Low protein diet is a diet obtained by limiting intake of amount of high protein diet foods.
If you suffer from liver or kidney disease, then you can prefer low protein diet, as your body does not require extra protein while suffering from these diseases.
You can find protein in some plant and animal foods.
How can you attain low protein diet?
If you want low protein diet, then your dietary protein limit should be 0.6 gm/kg of your body weight or you can take 40 to 50 grams per day. If you restrict the protein diet, you can manage liver and kidney diseases.
Low protein diet will help you in the following body functions:
- Hemoglobin is a protein which keeps your blood red and carries oxygen.
- Antibodies which will defend against disease that contain protein.
- Some of the hormones which are made up of amino acids (these acids build up the proteins) will regulate various systems of your body. Amino acids help you to regulate metabolism, regulation, nutrient absorption and concentration of blood glucose.
- Proteins are used by your cells to regulate the distribution of water.
- Proteins are used by your body for the movement of nutrients in and out of cells.
- Proteins are used as one of the component of your cell membrane.
- Proteins are used to carry out psychological functions.
Why you should not take very low protein diet?
If you have very low protein, then you will also have deficiency of important minerals and vitamins. These important vitamins and minerals are found in protein rich food. The very low protein diet will cause irregularities and systems alice of your bodily functions.
Sometimes proteins can also involve in blood clotting, acid base balance and visual pigmentation. So, you should not take very low protein diet.
Following physical changes will affect you if you do not follow protein limit:
For obtaining low protein diet, you should take care of your intake of diet. Protein contains16% of nitrogen and it can be eliminated as urine. From this, liver or kidney function will get impaired. If this happens, the ammonia or toxic nitrogen metabolites will build up in the blood.
These toxic substances will cause kidney diseases and will produce behavioral changes such as delusions, psychosis and hallucinations. If you take low protein diet then you can reduce the nitrogen metabolites and ammonia and can reduce toxic bowel, liver disease or kidney failure.
If you have low protein diet then it results in muscle wasting (muscle wasting is the effect of muscle protein being broken down to provide amino acids to your body for daily use). Low protein diet will not only have low protein but also have low calcium, thiamine, riboflavin and niacin. So, you should take nutritional supplements to prevent deficiency.
Maintain correct limit of low protein diet with amino acids so that it will help you in curing severe kidney diseases.
