|  | Conditions Treatments | Kidney Disease

Low Protein Diet for Kidney Infections

As one of the primary detoxification organs in your body, your kidneys are under a constant load to flush impurities from your body, preserving your overall health. Where something is amiss with your kidneys, whether through infection or chronic disease, it pays to give them a little break by adjusting your dietary intake to reduce their overall workload. Reducing your consumption of protein, the main dietary stressor for the kidneys, is one viable strategy for facilitating rapid healing.

  1. Low Protein Basics

    • Setting a reasonable protein ceiling should be your first step when adopting a low protein diet to combat kidney infections. According to the experts at Medline Plus, the normal recommendation for daily protein consumption for individuals with kidney problems is a fairly modest 0.6 grams per kilogram of body weight. When converted into pounds, this translates to roughly 0.27 grams of protein per pound of body weight. Thus, a 200-lb. man would relegate his daily protein intake to a humble 54 grams, whereas a 120-lb. woman would consume 32.4 grams per day.

    Protein Content

    • Understand the protein content of various foods to avoid inadvertently exceeding your daily limit. When it comes to high protein content, the largest offenders are meats, followed by dairy products. While avoiding excess consumption of both meats and dairy would go a long way toward meeting your goal, other foods contain trace amounts of protein as well. These foods includes nuts, legumes, seeds, grains, and some fruits and vegetables. In short, you will have to examine the nutritional information for everything you eat to properly adhere to a low protein diet.

    Dietary Recommendations

    • As fruits, veggies and grains have a substantially lower amount of protein than other items, these should form the bulk of your diet. Sixty percent or more of every meal should consist of fruits, vegetables and whole grains. Roughly 20 to 30 percent should consist of healthy unsaturated fats, such as those found in olive or peanut oil. The remaining 10 to 20 percent should be used to meet your daily protein limit. Remember that you will not be doing your body any favors by underconsuming protein, so do not think that you can get ahead by eating well under your limit. Your body requires protein for cell construction and repair, so provide it with the basic building block of life to ensure optimal health in the long term. Generally speaking, your menu items should come from healthy, natural sources, so cut out all consumption of sugars, alcohol, white flour and processed foods while on a low protein diet.

Kidney Disease - Related Articles