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

[rsmith]

@bdeninthesky Hey come on, this person is probably a REAL scientist, not a Reddit one… right?

 

[tylyr]

@kpatrick1111 The Stronger by Science podcast discussed one of the linked studies in the past: https://www.sbspod.com/episodes/protein-kidney-function-cholesterol-training-adaptations

Starts at 0:09:58.

Note: Both hosts aren't nephrologists, but I think their input in this matter is still helpful.

Their takeaways are:

• The South Korean study only shows correlation between a high protein diet and decline in kidney function after applying models with several covariates. The crude data doesn't show a big difference between these groups.
• If you're concerned about your kidney health, it would be best to talk with your physician.
• The data here isn't convincing enough to advise against a high protein diet, if your kidneys are healthy. This, of course, does change when you suffer from a kidney disease and should be discussed with a nephrologist.

The review article mentions that long-term RCTs showed mixed results regarding high protein diet and renal function. I guess we need more data to say anything conclusively regarding high protein diet and kidney function in healthy patients.

 

[lynn40]

@kpatrick1111 Can someone elaborate on how much protein is considered to be too much according to this research? Would 1g/lb body weight be considered “harmful” ? Cheers.

 

[snowymtn]

@lynn40 7 years of consistently building muscle and eating high protein… all in the name of health and wellness. Sad if I did this all for my own self destructions

 

[dianapau]

@kpatrick1111 My dad is almost 80 and has lifted weights his whole life (still does!). His view based on experience...high protein diets result in higher uric acids in your body that have a negative effect on your body

 

[0207]

@dianapau I mean he's 80 so higher ureum levels are to be expected since his GFR declined through aging no?

 

[fola]

@kpatrick1111 And high protein consumption and high dietary cholesterol (whole egg ) consumption can cause/exacerbate liver problems

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0955286316303333

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6670211/

And

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6726297/

https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/immunology/articles/10.3389/fimmu.2022.968366/full

Luckily for me, after 2 or 3 years of high ALT I figured out what was causing it. Btw lifting/muscle damage elevates AST more than ALT. I previously was eating 3-4 whole eggs a day and consuming 3+ g/kg of protein per day. I may be predisposed to liver problems. It could be just coincidental that after I began lifting and eating a high protein high cholesterol diet my ALT increased. I am still figuring out how much protein to eat without causing Elevated ALT. Trying to stay around 2g/kg of protein per day and less than 200mg of cholesterol per day too.

Liver biopsy confirmed that my liver is injured but no NAFLD or worse.

 

[oregongirl1]

@fola What's your reasoning for trying to eat such high amount of protein when we know eating more than 1.6g per kg has no benefits?

 

[fola]

@oregongirl1 It crept up as I was dieting to lose fat. Little by little I began eating more and more Greek yogurt for snacks. Then protein powder and milk after working out and usual meat/chicken/fish /eggs for breakfast, lunches and dinner. Before you know it,210+ g of protein per day (147lbs). Then it became a habit. For me it does a great job on staving off hunger pangs. Now that I’m trying to eat less protein, I’m hungrier more frequently while eating at or above maintenance.

 

[thinhnghiem]

@oregongirl1 not the one you're replying to, but I end up creeping up in protein because I can eat all the protein I want and it won't turn into fat, do that with carbs and you get fat, do that with fat and you get fat....My regular diet before I started lifting was high in protein because I'm diabetic and carb intake is kind of a thing I have to watch anyways.

 

[joman1988]

@kpatrick1111 Thanks for Posting This I'm a Lifter as Well.

I had to stop Taking Creatine because doctor said it was effecting my Creatinine levels

Which I stopped and slowly about a couple months

My Creatinine levels went back to normal

And I had to go to doctor 6 months later

And they checked me again and said my Creatinine levels or gfr thing I don't know if I'm spelling it right

were at 70 and I'm 30 years old

And she said healthy people my age is not supposed to be at 100

It's normal if I was in my 50s

But she said it's not normal

Got referred to a nephrologist have to call Monday kinda Anxious to confirm my appointment

I have Agoraphobia and Social Anxiety

But I have to call for my health sake

And I got referred a dietician

Because I been eating near 200 grams of protein plus BCAAs I take

Plus the Beta Alanine and pre workout supplements I take

I like creatine had to stop due to my doctor telling me to

But hopefully my kidneys can get back to normal

Because I been drinking a lot of water more than a gallon a day

Hopefully I have 18 and a half inch Arms

I been trying to grow them to 19 inch Arms and possibly 20 inches arms is my goal

As a natural Lifter

Thanks OP for posting this

Because I have Agoraphobia and Social Anxiety really bad I was scared to ask this question

Thanks for posting this

Working Out helps my Anxiety and Agoraphobia

And I get a temporary reduce in my anxiety

Lasts a hour

But really helps better than my medicine

And it also helps physically because I was prediabetic and I'm trying to reduce that

And I really love working out and building my body

Which I'm not competing professionally

Hopefully one day I could amateur or professionally

If I can get over my anxiety

but if you are building muscle you technically are building the body

Thanks op for the post

Excuse my grammar and such

 

[joman1988]

@gatatter Yeah I don't take no where near 300 400 grams

Just around 150 200 plus BCAAs

But I don't know if the BCAAs effect kidneys

Or just the protein itself that does that

Because I'm 225 6'2"

So hopefully when I go to the nephrologist everything is ok

Because I drink about two to three gallons of water daily

Overdo the water until my urine is clear

Excuse my grammar as well

I was so anxious typing this online and communicating

 

[dwmitch1]

@kpatrick1111

Compared with protein from plant sources, animal protein has been associated with an increased risk of ESKD in several observational studies

 

[kpatrick1111]

@dwmitch1 That's misleading out of context, the article isn't about comparing animal and plant protein sources. Even this doesn't summarize the paragraph. ->"The quality of dietary protein may also play a role in kidney health. Compared with protein from plant sources, animal protein has been associated with an increased risk of ESKD in several observational studies, including the Singapore Chinese Health Study."

 

[dwmitch1]

@kpatrick1111 Yeah just an interesting bit I noticed. It's an important distinction between the quality and type of protein, and how it effects the body

 

[wwjosh19]

@kpatrick1111 Why have you posted this 4 times?

 

[kpatrick1111]

@wwjosh19 Shit, sorry it said the auto mod took those down.

 

[james02s40]

@kpatrick1111 Checked the first studie and also looked over the meta study and I would say that it was quite weak evidence. Food questionaire and the groups differed in quite some factors not just protein intake. High protein intake is often correlated with high red meat consumption. Is this a factor to take into account since red meat consumption is also correlated with adverse health effects regardless of the total protein intake? High creatinin is associated with creatin consumption. Does that play a part? It would be Interesting to see more research on the matter.

To be on the safe side I’m however trying to get as much of my protein as possible from plants sources and also do regular checkups of kidney biomarkers.

 

[marcia256]

@james02s40 Would plant protein not cause the same damage if the absorption and amount of complete protein/ leucine had been accounted for?

As far as I'm aware plant protein sources don't absorb as well so you need more to get the same amount digested. On top of this they are not compete sources of protein and do not have the same effect, so you need to eat another plant source to make it a complete source which also meant eating more. The common mixture to have a complete source is pea and hemp protein but gram for gram it is not the same as whey.

 

[james02s40]

@marcia256 Yes I know that plant protein is not as good from a protein standpoint as whey other animal protein. The science around differences in types of protein is not rock solid but life expectancy is lowered when consumption of animal protein goes up. Eating a lot of red meat is however correlated with a lot of other negative lifestyle factors so hard to tell exactly how the causation looks.