What is the best protein powder for dialysis patients?

Looking for the best protein powder for dialysis patients? Discover how to safely meet your protein needs while on dialysis.

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Protein powder and dialysis

Is protein powder good for dialysis patients?

If you are beginning hemodialysis, you are likely going to make several lifestyle changes, one of which 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 your body, but dialysis also removes proteins from your 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 body weight per day with > 50% HBV proteins. HBV stands for high biological 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 easy ways to increase the amount of protein in your diet, which is where protein powders can help.

Adding protein powder to your diet can 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, it breaks down into amino acids, which are used for building and repairing muscles, among other things.

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.

What is the best protein powder for dialysis patients?

When it comes to dialysis, not all protein powders are created equal. This is because dialysis patients have high protein needs, but need to limit phosphorus and potassium intakes.

Research suggests that egg white protein powder and bovine collagen protein powder are among the best sources for renal patients, especially those undergoing dialysis treatment.

Both collagen and egg white are low in phosphorus and potassium. In fact, egg whites are not only low in phosphorus, but can also lower phosphorus levels in the blood.

Egg whites do contain a moderate amount of sodium, however, so if this is a concern for you, then bovine collagen protein powder may be the best option for you.

Moreover, if you need to limit your potassium intake, it is recommended that you choose unflavored egg white or collagen protein powder.

Added ingredients tend to contribute phosphorus to a formula, so it may be best to keep it simple! 

All that said, the amount of egg whites or bovine collagen allowed in your diet is dependent on your individual nutritional status.

You should therefore consult with your medical practitioner before making any significant changes to your diet.

What protein powder ingredients should dialysis patients avoid? 

Many protein powders contain added ingredients that can cause long term health problems for dialysis patients. Among these ingredients are food additives and protein concentrates and isolates. 

Avoid food additives

Regularly eating emulsifiers, thickeners, and other additives can alter the composition of your gut microbiome – the collection of microorganisms living in your gut.

This can lead to gut dysbiosis, or an imbalance in gut bacteria, which may contribute to the development of kidney disease. 

In case you were wondering, an imbalance in gut bacteria can result in the increased production of uremic toxins, which, in turn, can exacerbate local and systemic kidney inflammation.

Here is a list of the most common food additives in protein supplements:

• acacia fiber
• acacia gum
• acesulfame potassium
• artificial flavors
• ascorbic acid
• aspartame
• calcium carbonate
• carrageenan
• cellulose gum
• dextrin
• dicalcium phosphate
• dipotassium phosphate
• erythritol
• gellan gum
• guar gum
• gum arabic
• inulin
• locust bean gum
• maltitol
• maltodextrin
• mono- and diglycerides
• ‘natural’ flavors
• rice bran extract
• rice dextrin
• rice hulls
• rosemary extract
• silica
• silicon dioxide
• sodium alginate
• soluble corn fiber
• sorbitol
• soy lecithin
• sucralose
• sunflower lecithin
• tocopherols
• tricalcium phosphate
• xanthan gum
• xylitol
• zinc oxide

It is worth mentioning that protein supplements like NOVASOURCE and Nepro, which are made specifically for kidney patients on dialysis, are full of food additives like these, not to mention nasty ingredients like corn syrup and seed oil.

Although these products were specifically designed to help meet the nutritional needs of people on dialysis, they are not something I would recommend feeding to a healthy person, let alone a dialysis patient.

Avoid protein concentrates and isolates

Most protein supplements are made from protein concentrates and isolates, which have been mechanically and or chemically stripped of everything but the protein, including the enzymes, fiber, and other natural digestive aids that help you break them down.

As a result, they can cause digestive issues and possibly even disruptions to your gut microbiome. Once again, this is something someone with impaired kidney function should take very seriously. 

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Drink Wholesome makes the best dialysis protein powder.

Finding a protein supplement free from food additives and protein concentrates/isolates is hard.

In fact, 99% of protein supplements contain one or both of these problematic ingredients, which is why we created Drink Wholesome.

Our ingredients

collagen

egg whites

NOT our ingredients

• acacia gum

• acesulfame potassium

• artificial flavors

• carrageenan

• erythritol

• guar gum

• inulin

• maltodextrin

• 'natural' flavors

• silica

• soy lecithin

• sucralose

• xanthan gum

• xylitol

We make the best protein powder for dialysis patients because we use a short list of simple ingredients free from food additives and protein concentrates and isolates.

Note that instead of using protein concentrates or isolates, we use whole food protein sources like egg whites, which are easier to digest and absorb.

It follows that our customers experience fewer digestive issues with our dialysis protein powder than with any other type of protein supplement. Order samples to see for yourself.