High-protein diets such as the Atkins diet have been used by many people worldwide to help shift unwanted weight.
But while such diets can be effective, there have been concerns that following them for a prolonged period can cause kidney damage in some at-risk groups, such as people with type 2 diabetes, as the body can have trouble eliminating high volumes of protein waste products.
New research, however, suggests that a low-carb, high-protein diet might actually improve kidney function in some cases.
The idea behind these diets is that protein (such as meat, fish and eggs) and fats boost your metabolism, and are more filling, which means you consume fewer calories.
New research suggests that a low-carb, high-protein diet might actually improve kidney function in some cases
However, for the 4.9 million people in the UK with diabetes — the vast majority type 2 — high-protein diets could be a real problem as around a third of patients also have some degree of kidney disease (caused by high blood sugar levels damaging the blood vessels in the kidneys).
In 2019, Professor Denis Fouque, former chair of the European Renal Nutrition Working Group, which carries out research on the effect of lifestyle and diet on kidney health, warned a high-protein diet ‘may boost a pre-existing low-grade chronic kidney disease which is often prevalent in people with diabetes’, and that it might even increase the risk of new cases of kidney diseases. Yet recently, studies have shown that a low-carb (less than 130g a day), higher-protein diet can actually be beneficial for people with type 2 diabetes.
It could even reverse their condition, as one study, published last year in the journal BMJ Nutrition, Prevention and Health, suggested.
When patients with type 2 diabetes followed a low-carb diet for 23 months, 46 per cent reversed their condition and no longer needed to take medication.
Now, a study, published today in the journal Current Opinion in Endocrinology, Diabetes and Obesity, suggests that previous concerns about high-protein diets causing kidney damage are unfounded.
In the study, Dr David Unwin, a GP in
