The effect of protein on the kidneys: why a protein diet is contraindicated for kidney patients

Causes of kidney disease

The disease is sometimes asymptomatic in the first stages, but if left untreated it can develop into other more complex forms. For example, the formation of a malignant tumor.

It is important not to ignore the slightest manifestations of pain, discomfort or discharge in the urine.

There are two main causes of kidney disease:

• Hereditary or congenital;
• Purchased.

Hereditary diseases can manifest themselves at any age, both independently and provocatively by other diseases. Congenital, develops in the womb:

• Wilms' intrauterine tumor;
• Nephropathy, the presence of a multi-gene syndrome;
• Anatomical individualities;
• Jade is inherited;
• Intrauterine cystic formation.

Acquired, accordingly, are possible throughout life:

• Damage to an organ as a result of injury;
• Viral, infectious and bacterial diseases;
• Inflammation with weak immunity;
• Violation of the body's metabolic processes;
• Toxin poisoning.

Kidney stones from bad water?

3 - 5% of the population have kidney stones. A common reason for this is impaired metabolism in the body, caused by low-quality water, not suitable for drinking, with a large amount of calcium salts. And also - unbalanced nutrition - spicy, salty food, its excess. But usually urolithiasis occurs in those people who have a hereditary tendency to form stones.

Overweight and obesity in childhood can be the main cause of kidney failure. The kidneys of obese people are not able to properly and adequately filter toxins and waste from the blood. Excess weight increases the risk of developing urolithiasis.

Symptoms

As with any disease, it is important to correctly recognize the signs. Many diseases of the urinary system have similar symptoms. Based on the entire clinical picture, with the results of the necessary tests, the specialist will make the correct diagnosis.

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The manifestation of symptoms of kidney disease depends on the forms of the disease. In the initial stages there are practically none. Rare nagging pain in the lumbar region is possible.

When the disease is at the advanced stage, the following signs of kidney disease appear:

• Uncontrolled urination or lack thereof;
• Bloody spots in urine or scarlet color;
• Swelling under the eyes, subsequently in the limbs;
• Changes in temperature and pressure;
• Weakness due to intoxication;
• Severe pain in the hip and lumbar regions.

Stone and sand in the kidneys

There can be many reasons that lead to such consequences. Among them are anatomical predispositions, inflammatory processes of the kidneys, injuries, diseases of the parathyroid glands. And finally, the specifics of water in a certain region.

Pregnancy is a difficult test for the kidneys. For women, their work may be disrupted at this time. Inflammation, increased blood pressure, and protein excretion in the urine may occur. And due to a decrease in intra-abdominal pressure after childbirth, the so-called wandering kidney may develop. Therefore, during pregnancy, it is simply necessary to undergo urine tests on a regular basis, and after childbirth, check your kidneys.

Symptoms of kidney disease in men

Due to the difference in the structure of the urinary system, men suffer much less from kidney disease. But unfortunately they seek help in the very late stages of the disease. An indifferent attitude towards the body often reaches extremes when one can no longer endure it. In such cases, it is difficult to obtain a positive prognosis.

Signs of kidney disease in men:

• Increase in temperature and pressure towards the end of the day, loss of strength;
• Pain of various types in the back, radiating to the lower abdomen;
• Pain when emitting;
• The presence of white particles in urine, color change;
• Involuntary urination or lack thereof.

With any infection, the kidneys are the first to be affected.

The kidneys take a hit in any infectious disease, including influenza, tonsillitis, and pneumonia. The kidneys serve as the main organ of excretion; they remove harmful and unnecessary metabolic products from the body, as well as foreign substances, regulate the chemical composition of body fluids, etc. Toxins sometimes become trapped in the kidneys, damaging them.

In acute illnesses, the kidneys are forced to work harder. With fairly frequent chronic inflammatory processes, the organ can even atrophy.

As a result, after therapy it is necessary to take a urine test for control. A large amount of protein, leukocytes and red blood cells indicates that the disease is not cured. Therefore, treatment of kidney disease in humans must be continued.

Diagnostics

As a rule, it is necessary to undergo a number of tests that will help remove the cause of the disease: general blood test, biochemical test, urine test, biopsy, ultrasound, CT, MRI, Doppler sonography.

