The kidneys are the most perfect miniaturised dialysis machines ever invented. Their job is to purify the blood and remove all toxic wastes from the body. Failure to do so results in rapidly declining health.

In Malta, kidney disease is quite prevalent, and, according to kidney specialists, it is on the increase. The number of patients requiring dialysis or transplantation is increasing year by year.

There are many reasons people get kidney disease. Among the most common causes one can include: high blood pressure, diabetes, being overweight, smoking, advancing age and a family history of kidney disease. It is advisable, particularly for those over the age of 50, or those with any of the above conditions, to have regular check-ups to pick up the disease in its early stages.

One of the first changes that is detectable in kidney damage is the presence of a protein (albumin) in the urine – a simple and useful diagnostic test hallowed by long usage. More sensitivity is obtained by looking for minute amounts of protein – micro-albuminuria – which often precedes more obvious protein secretion.

It has been customary to consider that kidneys could deal quite easily with the normal load of ingested material, and the vast majority of people never give a thought to the burden they impose on their kidneys.

However, this view is slowly changing. Some years ago it was shown that diabetic patients seemed to have less albumin in their urine when put on a diet with restricted intake of red meat which was replaced with chicken. Why red meat has this effect on the kidneys is not really known.

A recent study by Julie Lin and her colleagues from the Harvard Medical School in Boston involved the examination of kidney function in more than 3,000 normal women over several years (1984-1998). They found that those on a ‘Western’-type diet, with plenty of red meat, had a two-fold increased chance of getting micro-albuminuria compared with those on a low red meat diet. They had a higher risk (40 per cent) of having a reduction in kidney function.

They concluded that a diet high in fruit, vegetables and whole grain with a corresponding decrease in meat can protect and prevent a decline in kidney function.

This is another piece of evidence that the modern diet is not the ideal one, and that our body appears to be struggling to maintain its normal functions when it has to deal with the increased burdens that a prosperous life seem to impose on it. Excessive amounts of a whole range of dietary components, be it fats, sugars, salt and even meat, seem to produce extra strain on the body.

Doctors encourage us to go back to the ‘Mediterranean’ type of diet, which was the norm a generation or two ago but which has now all but disappeared. A diet that relied more on vegetables, fruit, and fish rather than meat seems to protect against a whole range of maladies which now affect our society.

How true is the old saying: “we were much better off when we were worse off”.