Plant food in а diet, vegetarianism and kidney function

Abstract

A vegetarian diet as a common dietary pattern in the real world is an attractive target for study. Previous studies from different years have shown that a vegetarian diet is associated with a reduced risk of chronic kidney disease progression and a reduction in the annual percentage of physiological loss of glomerular filtration rate. An interesting topic to discuss is vegetarian patients with kidney diseases, in whom we need to monitor kidney function with estimated glomerular filtration rate. In connection with their diet, it is necessary to remember that glomerular filtration rate and blood creatinine level will be low compared to those who consume a lar­ger amount of animal proteins. This is a feature of metabolism and it is related to the way of eating. Monitoring of kidney function in such patients requires reliable diagnostic markers. Here you need to know the nephrological subtleties of excretion of creatinine, urea, uric acid and cystatin C, take into account individual characteristics and use scientific justifications. In order not to miss the progression of kidney disease in vegetarian patients, it is necessary to make a comprehensive assessment of blood parameters: creatinine, urea and uric acid. An alternative to these markers is the possibi­lity of using and prescribing cystatin C to evaluate estimated glomerular filtration rate. Cystatin C would be a more reliable marker than creatinine alone. It will be at the discretion of the nephrologist depending on the situation to decide and use one of the diagnostic options for vegetarian patients.

Keywords

• vegans
• vegetarians
• kidney function
• chronic kidney disease
• creatinine
• glomerular filtration
• hyperuricemia
• hyperfiltration
• uric acid
• cystatin c
• estimated glomerular filtration rate