Red Meat Linked to Kidney Failure So Not Healthy To Have in Your Meals

A diet high in red meat has been found to cause the kidneys to fail.  It was found that those who ate the most red meat had a 40% higher risk of developing ESRD (end-stage renal disease) commonly known as kidney failure.

ESRD is the final stage of chronic kidney disease; the kidneys stop doing their job to keep the body alive and the only way for survival is to have dialysis or a kidney transplant.

There was research using data from The Singapore Chinese Health Study that followed 63,257 Chinese adults, aged 45-74 for an average of 15.5 years.  They found a strong relationship between those eating big quantities of red meat and ESRD.  There were 951 cases of ESRD occurred showing a very clear trend. It is interesting that they found no association between the consumption of poultry, eggs, fish or dairy products.   Soy and beans were actually found to be somewhat protective.

Woon-PuayKoh, the researcher, and her team examined the data from the Singapore Chinese Health Study linking the data with the Singapore Renal Registry holding the records of all Singapore ESRD patients. The goal was to find the role of different protein sources on ESRD outcomes.

“We embarked on our study to see what advice should be given to CKD patients or to the general population worried about their kidney health regarding types or sources of protein intake. Our findings suggest that these individuals can still maintain protein intake but consider switching to plant-based sources; however, if they still choose to eat meat, fish/shellfish and poultry are better alternatives to red meat.” said Dr.Koh.

The research found that kidney failure was less when red meat was replaced in one’s diet with proteins like fish and poultry.  The study found that when one serving of red meat is substituted with another protein, there was a 62% reduction of developing ESRD.

“It is best to eat red meat in moderation. For example, instead of eating red meat for every meal or daily, it is advisable to replace it with other meat such as poultry and fish, or plant-based protein such as soya and legumes for alternate meals or days,” said professor Woon-Puay Koh, from the Duke-NUS Medical School.

Red meat consumed in China is mostly pork; it is 97% of the red meat intake.  The other proteins were eggs, dairy, shellfish, fish, soy, legumes, and poultry.

Kidneys are necessary!

To survive we need our vital organs, kidneys.  To make sure we survive we were given two kidneys.  If both kidneys fail we will not live.

1. One of the important things kidneys do is remove the waste from our body (drugs, urea, ammonia, and other toxic substances). Build up of waste can be very damaging to the body.
2. They remove excess water from the body.
3. Kidneys help control blood pressure.
4. Help make red blood cells and maintain the body’s calcium levels.

What happens for those at risk of ESRD is that the kidneys slowly stop working over 10 to 20 years.

To learn more about the symptoms of ESRD go to The National Library of Medicine for the list.

Many reasons to be concerned about kidney failure.  See these facts:

• 10% of the people in the world get chronic kidney disease; millions die every year.
• 26 million American adults have kidney disease and most don’t know it.
• Chronic kidney disease is on the rise, growing by approximately 8% each year according to the World Health Organization.
• More than 2 million people in the world receive treatment with dialysis or a kidney transplant yearly.
• Diabetes (type 2) and high blood pressure are the two leading causes of kidney disease. Ageing and hypertension are next on the list.

The above is from The National Kidney Foundation and WHO.

A healthy lifestyle with a healthy diet and working with your doctor will help keep your kidneys healthy. Learn how to prevent kidney stones.

All the recipes on this site are vegan. You can choose from a variety of dinner meals or a vegan soup and then finish it all off with a spectacular dessert.

Try doing Meatless Monday, for one day a week leaving out the meat.  Here are some of my Meatless Monday Recipes That Are Vegan And Delicious

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