Anyone Using Astragalus For Kidney Health/Prevention

mike036 · Feb 7, 2021

GreenTLB6 said:
What else changed here? Diet? Gear? Training?

My diet has been the same for years now, nothing new. My last bloodwork with the eGFR of 102 I was using 500mg/week test Cyp and 12.5mg Exemestane 3-4 times a week. When my eGFR was 69 a couple of years ago I was only using 125mg/week of test Cyp. I have had bloodwork done pretty much every 3-4 months for the past 2 years while using astragalus. Always had a positive effect on my eGFR. Prior to astragalus my eGFR was on a steady decline. The lowest it hit was 64

Big Ian · Feb 7, 2021

mike036 said:
My diet has been the same for years now, nothing new. My last bloodwork with the eGFR of 102 I was using 500mg/week test Cyp and 12.5mg Exemestane 3-4 times a week. When my eGFR was 69 a couple of years ago I was only using 125mg/week of test Cyp. I have had bloodwork done pretty much every 3-4 months for the past 2 years while using astragalus. Always had a positive effect on my eGFR. Prior to astragalus my eGFR was on a steady decline. The lowest it hit was 64

How long have you been using astragalus then mike? Every day for a couple of years or do you take breaks?

mike036 · Feb 7, 2021

Big Ian said:
How long have you been using astragalus then mike? Every day for a couple of years or do you take breaks?

I started it about 2 years ago. I have used it daily pretty much the whole time except when I took a 2 month break once. That was the time my eGFR dipped to 64. So I jumped back on. I only use 3 grams/day now but did use 6 grams/day and 4 grams/day for most of the time I have been using astragalus

warlock · Feb 7, 2021

mike036 said:
I started it about 2 years ago. I have used it daily pretty much the whole time except when I took a 2 month break once. That was the time my eGFR dipped to 64. So I jumped back on. I only use 3 grams/day now but did use 6 grams/day and 4 grams/day for most of the time I have been using astragalus

Do you split the 3 grams between AM and PM?

mike036 · Feb 7, 2021

warlock said:
Do you split the 3 grams between AM and PM?

Yes. I do 3-500mg caps in the morning and 3 more at night

GreenTLB6 · Feb 7, 2021

mike036 said:
My diet has been the same for years now, nothing new. My last bloodwork with the eGFR of 102 I was using 500mg/week test Cyp and 12.5mg Exemestane 3-4 times a week. When my eGFR was 69 a couple of years ago I was only using 125mg/week of test Cyp. I have had bloodwork done pretty much every 3-4 months for the past 2 years while using astragalus. Always had a positive effect on my eGFR. Prior to astragalus my eGFR was on a steady decline. The lowest it hit was 64

Good to know!
Yea I have been using vitamin shoppe brand for a full year now at 3g per day.

Powerlifter · Feb 7, 2021

DOGGCRAPP said:
https://clincalc.com/kinetics/crcl....ZL-uiqJEk_KR1unuD_7McL91VuznMZ9eGoAnZKrCvJJ1I

remember to click inches and lbs if you are here in the USA or using those quantities.

Mike, have you used this calculator? My GFR was similar to yours but mine is 95 using this formula. What was your creatinine levels?

mike036 · Feb 8, 2021

Powerlifter said:
Mike, have you used this calculator? My GFR was similar to yours but mine is 95 using this formula. What was your creatinine levels?

Using this formula my eGFR is 115

Flex500 · Feb 8, 2021

I can firmly co-sign on vitacost brand astra. Have had great results in BW with all their branded stuff. I'd actually put it up against about any brand.

DOGGCRAPP · Feb 8, 2021

Powerlifter said:
Mike, have you used this calculator? My GFR was similar to yours but mine is 95 using this formula. What was your creatinine levels?

I wouldnt live and die by that calculator. Amputees and bodybuilders will always have a higher GFR than what is shown on bloodwork....but that can also give you a false feeling of security.

When I saw a person referred to on another thread with the statement "my creatinine was fine it was 1.5 and then this last time it was 2.0" I looked at the screen in disbelief. You are on a road of trouble if your creatinine is plus 1.5 consistently. 2.0 you are in really big trouble. Ive been training for 35 years, I have never ever had a creatinine level outside the average markers, not even close. If your creatinine is high, your gfr is low, go get a cystatin C and if that is out of range....its time to buckle down and think about more important things than this bodybuilding stuff. I tell people all the time you PM me on instagram with kidney problems "I want you to really research dialysis and all that it entails....you will absolutely hate your life going through that on a weekly basis....the freedom you have right now will be taken away from you"

Powerlifter · Feb 9, 2021

Thanks Dante. My GFR was 69 and creatinine was 1.31 but I had done 4 days of hard training and then had blood work less than 48 hours later. I only use Trt now and have started astragalus at 5 grams a day.

qbkilla · Feb 9, 2021

DOGGCRAPP said:
I wouldnt live and die by that calculator. Amputees and bodybuilders will always have a higher GFR than what is shown on bloodwork....but that can also give you a false feeling of security.

When I saw a person referred to on another thread with the statement "my creatinine was fine it was 1.5 and then this last time it was 2.0" I looked at the screen in disbelief. You are on a road of trouble if your creatinine is plus 1.5 consistently. 2.0 you are in really big trouble. Ive been training for 35 years, I have never ever had a creatinine level outside the average markers, not even close. If your creatinine is high, your gfr is low, go get a cystatin C and if that is out of range....its time to buckle down and think about more important things than this bodybuilding stuff. I tell people all the time you PM me on instagram with kidney problems "I want you to really research dialysis and all that it entails....you will absolutely hate your life going through that on a weekly basis....the freedom you have right now will be taken away from you"

Spot on. Wondering your thoughts on high protein being bad for kidneys, myth, or reality? From what I've seen it was one flawed study that caused this to be thought true. And they say it can only be harmful for those with kidney damage but not sure what that means. I assume all bodybuilders kidneys have some degree of abuse and are not functioning as well as they would had we not used aas and added lbs of lbm, water, fat etc to carry around.

tokon · Feb 10, 2021

Big Ian said:
So as I couldn’t order from vitaminshoppe as they currently aren’t shipping to the uk and the vitaminshoppe product being just the root rather than an extract like many other are I decided to order 6lbs of root powder from piping rock, the products seem to have good reviews but the shipping doesn’t but I took a gamble and it arrived in 7 days from the US.

I’ve made my own powder blend of roughly 9/10ths astragalus and 1/10th grape seed extract and going to have 2 heaped teaspoons per day. So roughly 9g astragalus and 1g gse. First impressions are that the astragalus smells like the earthy smell of fresh peas but tastes like a big mouthful of tobacco lol hopefully it’ll do the job.

Any feedback from people using the various astagalus products on whether whole root or extract is better/more effective?

Thanks.