Excess protein and Kidney failure

[noexcuses88]

A Link from yahoo health
http://health.yahoo.com/experts/drma...rs-should-know

Save the Meat for the Weekend
The recent Western obsession with protein diets is turning out to have potentially fatal results, namely osteoporosis and kidney failure. During protein metabolism, your kidneys must excrete the excess components of protein, known as amino acids.

To complete this process, the kidneys neutralize the acids by binding them to calcium, which in turn, ***letes your body's store of this essential mineral.

The rate in the U.S. of osteoporosis is strikingly higher than China, where almost everyone eats a lower protein vegetarian diet. Evidence has also been found that excess protein weakens the kidney function. But you don't have to give up meat entirely to attain longevity.

In studies of animals with chronic kidney failure, simply reducing their intake of protein extended their lifespan by up to 50 percent! Take this advice: limit your meat eating to only the weekends, and you will be taking a balanced and healthy approach to your diet

This is not the first time I have heard this. Using 1.5grams per pound of lean bodyweight seems like a lot of protein for daily consumption. Long term illnesses such as kidney failure seems like a steep price to pay for body building.

[unclemoney]

Who know's if this is really anything to worry about, at least I won't. I'm not backing down on my protein diet. And to talk about chinese people and there vegetarian diets... Look at there size, there pretty small.

[xlxBigSexyxlx]

interesting. Ive heard this also, and...Back when I was on my bulking diet, Ive gotten kidney stones for the first time, and have this slight pain everynow and then. But the doc looked at my IVP and my kidneys are functioning properly...for now..

[KAEW44]

I never juiced and this year i even stopped regular supplements after i saw my friend get kideny failure and stones for years and years.
Every person has a different tolerance and reaction to things so some people i know will get away with a lifetime of juicing and supplements, and others will get screwed on the first time, its all genetics and luck really,.

I've always been on the bad side of luck so i'll just be happy with my current body and gain slowly naturally, nothing is worth being in the position my friend was in with kidney failure.

[ebjack]

Came across this article when I was researching something else.
This is not a study or a doctor but general anatomy and physiology



Why Protein is Not Bad for Your Kidneys

Since Doctor Atkins popularized the Low Carb Way of Eating, detractors and critics have continuously proclaimed, "Yer gonna kill yer kidneys!". This has been a particularly thorny criticism to refute because of the biology involved, so most of us have had to counter by pointing out the fact that no patient or adherent who started with healthy kidney function has ever sustained kidney damage through a ketogenic diet. This statement is true enough, but not exactly conclusive.

Where did the idea come from in the first place? It came from the very real association between ketones in urine and kidney damage suffered by diabetics. When a diabetic is in the more severe stages of the disease, his blood sugar is grossly elevated, his metabolism is vastly compromised, large amounts of aceto-acetic acid are found in his urine, and sure enough, there is frequently severe or even fatal kidney damage. The reasonable mind associates the presence of ketones in the urine with kidney damage; and the reasonable mind is wrong. To understand why, we must (briefly) examine how the kidney does its job.

The kidney is a size-exclusion filter (just what it sounds like). A small filtering unit called a glomerulus (about 6 million of them per kidney) is fed a stream of blood. Small molecules such as glucose, salts, urea, and ketones, along with all sorts of other (small) waste products, are filtered out of the blood through small pores and drained off to the bladder. The issue is a good bit more complicated than I am presenting here, but the principal is real. Small stuff is filtered out through these pores, while larger molecules are retained in the blood stream. When all is normal, an excess of protein is not harmful in any way. Proteins are *big* molecules, and will not fit through the pores. When a person's blood glucose levels are grossly elevated, many bad things happen; one of which is the formation of gluco-protein complexes in the blood. Glucose has a slight positive molecular charge, and the pores are negatively charged, so glucose will fit though and flow through the pores in the glomerulus. If that glucose molecule is dragging a protein with it, the protein end of the complex gets stuck in the pore. Blood pressure behind the protein will quite frequently shove the protein through the pore, physically damaging the pore in the process. Multiply this scene by several million times, and severe kidney damage is the result.

What does this mean? The protein did the damage, right? Yes, but it would not have done that damage if it weren't stuck to the glucose molecule. And the gluco-protein complex would not have formed if blood glucose levels were normal or near normal. The conclusion then, is obvious. If you are concerned about your kidneys, monitor your blood glucose levels. Many stores sell blood glucose monitors at reasonable prices. It's a small price to pay for something which can tell you exactly what is happening in your body, and just maybe save your life. And no, you don't have to be diabetic to buy one.

So now you know what to say when someone says, "yer gonna kill yer kidneys eating all that protein!" You can tell them that is a bunch of baloney; the sugars and starches kill the kidneys, not the protein.

Copyright © 2002, By Walter Dees. Used with Permission. [/i]

[roodogg]

interesting. Ive heard this also, and...Back when I was on my bulking diet, Ive gotten kidney stones for the first time, and have this slight pain everynow and then. But the doc looked at my IVP and my kidneys are functioning properly...for now..

I have a small stone and when I took a closer look at my diet and supplements I noticed that my calcium intake was throught the roof.. A lot of calcium is ok if you have enough magnesium to offset or counteract. I was taking 2 animal pack a day. Animal paks have too much calcium and very littke magnesium which can lead to stones

High protein diets require a lot of water about 1.5 gallons per day not too much water because too much of anything we know is not good. Too much water can mess with electrolytes which can lead to numerous health risks

[Giants11]

Exactly. Just drink more water....problem solved.

[CoreyTampa09]

I also think the problem lies with the person. Many people for the body weight are eating entirely too much protein. Liftein weights also demands an increase in protein becuase it is utilized. People who are on diets are eating excess protein in exchange for carbohydrates but are lacking the endurance aspect of the diet leading to excess protein.

[takedownII]

fat chance i'll decrease my protein intake....besides, they say you only need a 1/3 of a kidney to survive right? so i'm good for a while!!

people can't keep flip flopping and doing whatever they read in articles. it's impossible to keep up with the new "trends" people throw out there. right now they say one thing and 5 years they'll change it completely. i say do whatever works for and just make sure you use your head in whatever it is.

[xlxBigSexyxlx]

I have a small stone and when I took a closer look at my diet and supplements I noticed that my calcium intake was throught the roof.. A lot of calcium is ok if you have enough magnesium to offset or counteract. I was taking 2 animal pack a day. Animal paks have too much calcium and very littke magnesium which can lead to stones

High protein diets require a lot of water about 1.5 gallons per day not too much water because too much of anything we know is not good. Too much water can mess with electrolytes which can lead to numerous health risks

lol ya, those damn horse pills. I stopped those, still have half a container...

[madds87]

yeah i stopped animal paks also liquid always seems to work for me. and yes alot of protein can lead to kidney failure. but..... if you drink alot of water to excrete unused material (which is what it mainly is used for) you will be fine. This kinda research is whats hurting the bodybuilding reputation today...... i wish they would be more specific in these things..... and also research to the full potential. Plus bodybuilding is a new thing in china. Eating alot of protein is not popular there yet.