Long term high protein diets bad for your Kidneys? Past 5 years of research.

[sharleeg]

@kpatrick1111 Whats a lot of protein in layman's terms? Many of us are on diets so a lot of protein for a 160-200lbs bodybuilder is still way less than what a person with an overeating disorder eats (40% + of north americans). How can we tell how much is too much?

 

[kpatrick1111]

@sharleeg I don't think anyone has a "correct" answer at this point about what too much protein really is, the research is still coming out. Personally, I try to stay between 120g and 150g a day. It's my personal, mental, sweet spot for growth and risk management.

"still way less than what a person with an overeating disorder eats" One of the articles mentions the general populations over consumption of protein.

 

[tonyangiano]

@kpatrick1111 Interesting. Any thoughts on an even further compounding effect from the source of overconsumption of protein in the general population vs strength trainers? I.e. red meats and ultra processed foods vs lean meats, plant based, supplements, etc? I think I got that thought out right lol. Also, I’ve found 125-150 grams to be perfect as well.

 

[muddleglum]

@tonyangiano There is prominent data supporting that processed meats like deli meats are the highest contributors to cardiovascular disease and inflammation, with red meats behind. We know that plant based proteins that contribute saturated fats (think of a plant based burger that has coconut oil in its base for flavor) have a smaller effect than saturated fats from animal sources. I'm not sure that there is data on plant based effects for the kidney. I imagine plant based sources to be a moderately lower load on the kidneys due to a lower amount and lower bio availability of phosphate. But that's just my speculation.

And though cardiovascular impact and data may not be something you're thinking of related directly to your kidneys, over time that blood vessel damage and constrictions will reduce functionality of the kidneys as well.

All that being said, animal protein sources have a higher biological value of protein utilization. So your protein has more bang for its buck. There is also something to be said for Whey protein with leucine and BCAA as it's my old (maybe outdated) understanding that they hell stimulate MTOR pathways for growth more strongly than other types of protein. But I can't remember the comparative protein sources with this data (just casein supplements or also compared to meats).

 

[tonyangiano]

@muddleglum Thanks for the info

 

[claudiabrinkmann1566]

@kpatrick1111 Funny how it just talks about relative risk in relation to the low protein groups vs high protein groups and nothing about absolute risk

For all we know, a high protein diet could maybe take your absolute chances of kidney impact from 0.02% to 0.06%. But the author spins this as “300% increase in renal failure/disease if you eat lots of protein!”

I think most of us here will take those chances knowing how many other health domains protein consumption and lifting benefits.

All OP is doing is copying the discussion sections anyway and completely ignoring the results. He seems very uneducated on how to break down journal articles and is making false claims

Also half of the subjects tested were smokers, I’d discount literally everything about the findings of that group

 

[vick24]

@kpatrick1111 I think the key takeaway from the articles is that a high protein diet does have a risk of causing kidney problems overtime and that if you choose to eat a high protein diet you should get a yearly physical and discuss your bloodwork with your doctor and adjust your protein intake if you notice any negative trends in your kidney functions.

 

[livingme7]

@kpatrick1111 The heart if damaged becomes shit, scar tissue is bad contractile tissue. The kidney if damaged repairs itself, that's why we seldom see those problems.

Pro bodybuilders eat 6k+ calories, have a lot of mass + muscle mass, eat a lot more protein and take kidney destroying PEDs, often have high blood pressure and only 20% of them destroyed their kidneys completely. For a natty this is a lot less of a concern.

 

[0207]

@livingme7 The kidney can only repair mild damage, just like your heart has a finite amount of muscle cells. you were born with a certain amount of glomeruli and that's it. So treat your kidney well.

 

[marco70]

@livingme7 Do we know how long repair takes? Would cycling in some blocks of lower protein for 12 weeks every few years be enough? Obviously super speculative, just curious if you have any insight.

 

[livingme7]

@marco70 No idea, my guess would be twice a year 2 weeks should be pretty fine but this might be far off too.

 

[jacobsonofjohn]

@kpatrick1111 What you’re saying is not what the articles you linked are saying. Evidence is pretty mixed

 

[kpatrick1111]

@jacobsonofjohn Conclusion: "A high-protein diet increases the risk of RHF(Renal hyperfiltration) and a rapid renal function decline in the general population. These findings suggest that a high-protein diet has a deleterious effect on renal function in the general population."

TLDR: High protein diets are rough on your kidneys.

Conclusion: "Although there has not been a full elucidation of the underlying mechanisms by which high protein intake may adversely affect kidney function, particularly in the context of CKD(Cronic Kidney Disease), existing data suggest that glomerular hyperfiltration caused by a high-protein diet may lead to an increase in albuminuria and an initial rise and subsequent decline in GFR(Glomerular filtration rate) ([Figure 2](javascript:void(0))). Furthermore, growing evidence suggests that high-protein diets may be associated with a number of metabolic complications that may be detrimental to kidney health. Given the rise in popularity of high-protein diets and the high prevalence of CKD in the United States population—including many individuals who may be unaware of their CKD status, further studies are needed to investigate how differences in dietary protein quantity and quality affect short- and long-term outcomes in patients with or without CKD."

TLDR: High protein diets are very likely bad for your kidneys in one way. More studying is needed before it's known if high protein diets are bad for your kidneys in other ways too.

I added the written out abbreviations in parentheses to make it more user friendly.

 

[bdeninthesky]

@kpatrick1111 Silly to downvote this.

 

[claudiabrinkmann1566]

@kpatrick1111 Where is the actual data? Conclusions can be spun in millions of different ways

 

[bdeninthesky]

@claudiabrinkmann1566 Conclusions and abstracts drawn by the researchers of the data? I’ll take their word over yours. No offense.

 

[claudiabrinkmann1566]

@bdeninthesky So you skip to the conclusions and abstract and disregard the two most important sections of research articles - Methods and results

Typical armchair Reddit “scientist” lol

 

[bdeninthesky]

@claudiabrinkmann1566 You went to the comments without reading the articles linked with the data, and then questioned the conclusions and abstract. Who is the armchair scientist?

 

[claudiabrinkmann1566]

@bdeninthesky I literally read it and responded in a larger comment, open your eyes kid

 

[bdeninthesky]

@claudiabrinkmann1566 My bad for not paying attention to one random commenter’s name in a whole thread then. Even if you did, not sure why you’d read it and then question it like you didn’t. Seems silly.