When someone is diagnosed with kidney disease, it means their kidneys are not functioning normally and can overtime lead to urea build-up in the bloodstream. This can further result in loss of appetite and fatigue. A kidney-friendly low protein diet is strongly recommended to help reduce the workload on the kidneys so that the remaining healthy part of the kidney does not have to work so hard.
For generations, low to very low protein diets have helped many people manage their kidney disease. In this particular diet, one consumes really small amounts of protein, anywhere from 20 g to 35 g. This type of diet is not popular in the United States but has been gaining a lot of ground as there are more than 600 studies posted as of today.
One main reason low to very low protein diet is not a very popular diet is because it’s not the easiest diet to stick with. In general, people find it harder to avoid protein, and secondly, one may worry about ending up protein deficient which puts you at a higher risk of death by kidney disease.
However, many doctors worldwide are combating this mishap by taking essential amino acids or keto analogues of essential amino acids. Amino acids are simply broken down proteins and there are twenty of them. You must get at least 9 essential amino acids from your diet and your body can make the rest.
While on a low protein diet, you’re missing out on the essential amino acids. By consuming essential amino acids in a certain ratio, it gives the protein you need in an already broken down form resulting in reduced metabolic waste.
Healthy Kidney Inc. makes an essential amino acids product called “Pure Kidney” that you can check out here.
The second option is called keto analogues of essential amino acids. The Keto-acids in a keto-analogue lack the amino group bound to the alpha carbon of an amino acid so they can be converted to their respective essential amino acids without providing additional nitrogen. They produce less metabolic waste and less nitrogen than using essential amino acids. The downfall is that it’s fairly expensive here in the U.S.
If you’re trying to opt for a low to a very low protein diet, you may need to either use the essential amino acids or keto analogues of essential amino acids. Getting blood work done before and after can help you recognize the differences. Many people don’t prefer this diet as it limits a lot of their favourite foods.
However, it has shown to be one of the most therapeutic when done properly. This means you start seeing a lot of improvements in your kidney health, better protein numbers and more.
This is one therapeutic diet recommended for kidney disease. We have a lot more information on this on our website. There are a lot of other diets out there but by far, this one has shown positive results for years. A very therapeutic diet but not very easy to follow. For most individuals, they see vast improvements in their GFR.
In conclusion, if you do the best you can with whatever kidney diet you’re following, it’s going to unveil a lot of benefits down the road.
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