Does Eating Too Much Protein Affect Your Kidneys?

Healthy kidneys can handle excess protein without issue.

Healthy kidneys can handle excess protein without issue.

High-protein diets are common among people trying to lose weight and build body muscle. As your kidneys help to filter protein from waste products, a high-protein diet forces your kidneys to work harder than normal. This extra strain can harm impaired or diseased kidneys. However, high-protein diets do not negatively affect healthy kidneys. Although generally safe for your kidneys, eating excessive amounts of protein can cause a variety of other ill health effects.

Protein Requirements

Protein foods are your only source of essential amino acids, which are the building blocks of your body's muscles and other tissues. In addition to its important role in tissue growth, maintenance and repair, protein is a source of energy. With 4 calories in every gram, protein provides the same amount of energy as carbohydrates. However, the 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommends that protein accounts for only 10 to 35 percent of your daily calories, while carbohydrates account for 45 to 65 percent.

Kidney Function

The kidneys make up one of your body's most important filtration and detoxification systems. One of their main roles is to remove urea from your blood for excretion in your urine. As urea is a byproduct of protein metabolism, healthy kidneys are vital to your body's ability to use protein. In addition to removing urea, your kidneys work hard to keep protein in your bloodstream. Although healthy kidneys easily distinguish between protein and its wastes, damaged kidneys may remove protein and fail to remove urea from your blood.

Excessive Protein

According to the American Heart Association, most Americans regularly exceed their daily protein requirements. Despite this, most Americans do not suffer from kidney damage. As such, following a high-protein diet apparently has little impact on the health of your kidneys. However, impaired kidneys may not be able to filter out the excessive amounts of urea that stem from a high-protein diet. As such, the National Kidney and Urologic Diseases Information Clearinghouse suggests that you can extend the life of damaged or diseased kidneys by eating a low-protein diet.

Other Risks states that high-protein diets typically involve carbohydrate restriction. This can lead to nutritional deficiencies and insufficient amounts of dietary fiber, potentially leading to weight gain and digestive, intestinal and cardiovascular health issues. Additional weight gain and cardiovascular problems can arise from the high total, saturated and trans fat content of many high-protein foods. You can avoid some of these issues on a high-protein diet by reducing your red meat intake and eating more fish and vegetable proteins. However, eating a balanced diet is the best way to ensure that you do not suffer from the negative impact of excessive protein intake.


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