@DJC3 More confirmation that using a low carb diet to reverse kidney damage works can be found in Dr Richard K Bernstein's auto-biographical article on his site:
http://www.diabetes-book.com/bernstein-life-with-diabetes/
After giving a devastating list of the ailments he developed as a T1 child and young man he writes this:
"I had begun testing my urine for protein and found substantial amounts of it, a sign, I had read, of advanced kidney disease. In those days—the middle and late 1960s—the life expectancy of a type 1 diabetic with proteinuria was five years. Back in engineering school, a classmate had told me how his nondiabetic sister had died of kidney disease. Before her death she had ballooned with retained water, and after I discovered my own proteinuria, I began to have nightmares of blowing up like a balloon."
However, he pioneered the use of meters at home to test for glucose and discovered that the high carb diet he had been told to eat was damaging, not helping him.
" Today, my results from even the most sensitive kidney function tests are all normal."
Now he is 85 and claims that the latest test on his kidneys shows them to be in fine fettle. He is still treating diabetic patients and recently re-married (after being widowed). I ardently wish I had a quarter of his energy. You can see him for yourself on Youtube as he still gives a Q&A seminar towards the end of every month. You can also read free extracts from his book"Diabetes Solution" including an article on kidney disease:
http://www.diabetes-book.com/protein-restriction/
Also on Youtube I found this episode of Dr B's "Diabetes University" where he talks about kidney disease:
I hope this helps.