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Is a high protein diet going to make your kidneys explode? Our expert nutritionist explains all.
Protein has probably become one of the biggest buzzwords in nutrition and fitness in the last few years and there’s plenty of reasons for that. High protein diets are useful for weight loss, for helping us to reduce appetite and of course for helping us to recover from exercise and build stronger and bigger muscles.
Richie Kirwan, our nutritionist expert, takes us through how much protein people can eat without any health problems.
You might actually be surprised...
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Chapters:
00:00 - Intro
01:06 - Reference nutrient intake
02:36 - Science behind protein and kidney damage
05:08 - can you eat too much protein?
05:49 - got any more protein questions?
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0:00
is a high protein diet going to make
0:01
your kidneys explode let's talk about
0:02
that
0:03
[Music]
0:05
how's it going guys my name is richie
0:06
kirwan and today we're going to talk all
0:08
about how protein affects your kidneys
0:10
and the science behind the safety of
0:12
high protein diets we'll also talk about
0:13
how much protein people can eat without
0:16
any health problems and you might
0:17
actually be surprised at how much so if
0:20
you have any friends or family members
0:21
that have been on your case because of
0:22
how much protein you're eating you might
0:24
want to share this video with them
0:25
protein has probably become one of the
0:27
biggest buzzwords in nutrition and
0:29
fitness in the last few years and
0:30
there's plenty of reasons for that high
0:32
protein diets are useful for weight loss
0:33
for helping people to reduce appetite
0:35
and of course for helping to build
0:37
bigger stronger muscles for building
0:38
muscle the usual recommended protein
0:40
intake is around 1.6 to 2.2 grams of
0:43
protein per kilogram of body weight per
0:45
day for a 70 kilogram person that can
0:47
work out at up to 154 grams of protein
0:49
per day but studies have shown that some
0:51
bodybuilders can even have protein
0:53
intakes of well over
0:55
3.7 grams per kilogram per day which is
0:58
over 250 grams of protein per day that's
1:00
not to say you need that much but those
1:02
high amounts of protein intake are
1:04
pretty regularly seen in studies just to
1:06
give you an idea the current uk
1:08
recommendation or rni for protein is
1:10
0.79 grams of protein per kilogram per
1:12
day which works out at a total of 53
1:15
grams per day for an average 70 kilogram
1:17
person some people on a high protein
1:18
diet get that much in a single meal
1:22
so with high protein diets being so much
1:24
higher than the recommended amount of
1:25
protein it's no wonder that some people
1:28
get worried that they might be getting
1:29
too much protein before i talk about
1:31
whether higher amounts of protein are
1:33
safe or not i need to mention what the
1:35
recommended amount of protein is for
1:37
it's a recommended level that is set to
1:39
prevent people from suffering from
1:41
protein deficiency which in some
1:43
countries can be a serious issue the
1:45
recommended intake is a lower cut off
1:48
and not an upper cut-off meaning you
1:50
should try to eat that level or above
1:53
it's also not a recommended level for
1:54
athletes or people trying to build
1:56
muscle who we know need more but like i
1:58
said when you eat more than the
1:59
recommended intake of protein some
2:01
people get worried the big concern is
2:02
that high protein diets can damage your
2:04
kidneys this is because when we eat
2:06
protein the excess needs to be processed
2:09
and filtered by our kidneys which is
2:11
exactly what the kidneys are supposed to
2:12
do so when we eat more protein our
2:14
kidneys work more and we end up peeing
2:16
out more of the waste products of the
2:17
protein called urea the research that
2:19
says that this could be a bad thing is
2:22
often carried out in people who already
2:24
have some form of kidney disease or
2:26
other illnesses and that doesn't mean
2:28
that high protein intakes will cause
2:30
problems for healthy people in fact we
2:32
have plenty of evidence to show that
2:33
high protein diets are safe but let's
2:35
