Revolutionizing Diabetic Nephropathy: Red Meat Withdrawal for Weight Loss in Type 2 Diabetes

Withdrawing Red Meat from Diabetic Diets Reduces Proteinuria and Improves Cholesterol

The authors did a study with 17 diabetic patients who had macroalbuminuria, an advanced stage of kidney disease. The patients tried 3 different diets, each for 4 weeks:

1) Usual diet with red meat

2) Usual diet but chicken instead of red meat

3) Low protein, mostly plant-based diet

They measured impacts on kidney function and cholesterol.

Main findings:

- Less protein spilled into the urine (proteinuria) on diets without red meat

- Improved cholesterol levels without red meat

- Potential reasons: increased polyunsaturated fats, less inflammation

So avoiding red meat and eating more plant proteins and chicken improved kidney function parameters and cholesterol. This could reduce complications in patients with advanced diabetic kidney disease. More research is still needed in this area. But results support limiting red meat intake.

de Mello, V. D. F., Zelmanovitz, T., Perassolo, M. S., Azevedo, M. J., & Gross, J. L. (2006). Withdrawal of red meat from the usual diet reduces albuminuria and improves serum fatty acid profile in type 2 diabetes patients with macroalbuminuria. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 83(5), 1032-1038. doi: 10.1093/ajcn/83.5.1032.