Plant-based diet may help reduce the risk of chronic kidney disease - New study

According to a new study, eating more plant-based protein from whole foods can help stave off chronic kidney disease (CKD).

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a long-term condition that keeps the kidney from working effectively. It does not cause symptoms until it has reached its advanced stage, leading to kidney failure.

A new study by the National Kidney Foundation has found that eating plant-based food can help lower the risk of chronic kidney disease. Biobank found that people who eat mainly non-animal-based foods had a lower risk of developing CKD.

The results show that reducing the consumption of animal protein and replacing it with plant-based protein may lower the chances of it developing the illness.

“Higher plant protein intake was associated with a lower risk of incident CKD after adjusting for confounding variables,” concluded the authors.
“An additional analysis using a stricter definition of CKD and various sensitivity analyses yielded similar findings.”

Proteins comprise essential amino acids, which are building blocks for the human body’s cells. Foods that contain a lot of protein and amino acids include not only meat, fish, cheese, eggs, milk, and yoghurt but also plant-based proteins from legumes like lentils, beans, chickpeas, nuts, seeds, peas, tofu and tempeh. These foods may have lower biological value, but combining them with other foods of similar type provides enough amino acids for the cells to grow.

The study was based on the results from 117,809 people. The participants’ kidney health and dietary habits especially regarding their protein intake were analysed. During a median check out of 9.9 years, 3.2 per cent of the participants developed incident chronic kidney disease while those who had a higher plant-based protein intake had much lower risk for CKD.