Veg Diet Helps Kidney Health

Recent research has found that a vegetarian diet can help people with kidney disease prevent dangerous levels of phosphorous from accumulating in their bodies. A study conducted by Sharon Moe, MD and her colleagues at the Indiana University School of Medicine and published in the Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology assigned patients a vegetarian or meat-based diet for one week, and then switched the diets two to four weeks later. At the end of each week, patients on the vegetarian diet were found to have lower blood phosphorus levels and decreased levels of phosphorous in their urine, despite equal amounts of protein and phosphorus concentrations in both of the diets. Researchers concluded that the source of dietary protein has a significant effect on the accumulation of phosphorous for patients with chronic kidney disease.