
June 24, 2008
Complications, Meal Planning, Food and Diet
Question from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA:
Are you aware of any research studies showing that a high protein diet causes damage to otherwise healthy kidneys in type 1 or type 2 diabetics? It is my understanding that it is sustained high blood glucose levels that are responsible for kidney disease in diabetics.
Answer:
It has always been a concern that when people with diabetes were using the high protein/low carbohydrate diet that the amount of protein the kidney would have to process could lead to additional albumin excretion and the process of hyperfiltration that is associated with worsening of kidney function in diabetic kidney disease. To my knowledge, this has not been systematically evaluated in a randomized, controlled clinical trial. However, I have anecdotal examples of patients whom I follow having high albumin excretion on such a diet that improved when they went off the diet.
JTL