Nowadays, it is possible to detect any kidney disease.

Treatment is prescribed depending on the condition of the disease. For mild forms, drug therapy is sufficient. More complex ones require surgical intervention. Hemodialysis is used as a last resort for kidney failure.

Impact of diet on kidneys

It is harmful to eat spicy and sour foods and drink little liquids (a healthy person should drink at least 2 l/d). If kidney disease worsens, exclude sour fruits from the diet, including apples (except for sweet varieties), pickled, smoked and overcooked foods.

It often happens that a person does not suspect that he has kidney problems, but finds out after drinking birch sap or eating watermelon (these are strong diuretics, they activate the kidneys). The first symptom is the appearance of sharp pain in the lower back. In such cases, it is necessary to undergo examination (blood and urine tests, ultrasound).

Diet and menu for illness

An individual diet for kidney disease is developed for each case, but there are general rules. You should not use salt, it unnecessarily loads the diseased organ causing swelling and excess need for fluid. Herbs and spices in symbolic grams will help add flavor to food.

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Proteins and fats are excluded from the diet and replaced with large amounts of carbohydrates. It is important not to overeat, eating often in small portions, 5-6 times a day. The amount of total fluid allowed is 1.5 liters per day. Coffee, alcohol and smoking are prohibited during the diet.

Why does urine become cloudy?

If turbidity appears in your urine, it is important to analyze your lifestyle and diet over the past few days. White urine in an adult may appear due to:

• excessive physical activity;
• dehydration of the body;
• experiencing severe stress;
• heat;
• visits to the bathhouse;
• hypothermia;
• alcohol abuse;
• taking medications containing calcium or phosphates.

The reasons for changes in the color of urine are in some cases physiological in nature and are not a symptom of a serious disease:

• taking antibiotics;
• stress;
• use of medications containing phosphates and calcium;
• hypothermia;
• overheat;
• heat;
• excessive physical activity;
• dehydration;
• drinking strong alcohol.

The acquisition of white urine in the listed cases quickly passes as soon as the medication is stopped and normal temperature and water conditions are restored.

White urine against the background of other signs of illness is a symptom of a number of serious diseases:

• prostatitis;
• cystitis;
• BPH;
• nephrosis;
• helminthiases;
• brain inflammation;
• liver cirrhosis;
• hepatitis;
• urethritis;
• pyelonephritis;
• diabetes;
• glomerulonephritis;
• kidney tuberculosis;
• oncology of internal organs;
• liver failure.

If the urine becomes white and cloudy, then this is not a good sign that some disease is developing in the body.

Urine becomes white due to:

• leukocytes;
• mucous impurities;
• protein components;
• crystals and salts;
• pus;
• lipids.

Table No. 2 Under what ailments and conditions does one or another impurity most often appear in urine?

Impurity	Pathology
Leukocytes	kidney diseases; cystitis (inflammatory process in the bladder); infectious diseases of the urinary system.
Squirrels	Glomuronephritis. Kidney failure.
Slime	A sign of an inflammatory process in the organs of the genitourinary system.
Salt crystals	Symptom of urolithiasis. Also, their appearance may be associated with excessive consumption of salt and mineralized drinks, after significant physical exertion or due to dehydration.
Pus	Infections caused by bacterial pathogens: pyelonephritis; kidney tuberculosis; venereal diseases.
Lipids and lymph cells	They enter the urine during the disintegration of tumor formations in the late stages of kidney or bladder cancer.

What foods should you not eat?

Fatty meats, smoked meats, sausages, sea fish, pickles and marinades, mushrooms, beans, asparagus, radishes, garlic, onions, parsley, anything spicy, any chocolate.

What is pyonephrosis?

Pyonephrosis is the last stage of a purulent-destructive nonspecific inflammatory process that affects the tissues and pyelocaliceal system of the kidney (pyelonephritis). The disease can appear at any age, but it most affects people between 30 and 50 years of age.

