For followers of the Dukan Diet, noshing on high-protein meals all day doesn’t seem like a bad trade-off–especially considering how fast it helps you lose weight. But now doing so has come under fire by scientists from Spain, who say that high-protein diets such as the Dukan Diet could increase the risk of kidney problems.
Reporting from the University of Granada, scientists say rats fed a high-protein diet quickly developed serious kidney problems, such as calcium kidney stones, kidney disease, and even an enlarged kidney.
This continues to spell bad news for the Dukan Diet–which, in 2012, research showed that nearly everyone following this diet gained all their lost weight back in just 36 months.
“High-protein diets, like the popular Dr. Dukan diet, increase the long-term risk of developing kidney disease and have a negative effect on renal urinary and morphological markers,” says the University of Granada in a written statement. “What’s more, they may promote serious pathologies like nephrolithiasis (calcium kidney stones) because they drastically reduce urinary citrate (an inhibitor of calcium salt crystallization) and urinary pH, and increase urinary calcium (to compensate for the metabolic acidity caused by excess protein).”
In the study, researchers gathered 20 Wistar rats and split them into two groups: A group consuming a diet comprised of 45 percent protein and a group eating a normal diet. Researchers fed them these diets for a total of 12 weeks–the equivalent of 9 years for rats.
When the study ended, the results puzzled researchers–although the rats on the high-protein diet lost 10 percent of their weight, the weight of their kidneys increased by 22 percent.
To make matters even worse, the capillaries leading to the kidneys increased by 13 percent. Their urinary pH levels also became 15 percent more acidic.
Those fed a normal diet, however, didn’t suffer these issues.
“The experiment lasted 12 weeks, which is the equivalent of 9 years in human terms.,” says the University of Granada. “In the animals fed a high-protein diet, kidney weight increased by 22%, glomerular area–the network of capillaries that filter blood in the kidneys–by 13%, and the mesangium–a collagen structure surrounded by these capillaries–by 32%.”
However, researcher Dr. Virginia A. Aparicio cautions that these results don’t absolutely mean that higher protein diets are off-limits–though you should be cautious about going overboard.
“Studies developed in humans have also observed very similar results in plasma and urine to what we observed in rats,” says Aparicio. “However, the important thing is not to alarm the population. We just showed a less favorable renal profile, which could bring long-term renal complications in some individuals most prone to or at increased risk of renal disease.”
In the meanwhile, researchers say that upping your fruit and vegetable intake in your diet could offset the ill effects of high protein consumption. Aparicio also recommends regular exercise to improve muscle building and avoid gaining weight once the diet is over.
Readers: Do you think it’s a good idea to eat a high-protein diet?
Sources:
News Release: High-Protein Diets Cause Kidney Problems in Rats – CANAL.ugr.es
High-Protein Diet Could Cause Kidney Problems (Study) – MedicalNewsToday.com
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