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Proteins & kidney damage

debbiiee

Well-Known Member
Messages
287
Hi
Does high protein intake damages kidney as it is mentioned at several places in the forum?
Dr.Bernstein suggests that protein restriction is unjustified for all diabetics. Only those with pre-existing nephropathy should be concerned about proteins. He also quotes 1995 article- Nutritional biochemistry- which states that higher protein diet improves kidney function.
Until normal sugars are maintained, its no matter how much protein is consumed.
Waiting for your valuable suggestions. Any thanks in advance

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I can only answer your question with my own experience. I believe my mild kidney damage was caused by very high blood pressure (I was pre-diabetic then). I also had been eating higher quantities of protein at that time and not drinking anywhere near enough water. I eat protein fairly freely now, but am careful not to eat more than is required to stop me from being hungry. This is just a personal thing because I fear going back to the same problems I have had in the past. My kidneys have now fully recovered and I have normal kidney function having spent most of the last 3 years following a low carb plan because I am now type 2 diabetic.
 
Like Zand I can only answer from my own experience. Both my last consultant and the one before them both said that diabetics should not eat too much protein as it puts an extra strain on the kidneys, as we are more prone to kidney damage I suspect this is their reasoning.
 
The Women's health care study found that over a period of 11years, those women who had a eGFR of 80ml/min or below who ate a high protein diet (particularly animal protein)had an accelerated decline in function. Those who had better kidney function and ate a higher protein diet didn't have the same decline
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12639078/
A review paper suggested that high protein diets doesn't harm those with normal kidney function but that there isn't good long term evidence .
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1262767/
 
Thanks for the awesome links Phoenix.

Apologies if this is slightly off topic, but I was just looking at my records in the hospital today and I noticed that my eGFR recovered massively from 0.75 last year and the year before, to 0.93 at the end of last year. That was before I was either on the pump or low carbing. But I had no idea that kidney function could recover so much. I thought it was more of a one way trip. I asked the DSN and her view was that eGFR was sensitive to average blood sugars, and as soon as you stop forcing the kidneys to dump sugar, the eGFR would quickly improve. Of course this may well not be the case at worse levels of kidney function.
 
Very similar levels to mine Spiker - my lowest one was 0.72 and is now >0.90. I also thought it was a one way trip and was quite shocked (though pleased) that lowering carbs could do this.
 
From what I can gather, the amount of protein our bodies actually need is difficult to calculate as it varies so much between men and women, is based on body weight and activity levels, and the older we get the more we need. So just how much is too much?
 
I am confused.

On my last test my eGFR was 64. The print out indicated this was low and should be >90. I queried it with my GP who told me the eGFR was unimportant unless the other renal profiles showed some malfunction (which mine don't). She said it was an estimation only, based on age and sex. Can anyone explain please? @Spiker and @zand why are your levels apparently measured in different units to mine?
 
Bluetit1802 said:
I am confused.
@Spiker why are your levels apparently measured in different units to mine?
Click to expand...
Sorry I should not have put a decimal point, my eGFRs were 75 and 93. I was thinking like that because they say 100 is the equivalent of full normal kidney function, like it's a percentage. But it isn't.

I have never had an HCP mention my kidney function to me, even when it was low. It was on this site I saw people say we need to take more notice of it. I think it was one of Jack412's posts classifying kidney disease and saying that most diabetics have some degree of it. And of course you don't want that to get worse.

Here's the thread from @jack412

http://www.diabetes.co.uk/forum/posts/537204/
 
Yes my actual tests are in the same units as yours, 72 and >90 but I hadn't found those when I replied. The .72 was quoted in a note somewhere and I just chose this way to express it because that was the first thing I found.
 

Definitely we don't want it to get worse! But if my GP is right, and in no way am I saying she is, then the eGFR taken alone is worthless and only comes into play if other renal profiles are abnormal in some way. After all, it is only an estimation of the filter rate and we all know how estimates are unreliable! Ask for a print out next time you have a test. They are wonderful pieces of the jigsaw puzzle.
 
I don't think we know the answer to that one Bluetit1802! I didn't know how much was too much until I had problems. I suppose I had been eating approximately double what I had eaten previously and that was too much, but that's not very helpful to you is it? Sorry
 
They classify kidney disease in stages .
Stage 1 is if you have normal kidney function greater than 90ml/min/1.73 m AND also have some known kidney abnormality or protein in your urine
Stage 2 is if you have mildly reduced kidney function between 60-89m l/min/1.73 m AND also have some known kidney abnormality or protein in your urine
So that's why the doctor is not too bothered if there are no other problems and why you also should have regular tests for microalbuminuria .
Stage 3 is 30- 59 which is moderately reduced function
stage 4 is 15-29 severely reduced.
stage 5 less than 15

Mine was in the low 70s when diagnosed . That was with a 24 hour urine sample . It has gone back into the 80s but as said earlier it is only an estimate,
 
My eGFR is up from the mid 40's to mid 50's which is an improvement but still not great for a guy of my age.Can't win 'em all I guess but I feel good and my BG's are good so that'll do me!
 
My GP insists my kidneys are fine as the test results are within range but only barely so. I have had foamy urine for a couple of years and some other test I have forgotten the name of out of range but at my surgery your results will have to wildly out of range to be taken notice of. Thus, and as a newly diagnosed diabetic, I try to keep my protein intake normal, carbs as low as I can manage and eat fat to fill me up. It seems my kidney tests are slightly better and I have lost some weight as well as normalised bg.
 
When diagnosed my GFR was >60, since switching to low carb it improved to >90 and I've maintained this number for the past three years.
 
When I had a cancerous growth on one of my kidneys, my GFR for both kidneys was completely normal. When they removed the kidney, I was left at GFR of 46. No one even mentioned to me that I would naturally be considered to have chronic kidney disease after the op. Obviously the remaining kidney has grown to accommodate working for two, but after one year my GFR was 49. At least it was going the right way I thought. I eat a lot of red peppers...kidneys love red peppers! After 18 months it was up to 52, then 54.

I had the results of a GFR test ( since being told prediabetic) only about a week ago, and it had gone down to 53. Today it was done in the hospital again and the result was 58. My highest ever!

I was told by my urologist to cut back on protein. I was also told by him to eat healthy generally and lower fats.
 
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