A new study has been done on eating meat and whether or not it increases the amount of creatinine in the body. There have been several conflicting reports on this issue, ranging from a 50% increase to a 100% increase. Creatinine is a waste product produced by the muscles during use and is filtered out of the blood through the kidneys.

32 participants were told to eat a certain amount of cooked beef. Blood was taken for measurement an hour before eating and an hour, two hours and four hours afterwards. The results showed a minor increase in creatinine in healthy people after they ate 5/6 or 10/12 ounces of beef. Scientists say while eating this amount of beef should not do much harm to someone with kidney issues, eating meat before blood tests should be avoided.

A typical healthy kidney diet is at least moderately low in protein with the proteins that are consumed being very carefully chosen and regulated. Of the plethora of protein-rich foods available, beef isn’t one of the healthiest choices out there with recent reports even linking eating too much of it to certain cancers. These studies were referencing people without any kidney disease, which only serves to reaffirm the need to exercise extreme care with any food and to always opt for moderation.

For more information about dietary contributors to kidney health, be sure to read our article section all about nutrition, food and diet for supporting normal kidney function.