Protein is the material basis of life. No protein, no life. It is involved in all the cells and all the important components of body. Protein accounts for 16% ~ 20% of the body weight. However, is the more of protein intake, the better? What should you know on Protein Intake if you have Chronic Kidney Disease.

As we all know that protein will produce a waste product named urea nitrogen after broken down in our body. In normal conditions, kidney plays an important role in filtrating the waste products and toxins and preserving protein from leaking out. But damaged kidney fails to do this job and much protein will leak out if you take in over much. And there will be a large amount of protein in urine. On the other hand, too much protein will produce too much urea nitrogen, which can increase the burden on kidney.

So if you are patient with chronic kidney disease, you must manage the proper amount of protein. Different amount depends on the different illness condition of kidney disease.

CKD stages	Stage1 and 2	Stage 3	Stage 4 and 5
Protein(g/kg/d)	0.8	0.6	0.4

Low protein intake does not mean the lower the better. Make sure that about 60% of protein comes from animal protein every day, which is the high quality protein to sustain the normal activity of your life.

But if you are on dialysis, you should properly increase protein intake. Dialysis can help remove the wastes that buildup in blood, and at the same time some nutritions like protein also be removed. If you do not strengthen protein supplement, malnutrition may occur.

The suggested protein amount for patients on dialysis is as follow:

Dialysis	Hemodialysis	Peritoneal dialysis
Protein (g/kg/d)	1.2	1.2-1.3

Protein intake also varies with ages, health condition and other factors. You’d better consult a kidney doctor or a dietitian based on your own condition if you are patients with chronic kidney disease.