When pathogenic microflora enters the organ, tissue inflammation develops, vascular permeability increases and pus appears in the kidneys. Subsequently, scars form and the pelvis of the bean-shaped organ expands. The course of the pathology is aggravated by hemodynamic disorder and impaired outflow of continuously produced urine. Pyonephrosis is characterized by purulent melting of the functionally active epithelium (parenchyma) of the kidney and complete inhibition of its performance.

The pathology is the terminal stage of acute inflammation of the urinary tract and refers to urological diseases. Pyonephrosis according to ICD 10 has code N13.6 and is classified as a class of diseases of the genitourinary system.

Diseases of the urinary system

Diseases of the urinary organs are the most common explanation for why urine turns white. This may look like:

• pyelonephritis,
• glomerulonephritis,
• cystitis,
• fatty kidney degeneration,
• nephrosis,
• urethritis (including sexually transmitted diseases),
• urolithiasis (with phosphate stones),
• kidney tuberculosis.

In many diseases, white urine is caused by the presence of pus (pyuria) and mucus. Glomerulonephritis produces a lot of protein, which can make the urine cloudy or whitish. White sediment in the urine is observed with an increased content of phosphoric acid salts.

To understand at what level of the urinary system there is a pathological process, you can conduct a three-glass test. To do this, you first need to wash yourself, then prepare three vessels and urinate in them one by one. If turbidity and mucus are present mainly in the first portion of urine, then this indicates inflammation of the urethra. White urine at the end of urination is usually observed when the bladder is inflamed. If changes in urine are present in all vessels, the pathological process is localized in the kidneys.

It is important to pay attention to accompanying symptoms. When the kidneys become inflamed, lower back pain, high fever, nausea, and weakness appear. Cystitis and urethritis are characterized by frequent and painful urination, a burning sensation and pain in the urethra. The temperature rarely rises. In some people, urine may take on a rich milky color. For example, with nephrosis, the kidneys excrete a large amount of lymph and neutral emulsified fats, which is why urine becomes white like milk.

The main manifestation of urolithiasis is renal colic. It is characterized by sharp acute pain in the lower back, along the sides of the abdomen, in the groin and inner thigh. Accompanied by nausea, vomiting, and increased blood pressure. After an attack, small stones or sand come away.

White urine may appear with renal amyloidosis. This is a nonspecific kidney disease characterized by the accumulation of pathological amyloid protein in them. Amyloidosis develops in chronic purulent diseases of any location (chronic lung abscess, bronchiectasis, tuberculosis, etc.).

Common diseases

Certain ailments lead to a decrease in the concentration function of the kidneys, as a result of which the urine remains clear regardless of the volume of liquid drunk. In this case, you need to consult a good diagnostician: this may be a symptom of incipient diabetes insipidus or chronic renal failure.

White urine occurs with diabetes, cystitis, and kidney disease.

Manifestations of illnesses:

• With diabetes insipidus, the patient is thirsty, he drinks a lot and greedily, and the number of daytime and nighttime urinations increases.
• Chronic renal failure is manifested by increased urination at the onset of the disease and its subsequent sharp decrease until complete disappearance. The patient complains of such abnormalities as: thirst and dry mouth;
• darkness in the eyes with sudden movements;
• decreased heart rate;
• impaired breathing.

However, white urine is often the cause of the following diseases:

• cystitis;
• phosphate type urates for urolithiasis (urolithiasis);
• fatty kidney degeneration;
• pyelonephritis;
• various nephrosis;
• glomerulonephritis.

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Reasons for clarification of urine in pregnant women

During pregnancy, more mucus accumulates in the genital tract of the expectant mother than usual. When collecting a urine sample, some mucus may end up in the container. To prevent this from happening, the woman needs to thoroughly rinse the intimate area and then use a cotton swab. If you follow these rules and do everything as the doctor advises, you can get accurate test results. Whitish impurities in urine, odor and flakes in pregnant women are a sign of infection and require additional treatment.

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Effect of drugs

In addition to foods rich in calcium and phosphates (which include milk), changes in urine color are also affected by taking medications based on these chemical elements. They can be prescribed to a patient for the treatment of a disease not related to the genitourinary system, so the white color of urine in this case is only a side effect of their use. Some time after completing the course of taking such drugs, the fluid secreted by the body acquires its natural color.

