drink wholesome makes the best protein powder for dialysis patients.
Written by Jack Schrupp & endorsed by Baylee Reller, RDN
How much protein do dialysis patients need?
If you are beginning hemodialysis, you are likely going to make several lifestyle changes. One of the most common changes is increasing the amount of protein in your diet. Not only does protein play an essential role in the creation and maintenance of every cell in our bodies, but dialysis also removes proteins from the blood. This means that your protein needs are now higher than they were before the treatment.
The recommended protein intake for non-dialysis patients is 0.6 to 0.8 grams per kilogram of bodyweight per day with > 50% HBV proteins. HBV stands for high biologic value, and refers to protein sources such as eggs, fish, poultry, meat and dairy. For patients on dialysis, the daily protein intake recommendation is 1.0-1.2 grams per kilogram of bodyweight, which is a lot of protein!
If you do not eat enough protein to make up for what is lost during dialysis, your body will break down muscles to get the protein that it needs. This can lead to weight loss, fatigue, and put you at higher risk for infection. It is therefore imperative that you find ways to increase the amount of protein in your diet. This is where protein powders can help.
Adding protein powder to your diet is an easy way to ensure that you are meeting your protein goals. That said, people with chronic kidney disease (CKD) should use protein supplements in moderation. When you digest dietary protein, you break it down into amino acids, which are used for building and repairing muscles. Any extra amino acids that your body does not need get excreted by the kidneys. If you eat a lot of protein, your kidneys have to work extra hard to remove the excess amino acids, which can cause kidney damage over time.
A high-protein diet can also raise the levels of urea in your blood, which is a waste product created when protein breaks down. Research shows that having too much urea and other waste products in your blood can cause kidney damage and increase the risk for chronic kidney disease in individuals with impaired kidney function. This is all to say that protein supplements can be a useful nutritional tool for dialysis patients, but must be used in moderation. Moreover, not all protein powders