Atkins Diet Can Damage Kidneys

Research Reveals That High-Protein Diets Can Accelerate Kidney Disease In People Who Are At Risk

A high-protein diet prized by many celebrities for helping them stay slim may harm the kidneys, it emerged yesterday.

Up to a third of adults may have a mild and undetected kidney problem, which is aggravated by eating large amounts of meat, fish and eggs, British doctors have found.

Their discovery comes as the Atkins diet grows in popularity, particularly with young women trying to emulate svelte celebrities such as singer Geri Halliwell and Friends star Jennifer Aniston.

Most balanced diets contain only about 15 per cent protein. But Atkins followers are allowed to eat unlimited meat, eggs, fish and shellfish.

Carbohydrates such as bread, potatoes and pasta are eaten only in strictly small amounts.

Nutritionists have voiced concern about the long-term effects of missing out on roughage supplied by carbohydrates and their fears over cholesterol and kidney function.

The study is the first to show a link between a high-protein diet and an acceleration in kidney problems.

The findings, published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, follow an 11-year study of 1624 women aged 42 to 68 by doctors at Brigham and Women`s Hospital and Harvard School of Public Health in Boston.

About 489 were found to have a mild kidney insufficiency, meaning those organs failed to work as well as they should.

Experts found, in those women, a prolonged high-protein diet was "significantly associated" with a decline in kidney function. Women with normal organ function were not affected.

Proteins have to be broken down by the body into amino acids and waste products filtered out of the bloodstream and excreted.

It is thought that eating too much protein can put a strain on the body`s ability to deal with waste products, particularly in people already suffering a kidney insufficiency.

Those who develop severe kidney problems may need dialysis and, eventually, an organ transplant.

"The potential effects of dietary protein consumption on renal function on persons with mild renal insufficiency have important public health implications, given the prevalence of high-protein diets," lead researcher Eric Knight said.

Dr Atkins began formulating his low-carbohydrate, high-protein diet in the 1960s and published it more than a decade ago. His book, Dr Atkins` New Diet Revolution, has sold more than 10 million copies.

The 72-year-old believes high-carbohydrate diets increase the release of insulin, which encourages fat deposits.

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This article posted March 29, 2003.