Most people with some sort of kidney damage tend to leak out protein while urinating. This is caused because your kidneys are unable to block limited amounts of protein from passing through the kidneys. This issue can adversely affect your albumin levels.
In today’s video, Robert breaks down the ‘urine test dipstick’ and makes it very simple on how to use them to check for protein in the urine or to monitor your kidney disease. Our previous video on urinalysis gives an overview of the urine test strips.
If you’re looking to try this out, you can easily find these urine test strips at any local drug store. They’re also available online. This video focuses on how to read your protein levels by using the urine test strip.
To start off, collect some urine in a container and swiftly dip the test strip in and take it out. The tiny colored squares on the test strip are going to change and you match the observations to the color chart on the container.
While Robert tested his urine using the dipstick, he read the protein levels and had approximately 100mg of protein in his urine after he matched the colors. A suitable range to be within would be 40mg to 150mg. The majority of people tend to have less than 40mg of protein in their urine.
Using these urine test strips is an easy way to detect any sort of kidney damage or to monitor kidney disease. The urine test strips used by Robert were made by Rapid Response and MeriCheck. They’re just some of the many brands that make urine dipsticks and they are widely available.
The amount of protein you may be leaking in your urine is closely linked to the type of diet you follow. If you consume a lot of protein in your diet with kidney disease, your urine will likely leak more protein. Sticking to a low protein diet and using essential amino acids is one way to reduce protein in your urine. An enhanced decline in kidney function and inflammation are another two reasons to re-think high protein diets.
Why Are Essential Amino Acids So Important?
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