Low Protein Diet & Creatinine Blood Levels

Diet for kidney patients is a complex matter, which is why the National Kidney Foundation recommends a consult with a renal dietitian for some cases. How much protein a patient should eat is a function of their age, condition, urine protein and serum creatinine levels. Talk to your nephrologist before changing your diet because in many instances, a low-protein diet can be dangerous.

Creatinine

Muscles break creatine down into the nitrogenous waste product creatinine. Healthy kidneys routinely remove creatinine as they filter the blood. Diseased kidneys are less able to perform this function so creatinine levels begin to rise. According to the FamilyPracticeNotebook.com, creatinine levels often remained unchanged until 25 to 50 percent of renal function is lost.
Glomerular filtration rate, or GFR, is a measure of how effectively the kidneys are filtering blood. It measures how many milliliters of blood that the kidney filter in a minute. If you have high serum creatinine levels, then you have a higher than normal GFR.

Chronic Kidney Disease

Low-protein diets are often recommended to extend the life of the kidney and minimize some symptoms of advanced kidney disease. The National Kidney Foundation recommends that patients whose GFR is less than 25 mL/min who are not on dialysis limit their protein consumption to 0.6 g of protein per kg body. This is approximately equivalent to 40 g of protein/day for a 150 lb. person.

Diabetic Patients

Diabetes is the leading cause of kidney failure in the U.S. The 2009 Annual Report of the United States Renal Data System stated that 48,871 of the 111,000 U.S. residents who were new beneficiaries of treatment of end-stage kidney disease in 2007 were diabetics. The National Kidney Foundation recommends that diabetic kidney patients limit protein intake to 0.8 g/kg body weight. This is virtually identical to the amount that the USDA recommends for healthy people.

Warning

Low-protein diets are not for all kidney patients. National Kidney Foundation Guidelines suggestion that hemodialysis patients consume 1.2 g/kg protein every day. Peritoneal dialysis patients should consume between 1.2 and 1.3 g/kg per day. Hemodialysis and peritoneal dialysis are different treatments used when the kidneys are too compromised to sustain life. Protein needs for dialysis patients are higher because dialysis removes protein from the blood.