs that have renal toxicity can cause high creatinine which can even be
irreversible.
5. If renal dysfunction patients have infections such as cold, pneumonia, intestinal infection,
urinary tract infections can increase creatinine level in short time.
6. Badly controlled high blood pressure can cause high creatinine.
7. Kidney disease patients with recurrent illness conditions can have high creatinine levels.
Symptoms of high creatinine patients
Reduced urine output
Darkened color of urine

Swelling around the eyes, in the face, feet, etc

Back pain or waist pain
Fatigue, lethargy
Low fever
Loss of appetite
Headache
Confused or disoriented
Shortness of breath
Proper diets for lowering high creatinine
Low-salt. If patients only have high creatinine without edema or high blood pressure, low-salt
diet is okay. If patients have severe edema and high blood pressure, they need to have strict
restriction on salt intake or even no salt in their diets.
Low-protein. Low-protein diets can reduce the production of nitrogenous wastes and relieve
uremic states and reduce burdens to the kidneys so as to help slow down illness progression.
High-vitamin. High creatinine patients should have foods that contain rich vitamin A, vitamin B2
and vitamin C.
Treatments to reduce creatinine level
Ketosteril. It is one important non-dialysis treatment for kidney failure patients. It can help lower
creatinine level, alleviate symptoms and complications, slow down illness progression and
protect residual kidney functions.
Dialysis. Dialysis functions as artificial kidney to remove excessive water, electrolytes and toxic
substances such as creatinine, uric acid and urea out of the body.
Chinese medicines. There are many natural herbs that can help cleanse the kidneys and improve
renal filtering functions so as to wash more creatinine and other wastes out of the body.
Kidney transplant. Kidney transplant can enable the patients new kidney functions.

Immunotherapy. Immunotherapy is the combination of Chinese medicines and western

medicines which aims at repairing renal damages and improving kidney functions. It is no
surgery and can help lower high creatinine naturally.