Everywhere you look, a product is on sale promising to cleanse your body from the inside out. Teas, powders, milk varieties and all manner of products are on offer.
However, a kidney doctor in Nairobi believes investing in such products is falling for a hoax. Dr Ahmed Twahir, a consultant nephrologist and clinical director at the Parklands Kidney Centre in Nairobi, does not consider detoxification products “scientifically sound”.
“It doesn’t make sense. To detox means what? To remove toxins from your body. Just eat a good, healthy, balanced diet, be well hydrated, and that’s more than detoxing,” he said.
In the body, he added, the liver naturally neutralises toxins while the kidneys remove them.
“A lot of people go for detox. In this detox, they are given herbal medications. Now, people say herbal is natural, it cannot affect your kidneys, but that’s not true. We’ve seen a lot of people who’ve come with herbal medications causing kidney failure. And even herbal medications can cause liver failure,” he said.
Dr Twahir was speaking in an interview ahead of World Kidney Day, which is marked on the second Thursday of March every year.
For many, the first instinct is to reach for painkillers to ease throbbing headaches or body aches.
Photo credit: Shutterstock
One of the greatest kidney enemies, he said, are painkillers.
“A consumption trend I must discourage is taking over-the-counter painkillers,” he said. “I’ve seen patients develop kidney failure from those drugs.”
He noted that a doctor’s guidance is needed before taking most of the painkiller brands in the market.
“I’m very, very careful when giving somebody a painkiller because I’ve seen patients coming to me with kidney failure just by taking painkillers,” said Dr Twahir.
“Ninety per cent of the kidneys can get damaged without you knowing,” said Dr Twahir, who has attended to kidney patients at the Parklands-based facility since 2002.
“Kidney disease is silent, especially if it happens very slowly over the years, then the patient starts only getting symptoms when it’s advanced. And unfortunately, at this stage, there’s very little that we can do to reverse it. In fact, I can say there’s nothing you can do. You just have to prepare them for dialysis and then put them on transplantation,” he added.
Symptoms of kidney disease, he noted, are “very mild” and they include tiredness. Nausea and loss of appetite may also feature, same as froth – and sometimes blood – in urine.
“Blood [in urine] might be a good thing because then you’ll rush to the hospital. That one is not silent and it scares people,” he said.
Once kidney disease is established, medics usually establish its stage. Stage one is the least advanced whereas stage five means the kidneys have less than 15 percent functionality.
“Stage three is like 30 to 60 percent [functionality]. Stage four is 15 to 30 percent. Stage five is less than 15 percent,” Dr Twahir said, adding that whereas the earlier stages can be managed with medication, a stage five patient needs dialysis and a transplant if viable.
Nation Lifestyle spoke with a 57-year-old city lawyer who requested not to be named so as to discuss the matter freely. He said that in 2021, he was diagnosed with stage one kidney failure.
“With the progression of the disease with time, the kidneys become weaker and weaker. I believe now I am in stage three,” the advocate said. “The problem with these kinds of diseases is that you don’t feel anything, unless the kidneys get to about 15 per cent where now you need dialysis and all.”
The lawyer has been taking medicine to keep his kidneys in good shape, and they include a weekly jab that costs Sh9,000 a jab. He also takes tablets.
“The number one enemy for kidneys is potassium. You have to avoid all foods that have potassium, and you must have your potassium checked every three months. Obviously, consulting a dietician will guide you, because it’s not just potassium,” said the lawyer. “I would eat a banana once in a while, but I’ll eat half.”
Asked to advise the public on avoiding kidney disease, the lawyer mentioned regular checks and exercise.
“We live a life where you sit down in the office the whole day, you go home, lie on the couch or lie in bed. We don’t exercise, and these are where we are causing most of the problems that we have. If you are checked early and interventions are done early, it becomes easier to manage,” he said.
Dr Twahir, who was the chairman of the Kenya Renal Association between 2017 and 2021, showed us the official data on kidney disease in Kenya. It showed that Kenya had only 60 nephrologists and 1,200 renal nurses as at 2025.
Further, it indicated that Kenya has 263 dialysis centres across the country that serve 7,300 patients who need regular dialysis to prolong their lives.
The data shows that there are more than 1,260 Kenyans who have received kidney transplants and that if you need a transplant in Kenya, there are only eight facilities that offer the surgery: three public and five private ones.
The data further indicates that the Social Health Authority (SHA) caters for Sh10,650 per dialysis session, and Dr Twahir added that the sessions are capped at two per week.
“Three times a week is recommended. But unfortunately, SHA only covers twice. For many people, when they start, they can get away with twice a week. But as time progresses, they need a three-times-a-week dialysis, and that comes from their pocket,” he noted.
To evade the dialysis yoke, Dr Twahir advised Kenyans to embrace regular checks.
“If you are below 40, you should test once every two to three years. Between 40 and 60, test yourself every two years. After 60, you should test yourself once in a year,” said the medic.
However, if a person has conditions like diabetes, hypertension, obesity, or they have a strong family history of kidney disease, a doctor can recommend more frequent tests.
Asked about the top causes of kidney disease in the country, he singled out lifestyle diseases as the main culprit.
“When I was in medical school, they used to tell us that the most common cause of kidney disease in Kenyans is infections,” said Dr Twahir. “As we started developing a Western lifestyle, the focus changed and now the most common cause is diabetes and hypertension. The infections are number three now [after hypertension and diabetes].”
A kidney patient typically undergoes dialysis as the search for a donor starts. However, in some cases, patients stay on dialysis for the rest of their lives.
“You can be on dialysis until the day you die. I’ve had a patient who was on dialysis for 20 years. Then he died of a heart attack,” said Dr Twahir. “[But] it’s not good to be on dialysis for the rest of your life because dialysis is inconvenient. It eats up your time. It reduces your productivity and your quality of life.”
However, he said, some individuals are on dialysis forever because they fail to get a donor or they are not fit to be transplanted.
