Hi y’all! I’m still deep in the heart of Texas and will tell you about it next week . My friend Beth, a fellow Landmark graduate and the originator 
of the Facebook page Morning Gratitude, offers a product I am eager to explore this week. She is excited about its health and weight loss benefits. This seems to be the national pastime these days, but I must say each person I’ve spoken with is delighted with the results of their products… but they don’t have Chronic Kidney Disease.
You might remember that last November I spent the month writing about different products. They sounded good, healthy, and I wondered if I could use them. The answer? No, no, no, and no. They were either way out of the guidelines for phosphorous, protein, potassium, and/or sodium on my renal diet or they were out of guidelines for the pre-diabetic diet I’ve incorporated with my renal diet. That incorporation took me over a year to figure out so there was no way I was going to violate it. I have been having some success slowly losing weight and bringing my blood sugar in line by cutting out sugar and most complex starches, as well as continuing to exercise. (Yes, that’s a not at all veiled hint.)
Beth, a friend for three years is so happy with her brand – Plexus Worldwide – that she’s become a distributor. Similar to some of the other brands I explored for CKD patients in SlowItDownCKD 2015, Plexus Worldwide offers many different products. I took an in-depth look at the one that seemed to be the basic product: Plexus 96.
According to Beth’s Plexus website at http://shopmyplexus.com/bethbetcher/products/block.html, this particular product contains alpha lipoic acid, chlorogenic acid, garcina cambogia, whey protein, green lipped mussel, aloe vera, and grape seed extract. Stop. What is chlorogenic acid? Anyone? No one knows? Let’s find out together then.
This ingredient is a miracle according to the internet. It supposedly helps you lose weight, is an antioxidant, cleanses the liver… shall I go on? I liked almost everything I read about it except that it is not yet approved by the Food and Drug Administration. I never used to care about that. Now I have CKD, so I do. Why? If a supplement is not approved, there’s no way to know how to adjust the dosage for your (and my) poorly performing kidneys.
In addition, the UK Medicines Information (UKMi) pharmacists for NHS healthcare professionals published the following finding on April 8, 2013:
“Limited laboratory studies appear to suggest that chlorogenic acid can cause liver or kidney changes. Until more is known, it would be prudent to avoid GCE in patients with pre-existing liver or kidney disease.” *GCE is Green Coffee Extract, the source of chlorogenic acid.
Right out of the gate, this is not a product for people with CKD. I would go on, but I think it might be better to explore another of Plexus’s products. You know what they say, ‘One bad apple doesn’t spoil the bunch.’
I liked the sound of the Plexus Slim. When I looked at the ingredient list, the first thing I saw was chlorogenic acid. We know we can’t have this, but 
let’s look at one more ingredient just for the heck of it. Here’s one I often hear about: garcinia cambogia. I went directly to their website at http://garciniacambogia.org/garcinia-cambogia-side-effects/ to look for possible side effects. Uh-oh:
“Increases risk for rhabdomyolysis, a skeletal muscle disease that causes the muscles to release proteins into the bloodstream leading to kidney malfunction.”
Ladies and gentlemen, our protein intake is restricted because we have CKD. Why would we take a chance on increasing the protein in our bodies? 
Here’s a reminder from What Is It and How Did I Get It? Early Stage Chronic Kidney Disease about why we need to limit our protein.
“So, why is protein limited? One reason is that it is the source of a great deal of phosphorus. Another is that a number of nephrons were already destroyed before you were even diagnosed. Logically, those that remain compensate for those that are no longer viable. The remaining nephrons are doing more work than they were meant to. Just like a car that is pushed too hard, there will be constant deterioration if you don’t stop pushing. The idea is to stop pushing your remaining nephrons to work even harder in an attempt to slow down the advancement of your CKD. Restricting protein is a way to reduce the nephrons’ work.”
Beth did tell me she didn’t know if Plexus would be good for Chronic Kidney Disease patients. Okay, we’ll look at just one more product before we call it a day. The name drew me to the product and the ingredient silica turned me away again. I’m referring to Plexus X Factor which is described on the website in the following manner.
“Plexus X Factor is a turbocharged multivitamin and antioxidant supplement with a never-before-seen formulation of a patented aloe blend and New Zealand Blackcurrant of which results in vastly improved absorption and assimilation for optimal nutrition and wellness protection.”
Wait a minute. I remember having read something about silica. It wasn’t complimentary. Found it! It was listed under Side Effects and Precautions 
of Silica Supplements along with a warning that this is not FDA approved. The address for the article is http://www.newhealthguide.org/Silica-Supplements.html.
“Kidney Function. Some medical teams have also expressed concerns that using silica supplements for a prolonged period of time may cause severe kidney trouble. People who take these supplements have reported kidney stones and medical professionals believe it may be because of a buildup of extra silica within the body as only small quantities are required for proper bodily functions. General kidney deterioration can also occur over time if there is excess silica in the body and this condition is irreversible.”
Are you getting the feeling that none of these new products for health improvement and/or weight are acceptable for CKD patients? I am and it has to do with the unregulated herbs that may cause or worsen kidney damage. What do you say we quit while we’re ahead? Of course, those without CKD need to decide for themselves if this is something they’d like to try.
Until next week,
Keep living your life!
SlowItDownCKD 