A recent study presented at the American Society of Nephrology Annual Meeting in October 2020 unveiled some compelling results. This study from China showed that vegetable intake reduced the death of people with kidney disease by 14%.

The research examined about 1000 people with kidney disease and they found that people who had more vegetable protein intake in their diet had reduced risk of death by kidney disease.

When looking into other studies, they found out that when you have more vegetable intake (foods like nuts, seeds, beans, soy products, whole grains, etc.), it produces fewer metabolic toxins as compared to animal protein. The staggering drop in death of kidney disease people who had more vegetable protein intake was 14%. Each year, an estimate of 5 to 10 million people die from kidney disease.

This is just another study showing that vegetable protein is preferred as compared to animal protein if you have kidney disease.

The traditional consensus typically discouraged people with kidney disease from having beans, nuts, seeds, etc. as they’re high in phosphorus. However, over the last ten years, countless studies have claimed and proved that phosphorus from vegetable sources doesn’t absorb well as opposed to an animal source which is highly absorbed.

In addition, the vegetable/plant proteins have fewer toxins when they’re broken down. This means there is less work that your kidney has to do. And since your kidneys regulate so many things in your body, the better the kidney function, the less work it has to do, the better job it can do for all parts of your body.

Eventually, it’s always preferred to switch over to a vegetarian diet but it’s not always easy, especially if you’re used to eating meat. But, even small changes can lead to a big impact. Maybe, one or two days this week, you go meatless. That would be a decent change without doing an overhaul on your diet if that’s something you don’t want to do. If you have a high red meat diet, even reducing that red meat to healthier animal sources like chicken and turkey is going to produce fewer toxins.

It’s even better if you’re able to switch over to a non-animal based source of protein. Some examples are beans, nuts, seeds, soy products, whole grains, etc. as these will show more benefits and are better for your kidney disease and better for your overall health.

Minimal changes are encouraged to start off a more plant/vegetable-based diet as they’re more beneficial for kidney issues also producing fewer toxins than a more animal-based diet. Eventually, switching over protein more towards plants and vegetables will benefit your kidneys and better your situation.

Here are some other diet-related kidney articles you might find useful:

Kidneys and Oxalate Content, Which Foods To Avoid

Pink Himalayan Salt and Kidney Disease…Still Not A Good Choice