Foods to eat to bulk

[ravm]

I would like to bulk to put on some muscle weight. What food can i eat to help protect my kidneys?

[Michael__S]

Where are you at right now and how far do you expect to go? And do you mean bulking as in bodybuilder bulking or something more specific perhaps? Whatever your goal is it should be (edit: approved) by your medical team.

[ravm in reply to Michael__S]

I am 60kg looking to get to 70kg not a body builder just want to gain little more muscle.

As i am stage 3 CKD and doctors are refusing me to see dietitian as they said you can eat normally just reduce salt

[Knobbs in reply to ravm]

Please try and read up on what you are and not allowed to eat. So much more than just reducing salt.

[Skeptix in reply to ravm]

That's what my nephrologist said 7 odd years ago. I wish I knew then what I know now. I'd worry less about adding weight and more about getting info to remain at stage 3 for as long as you can

[garysum in reply to Michael__S]

My nephrologist said no weight training with weights. Only body resistance. He said more muscle mass is harder on kidneys.

[Michael__S in reply to garysum]

10kg is a massive amount of weight and I think that your nephrologist is right. A bit oversimplified but right. To the best of my knowledge there is no food that would let you put this amount of weight while being safe for your kidney and there isn't much research related to muscle mass with CKD. All that I could find were very elementary research and one study had a drop-out rate of 69% if I remember correctly.

At some point protein is protein and currently the guidelines hint at less protein not more. I don't understand those mechanism but two to keep in mind is hyperfiltration (an sudden increase in protein intake increase the GFR for a short period of time followed by nephron damage) and protein waste which would likely make your kidney work harder. But I don't think that everything have been researched, validated and proven.

I believe that there is a difference between stimulating your muscles and building and maintaining a larger muscle mass. I believe that the former can have many benefits such as helping reduce insulin resistance for example. Follow the limitations given by your nephrologist. There is nothing wrong to look for a second opinion but be careful not to hire a yes-man.

Also protein have a myriad of other biological function and being deprived of protein by eating a restricted amount and training like you were eating large amount will likely do more harm than good. It may have an impact on your immune system or create other symptoms like edema. Or something else.

[Marvin8 in reply to garysum]

"No weight training with weights. Only body resistance." ???Hate to say it, but you need to see another doctor. The difference between doing a pushup (body resistance) vs. benching (weights) is insignificant. As for the statement that muscle mass is harder on kidneys, that's silly as well. You need muscle...period. HOW MUCH muscle is the $64,000 question. There's hardly any research as to how much muscle mass is appropriate for a person's height, weight, bone structure, age, and sex, especially as it relates to ckd patients at different stages. The one thing that nephs agree on is that you don't want to break down muscle (overly aggressive weight lifting) at such a rate as to cause kidney damage. When I asked him how much is too much, he said "if you can do 15 reps, you should be fine." Unfortunately, there's no research to back it up, although I have adhered to his advice.

[garysum in reply to Marvin8]

You stated the same thing as my neph by first saying I should switch them saying in moderation. Caution is not wrong medical guidance and appropriate for stage 5.

[Marvin8 in reply to garysum]

Stage 5 ckd is a very different situation altogether and it would be foolish not to take the advice of your nephrologist. I was merely saying that there's little research as to how much resistance exercise is appropriate. There are several studies indicating that it is beneficial to try to maintain or increase muscle mass as ckd progression tends to decrease it.