5 Questions Of Low-protein Diet And Chronic Kidney Disease Kidney Disease Patients Must Know!

Contact: Audrey Hu audrey.hu@wecistanche.com

The three basic nutrients that our human body must ensure are carbohydrates, proteins and fats. Others also need to ensure the intake of minerals, vitamins and trace elements to maintain the normal needs and physiological functions of the human body.

Protein is the most important nutrient element in life-sustaining activities, and each of us must consume a certain amount of protein. Foods such as rice and flour, cereals, eggs, milk and animal meat that are usually eaten in meals contain protein that the human body needs.

Both healthy people and patients with kidney disease need to consume a certain amount of protein. Generally speaking, a high-protein diet, that is, a normal protein diet or a low-protein diet is not recommended, especially for patients with chronic kidney disease. Sometimes, a nephrologist will prescribe a "low protein diet" to patients with kidney disease. There may be many questions about the relationship between low-protein diets and chronic kidney disease, and kidney disease patients are always confused. Today, I will come with you one by one and hope that patients with kidney disease will get rid of their misunderstandings as soon as possible.

What exactly is a low-protein diet?

A low-protein diet is relative to a normal protein diet and a high-protein diet. Generally, the total protein intake per kilogram of body weight exceeds 1.2 grams per day, which is called a normal protein diet or a high protein diet. The total protein intake per kilogram of body weight per day is limited to less than 1.1 grams, which is called a low-protein diet.

For patients with chronic kidney disease, protein intake should be calculated as 0.4 or 0.5-1.1 grams per kilogram of body weight per day. For example, a patient with kidney disease weighing 60 kg, calculated by limiting the total protein intake to 0.8 grams per day, should be 60 × 0.8 = 48 grams, that is, the patient's daily intake of 48 grams of protein belongs to a low-protein diet.

Is low-protein diet suitable for all types of kidney diseases?

All people with kidney disease should avoid a high protein diet, does that mean that all people with chronic kidney disease must have a low protein diet? of course not.

New or recurrent nephrotic syndrome, acute glomerulonephritis, IgA nephropathy and allergic purpura nephritis with completely normal renal function, active lupus nephritis, etc., do not require a low-protein diet. Only after the kidney function of chronic kidney disease began to decline, patients began to gradually adopt a low-protein diet. Those patients with kidney disease who do not need a low-protein diet, if they insist on choosing a low-protein diet, it is not conducive to the recovery of kidney disease.

Benefits of a low-protein diet for chronic kidney disease?

According to the recommendations of the "Expert Consensus on Protein Nutrition Treatment of Chronic Kidney Disease" formulated by the expert group, a protein restriction diet is an important link in the treatment of chronic kidney disease, especially chronic renal failure. Long-term adherence to a low-protein diet can not only reduce azotemia and improve metabolic acidosis, but also reduce glomerular hypermetabolism, reduce the production of toxins or wastes, and reduce the burden on the kidneys, thereby delaying the progression of chronic kidney disease speed.

When to start a low-protein diet?

Generally speaking, the renal function of patients with chronic kidney disease is normal or close to the normal range. Based on the detected serum creatinine value and the glomerular filtration rate of less than 60ml/min, they should begin to accept a "low protein diet". this dietary principle. That is:

When patients with chronic kidney disease are still in the CKD1-2 stage, they can continue to maintain a normal protein diet but must avoid a high protein diet. When patients with chronic kidney disease are after CKD stage 3 and have not been on dialysis, they must accept a low-protein diet, that is, to control protein intake according to less than 1.1-0.5 grams or 0.4 grams per kilogram of body weight per day.

Is a low-protein diet alone enough?

When implementing a low-protein diet, especially the "very low-protein diet" treatment, in order to prevent malnutrition, it is recommended to supplement the patient with foods that nourish the kidneys, such as cistanche. Therefore, the low-protein diet often mentioned by our chronic kidney disease patients is not a simple "low" word, and kidney disease patients still need to understand the above five questions.

Note： The traditional Chinese medicinal herb cistanche (also known as the "dragon herb" and "desert ginseng"), grows only in the arid and warm deserts. As one of the nine immortal herbs, Cistanche (cistanche tubulosa/cistanche deserticola/desertliving cistanche/cistanche salsa)contents with rich effective ingredients such as echinacoside, acteoside, total phenylethanoid glycosides, flavonoids, polysaccharides, etc. these effective ingredients made cistanche a precious nourishing herb and food material for people's immunity, internal organs, and brain cells and neurons, etc. The modern pharmacological studies have confirmed the following effects of cistanche(benefits of cistanche): improve immunity; improve sexual function and kidney function; anti-fatigue; anti-aging; improve memory; anti-Parkinson's disease; anti-Alzheimer's disease; antioxidation; ease-constipation; anti-inflammatory; promote bone growth, whitening skin; protect liver; etc.