talk about that science a little and
2:37
let's start with lower
2:38
more normal protein intakes over 1500
2:41
women from the nurses health study were
2:43
followed for over 11 years and their
2:45
protein intake and kidney function were
2:46
monitored at the end of that study there
2:48
was no association between protein and
2:50
changes in kidney function in women who
2:53
already had healthy kidney function at
2:55
the start however in women who had poor
2:57
kidney function at the start higher
2:59
protein diets did seem to lead to a
3:01
further decline in kidney health the
3:03
difference here is important if your
3:05
kidneys are healthy a high protein diet
3:08
is not a problem however if someone
3:10
already has kidney problems they should
3:12
keep an eye on their protein intake and
3:13
diet in general oh and just for
3:15
reference this study was looking at
3:17
protein intakes ranging from about 60 to
3:19
90 grams per day so pretty normal
3:22
intakes but we want to see what the
3:24
effects of a really high protein intake
3:26
are right the kind of protein intakes
3:28
that athletes and bodybuilders are
3:29
eating well luckily we have plenty of
3:31
research on that too dr jose antonio a
3:34
very famous protein researcher from nova
3:36
southeastern university in florida did a
3:38
study in resistance trained men and
3:39
women who either ate a normal protein
3:41
diet which was actually a high protein
3:43
diet at 2.3 grams per kilogram per day
3:46
or a very high protein diet at 3.4 grams
3:50
per kilogram per day for eight weeks
3:52
while carrying out a resistance training
3:54
program at the end of the protocol there
3:56
were no changes in kidney function in
3:59
either group no changes at all but if
4:02
that's not enough for you dr antonio
4:03
carried out another study where young
4:06
resistance trained men alternated
4:07
between their normal diet which was
4:09
already high protein at 2.5 grams per
4:12
kilogram per day and a very high protein
4:14
diet of 3.3 grams per kilogram per day
4:17
for a whole year this was a crossover
4:19
study which means that the participants
4:21
got to try both protein intakes and were
4:23
able to act as their own control group
4:25
so
4:25
after that diet of between 2.5 and 3.3
4:28
grams of protein per kilogram of body
4:30
weight per day for a whole year
4:32
there were no negative effects on kidney
4:35
health or even on liver health or blood
4:38
lipids that's right no effect on kidney
4:40
filtration rate no effect on ldl or hdl
4:43
cholesterol no effect on triglycerides
4:45
no effect on blood sugar the
4:47
participants were perfectly healthy so
4:50
for most normal people that's a pretty
4:53
extreme example of how much protein you
4:56
can eat and still be healthy but for
4:58
athletes and people trying to put on
4:59
muscle that's a pretty normal protein
5:01
intake and it's really good to know that
5:03
it's safe as long as you don't have any
5:05
pre-existing kidney problems so am i
5:08
saying it's impossible to eat too much
5:09
protein no theoretically it's possible
5:12
to eat too much of anything too much is
5:14
the point where something can begin to
5:15
have a negative effect you can even have
5:17
too much water if you drink enough it's
5:19
called drowning in practical terms
5:21
though if you're healthy it would
5:23
probably be extremely difficult to eat
5:25
too much protein to have a negative
5:27
effect on your kidneys that said one way
5:29
eating a lot of protein could have a
5:30
negative effect on your health is if you
5:32
replaced other beneficial foods with
5:34
protein so for example
5:35
if you ate protein instead of getting
5:37
enough fruit or vegetables fiber and
5:39
other beneficial foods like that it
5:41
could end up having a negative effect on
5:43
your health by stopping you from having
5:45
a balanced diet that's one thing to be
5:47
cautious of when you're planning your
5:48
diet so what do you think
5:50
did that help to put your mind at ease
5:52
about protein and kidney health
5:54
as always if you have any questions let
5:55
me know in the comments below and
5:56
remember to like and subscribe to the my
5:58
protein youtube channel for more great
6:00
evidence-based nutrition information
6:06
[Music]
6:10
you
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