Can Nephrotic Syndrome Patients Eat Tofu

Can nephrotic syndrome (NS) patients eat tofu? Tofu is very nutritious but we all know that it is not surely suitable for every person. In some special cases, tofu had better not be consumed too much.

As for patients with nephrotic syndrome, protein intake every day should depend on how much protein lose from urine. Generally speaking, protein intake per day is 1.5-2.0g/kg of body weight. And high quality protein intake is better like meat, eggs, milk and fish.

If patients experience azotemia, they should limit protein intake. Daily protein intake should maintain the balance of nitrogen. That is, protein intake should limit to about 50g.

Tofu and its products contain rich protein. The protein in tofu belongs to complete protein. Besides, tofu contains fat, carbohydrate, vitamin and minerals. Chinese medicine deems that tofu has function of clearing away heat and toxic substances. It can be used to treat a cute conjunctivitis, quench thirsty and detoxicate. Although tofu is nutritious, eating it too much is harmful to your body health.

Tofu leads to in digestion.

Tofu is very abundant in protein. If you eat tofu excessively, it will affect the absorption of iron. Also it is easy to cause protein indigestion so patients will have discomforts like diarrhea and abdominal distention.

Tofu causes kidney dysfunction.

In normal case, plant protein comes to the body and then metabolized into nitrogenous waste products, which will be removed by kidneys. At middle age, kidneys’ ability to excrete waste declines. At that time, if you eat excess tofu and consume too much plant protein, it will produce more nitrogenous wastes and workload your kidneys, making kidney function have a further decline.

Any food should not be eaten too much. Old people, kidney disease patients, iron-deficiency anemia patients, stroke patients and atherosclerotic patients should control tofu intake. You should eat tofu according to your own medical conditions. However, never eat too much tofu.