Macro partitioning
A 2-year low-carbohydrate high-protein (LCHP) diet does not cause harmful effects on glomerular filtration rate (GFR), albuminuria, or electrolyte balance in healthy obese individuals compared to a low-fat diet, despite inducing glomerular hyperfiltration.
If you are obese but have healthy kidneys (no diabetes or high blood pressure), you can follow a low-carb, high-protein diet for weight loss without fearing kidney damage. While your kidneys will filter more blood (hyperfiltration) and you may urinate more, this is a normal physiological response to high protein and does not lead to kidney disease in healthy people over a 2-year period.
In healthy obese individuals, a low-carbohydrate high-protein weight-loss diet over 2 years was not associated with noticeably harmful effects on GFR, albuminuria, or fluid and electrolyte balance compared with a low-fat diet.
Why this rating
Randomized controlled trial with a large sample size (n=307) and long duration (24 months), but surrogate markers for GFR were used.
Source
Comparative Effects of Low-Carbohydrate High-Protein Versus Low-Fat Diets on the Kidney
Allon N. Friedman et al. · Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology · 2012
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