Do regular high protein diets have potential health risks on kidney function in athletes?

Excess protein and amino acid intake have been recognized as hazardous pote ntial implications for kidney function, leading to progressive impairment o f this organ. It has been suggested in the literature, without clear eviden ce, that high protein intake by athletes has no harmful consequences on ren al Function. This study investigated body-builders (BB) and other well-trai ned athletes (OA) with high and medium protein intake, respectively, in ord er to shed light on this issue. The athletes underwent a 7-day nutrition re cord analysis as well as blood sample and urine collection to determine the potential renal consequences of a high protein intake. The data revealed t hat despite higher plasma concentration of uric acid and calcium. Group BE had renal clearances of creatinine, urea, and albumin that were within the normal range. The nitrogen balance for both groups became positive when dai ly protein intake exceeded 1.26 g.kg(-1) but there were no correlations bet ween protein intake and creatinine clearance, albumin excretion rate, and c alcium excretion rate. To conclude, it appears that protein intake under 2. 8 g.kg(-1) does not impair renal function in well-trained athletes as indic ated by the measures of renal function used in this study.