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 The authors also found that replacing some red meat in the diet with
other types of protein – whether chicken, fish, eggs or vegetable
sources – might dramatically reduce that risk.
“There is an increase in numbers of individuals developing chronic
kidney disease worldwide, and many progress to end-stage renal
disease, which requires dialysis or a kidney transplant,” Woon-Puay
Koh told Reuters Health by email.
“Current guidelines recommend restricting dietary protein intake in
patients with advanced chronic kidney disease to help reduce
symptoms and slow progression to end-stage renal disease,” said Koh,
a researcher at the National University of Singapore and the study’s
senior author.
Though limiting protein staves off progression of existing kidney
disease, little is known about whether protein, and meat in
particular, contributes to the risk for developing kidney disease,
Koh’s team writes in the Journal of the American Society of
Nephrology.
Globally, an estimated 500 million people have chronic kidney
disease, the researchers note.
The National Kidney Foundation says that approximately 660,000
people in the U.S. are being treated for the end-stage kidney
disease, kidney failure. Of these, nearly 470,000 are on dialysis
and 193,000 have had a kidney transplant.
Since there is little evidence that overall dietary protein
restriction or limiting specific food sources of protein intake may
slow kidney function decline in the general population, Koh said,
“we embarked on our study to see what advice should be given to the
general public worried about their kidney health regarding types or
sources of protein intake.”
The researchers examined data on more than 60,000 adults living in
Singapore and participating in a long-term health study. They
grouped the participants according to how much protein they ate, and
after 15 years of follow-up, found that about 1,000 people had
developed kidney failure.
The study team found that participants who ate the largest amount of
red meat had about a 40 percent greater risk of developing kidney
failure compared with people consuming the lowest amounts of meat.
However, the researchers didn’t find any associations between kidney
health and intake of poultry, fish, eggs, dairy products or legumes.
In fact, they calculated that substituting some other source of
protein for one daily serving of red meat reduced the risk of kidney
failure by up to 62 percent.
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“Our findings suggest that individuals can still maintain their
protein intake unless their kidney function has been severely
compromised. However, to reduce the risk of end-stage renal disease,
it is best to eat red meat in moderation,” Koh said.
It’s not necessary “to avoid red meat like poison,” she added, but
best not to make it the single meat item at every meal, or main
protein source every day.
The study doesn’t prove that eating red meat causes kidney disease,
Koh acknowledged.
“Future studies are warranted to confirm our findings and to
investigate the underlying mechanisms as to how the chemicals
present in red meat may aggravate the progression of chronic kidney
disease,” Koh said.
Even so, Lauren Graf, a clinical dietitian specializing in pediatric
nephrology at Montefiore Medical Center in New York, said, “this is
such an important study and is consistent with a large body of
evidence suggesting that excess protein from meat can be damaging to
the kidneys.”
Graf, who was not involved in the study, said the kidney damage
might be due to the higher acid-forming effects of meat protein in
the digestive tract compared with plant protein.
“The kidneys are responsible for removing extra acid consumed from
the diet and meat protein, therefore, creates a greater workload for
the kidneys,” Graf said. “Plant-based diets that are rich in
vegetables and fruit have the opposite effect.”
SOURCE: http://bit.ly/2a4r4ZZ Journal of the American Society of
Nephrology, online July 14, 2016.
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