If you have kidney disease, a new study has some great news for you. Evidently, a vegetarian diet can help patients who suffer from kidney disease avoid accumulating high phosphorous levels in their bodies.
High levels of phosphorous in the body can lead to heart disease and death, so it is important for patients with chronic kidney disease to know how much phosphorous they are consuming because it could help save their lives. However, most food labels do not list the phosphorous amount.
Led by Sharon Moe, a group of researchers at Indiana University School of Medicine and Roudebush Veterans’ Affairs Medical Center studied nine patients who followed either a vegetarian or meat-based diet plan for one week. Afterwards, the patients swapped diets to compare the effects each diet had on the various patients. Although the patients consumed equal amounts of protein and phosphorus concentrations in both diets, they had decreased amounts of phosphorus exertion when they were following the vegetarian diet. The researches concluded that the source of protein was the important factor in determining the patients’ phosphorus levels.
Vegetarian diets have been known to be healthy for a long time. Some of these benefits include lower cholesterol levels, lowering risk of cancer, and lowering risk of heart disease.
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