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What our kidneys love

1. Fresh vegetables and fruits promote active kidney function. Bell peppers, cucumbers, cabbage, carrots, apples, melons, and watermelons are very useful.
2. For kidney health, it is recommended to consume foods containing a lot of vitamin A. The body often receives it from carotene, which is part of sea buckthorn, asparagus, spinach, cilantro, parsley, carrots, bell peppers, and sea fish.
3. Products that improve digestion, metabolism and help cleanse the body. These include plums, apples with a high pectin content, natural oatmeal, and jelly. Cranberries also help cleanse the body and prevent the formation of stones.
4. Cod and herring are a source of fatty acids and vitamin D. If you have kidney problems, they should also be included in the menu, especially in the winter season.
5. Rose hip. Contains a lot of vitamin C, known for its antioxidant properties.
6. Products containing B vitamins. They are necessary for normal blood supply and kidney protection. There are a lot of vitamins of this group in oatmeal. Daily consumption of natural oatmeal with fruit and other healthy additives will help improve metabolism, improve blood circulation, cleanse the body and prevent kidney disease.
7. Drink plenty of fluids. Every day you should drink 2-2.5 liters of liquid: clean water, green tea, fruit drinks, herbal decoctions. Edema often occurs due to a lack of fluid, as the body begins to store it.
8. Standardized physical activity. A sedentary lifestyle leads to slow blood circulation and congestion. Sports, dancing, walking activate blood flow, facilitating kidney function. However, heavy loads should be avoided: they can have the opposite effect.
9. Sauna. High temperature activates sweating. Together with sweat, toxic substances are removed from the body, which under normal conditions are filtered by the kidneys. In addition, exposure to heat promotes the expansion of blood vessels and their intensive blood supply. However, before visiting the sauna, you should consult a specialist: in some kidney pathologies, high temperatures provoke complications.

Physiological causes of white urine

The list of such factors is quite extensive, and when white urine appears, you should pay attention to the following points:

• severe stress;
• hypothermia;
• grueling physical activity;
• eating foods rich in calcium and phosphates (for example, dairy products);
• excessive alcohol consumption;
• dehydration.

Diet and poor lifestyle habits can also cause your urine to turn white. When such a symptom appears, you need to reconsider your habits.

Causes of white urine in women

In women, urine may turn white due to inflammatory processes in the genital organs:

1. vulvovaginitis,
2. inflammation of the cervix,
3. chronic endometritis,
4. salpingoophoritis,
5. tuberculosis of the genital organs.

White urine in women is caused by vaginal discharge entering it during urination. In diseases of the female organs, additional symptoms are also observed. Vulvovaginitis is characterized by itching and burning of the mucous membrane of the external genitalia, discharge in the form of leucorrhoea or curdled masses, sometimes with an unpleasant odor. With cervicitis, endometritis, adnexitis, the discharge may be purulent in nature and have an unpleasant odor. Patients are also bothered by aching pain in the lower abdomen, painful menstruation, and menstrual irregularities.

Sometimes white flakes are visible in the urine: the most common cause is vulvovaginal candidiasis, characterized by a cheesy white discharge and severe itching. This is the so-called “thrush”, which develops due to changes in the microflora of the vagina.

Advice: to prevent discharge from the genital tract from distorting the test result, before donating urine you need to carry out hygiene procedures and use a cotton swab.

Interesting facts about kidneys

The total length of capillaries in the kidneys is 25 km.

During one day, blood passes through the kidneys 35 times and is cleared of toxic substances.

The average kidney of a healthy adult weighs 180 g.

If a person is used to sleeping on the right side, stones are more likely to form in the right kidney, and vice versa.

About 3% of cases of high blood pressure are associated with kidney infections or nephritis.

Urolithiasis most often develops in people who, due to their occupation, move little (pilots, submariners, office workers) or lose a lot of fluid during work (confectioners, cooks, metallurgists).

Each kidney contains approximately one million filter elements. Its filtration surface is 1.5 square meters. m

Every minute, 1.2 liters of blood passes through the kidneys. 125 ml of urine is distilled from it.

More than 30,000 kidney transplants are performed worldwide every year.