Overweight Americans May Risk Kidney Damage When Attempting Weight Loss

Another excuse in the quiver of the excusinators for why fatsos should not lose weight.

With 1 in 5 overweight Americans suffering from chronic kidney disease, Cleveland Clinic researchers analyzed the nutritional and lifestyle habits of overweight adults, finding that their methods included diets and diet pills that may cause further kidney damage.

The study findings, published online this month in the International Journal of Obesity, came from an analysis of food choices and lifestyle habits of 10,971 overweight adults taken from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), a federally-administered assessment of the overall health and nutritional status of Americans.

Of the overweight and obese patients with kidney disease included in the survey, 50 percent reported that they had attempted to lose weight in the past year. The survey showed that, on average, obese Americans with kidney disease consume protein in amounts that are above the recommended levels prescribed by the National Kidney Foundation for chronic kidney disease patients.

The typical American diet each day includes approximately 1.2g of protein per kilogram of body weight. Patients with CKD are advised to consume 0.6g to 0.75g protein per kilogram of body weight each day and popular high-protein diets may call for up to 1.9g per kilogram of body weight.

"People who are overweight or obese are at higher risk for chronic kidney disease and there is a great need to define what the appropriate lifestyle changes and weight loss modalities are for protecting kidney function," said Sankar Navaneethan, M.D., a nephrologist in the Glickman Urological and Kidney Institute at Cleveland Clinic and lead author of the study. "Rather than using fad diets or diet pills, overweight and obese people with kidney disease may adopt a weight loss plan that incorporates a low-protein, low-calorie diet, regular physical activity and close follow-up by their physicians."

What this really is, is a result of bad weight loss advice - which is the usual.