I went to the doctor for routine checkup the other day and they found protein in my urine. he made me take another sample right when I woke up the next morning and that came out fine. On the blood test he said there was high levels of creatinine and blood urea nitrogen (BUN). He said that because of the combination of those things he wants me to get more tests done for kidney problems. is this common for people that eat 1.5g/lb protein a day? I don’t want to waste my money on the tests unless it is really something to worry about. Also, my dad who is also a doctor asked me if I was taking any supplements. For some reason he has always thought supplements were bad and I actually had to hide whey protein from him. I told him that I was taking creatine and mrps and he told me I need to “cut that shit out”. When I tried to argue with him about the mrps I told him that it is just like powder food and that there wasn’t a difference between me getting protein from an mrp or a hamburger, but he said there was and that i should stop taking them. Also my cholesterol was 225. is this something to worry about or are weightlifters supposed to have higher cholesterol? so what does all of this mean and what should i do. Thanks in advance for any help/advice.
Creatinine is the metabolite of creatine which will always be found in your urine when taking creatine. Although when not taking creatine this could show kidney failure, supplementing with creatine does not show this. It has to do with how the creatine is metabolised and creatinine is the byproduct. Beacuse of the extra amounts creatine more creatinine is in the urine. As for the protein, I’d get that checked when on low protein diet and then on a high. If the results show a fluctuation then there is nothing to worry about.
Hey, Nic. I just wanted to respond about the BUN. I had some blood work done about a year and a half ago and my creatinine and BUN were both high. I attributed it solely to the high protein intake (I don’t recall that I was taking creatine). I actually am going in for some blood work this weekend so I’ll keep you posted. You can do a search on any search engine for those tests to find out more. It probably wouldn’t hurt to get a few more tests done.
The only advise I can offer you is to make sure you are drinking LOTS of water each day. And it’s a good idea to take flax oil or cod liver oil (also produced in gelcap form) to control cholesterol.
That is a high cholesterol reading, so you should definitely get it tested again. Of more importance than total cholesterol, though, are LDL and ultra-LDL levels. You might look into using Guggul/aka Guggulipid to help control this. Check out Larry Hobbs’ book “The New Diet Pills,” available at Amazon, for references to Guggulipid. MD6 contains Guggul, but you probably need higher dosages–try Syntrax Guggulbolic or the straight powder from beyond-a-century.
Hi Nic. A slight difference of opinion here as far as cholesterol goes. That is definitely a high serum cholesterol reading, but I doubt the suggestions the others made will affect it. You might want to have liver function checked, as the liver is the key organ responsible for regulating blood lipids. The liver produces lecithin, an emulsifying agent, when adequate b-vit’s and magnesium are present in the diet, so you might want to supplement with cholin, inositol, lecithin and magnesium if liver function is okay. There is alot of dietary research to show that supplementing with these things reduces serum cholesterol in both lab animals and humans. You can get lecithin in bulk at most any health food store for a couple of bucks a pound. A tablespoon after breakfast will often do the trick in a month or so. BTW, your kidney function can be thrown off slightly if you’re deficient in magnesium, which might possibly account for the other funky test results.
Another thing to consider. There has been little or no credible research relating cholesterol to dietary fat intake. There has been, however, a mountain of evidence to show a relationship between the intake of simple carbs/sugars and increases in serum cholesterol. Diabetics, for example, have a terrible time controlling arteriosclerosis when their diabetes becomes advanced for this reason. And the American public has been growing more obese, more insulin-resistant and more sclerotic in the last 50 years mostly due to a high-carb, lo-protein diet. How much sugar are you eating these days? Does your MRP taste just a little too good, and how much are you having every day? How is the rest of your diet, and how much sugar is hidden in the packaged/prepared foods you eat? It’s something to look at.
Yeah, I’d compare the HDL to the total cholesterol. I had, at my last physical, total cholesterol of 200, but my HDL was 85–I believe about double what was considered good, so the doctor said my blood profile was very healthy.
Normally, protein is not present in the urine when measured by routine dipstick tests. This is because the glomerulus (which is the part of the kidney nephron which filters fluid from the blood) generally prevents large molecules (which includes most proteins) from entering the renal filtrate. Even if small amounts get through, they are normally taken up by renal tubular cells which then metabolize the proteins as a source of energy. However, even if both the glomerulus and renal tubules are
completely normal, some proteins will appear in the urine if blood concentrations exceed the threshold value. If the kidney is diseased,
protein will appear in the urine even if the plasma concentrations are normal. So, if you have protein in your urine there is a good chance that there is something wrong with your kidneys, as the doctor probably already told you, and you should have it checked out. There is a chance that the protein in you blood is above your threshold level, but that is not likely if you are eating 1.5g/lb. I don’t think a test would be a waste of your money, it is better to be safe than sorry.
allright, is what i was told: although the creatinine and BUN were high, with the type of diet i have and the fact i am taking creatine, it is not likely that my kidneys have a real problem. they are just being worked extra hard. the problem when you have kidney problems though isnt the fact your kidneys arent working it is the fact that because they are not working the BUN level is high and that can screw up other things because of the toxins in your blood. so even if my kidneys are working fine, i will have the same problems as people that do have kidney problems because my BUN is high. does this sound right to you guys? also to answer some of your questions, i am and have been taking 2 tbsps udos choice each day (which does contain some flax), and a multivitamen & zma (so i shouldnt be magnesium deficient). i will try drinking more water so hopefully that will help. the mrp i am taking is GROW, i usually have about 6 scoops total throughout the day and a scoop of pure whey after my workouts. i really dont eat too many packaged/prepared food. high cholesterol does run in my family history and i will check for more details as far as the specifics are concerned (HDLs, LDLs). thanks again for the help - Nic
OK, i found out the exact BUN level was 35. does anyone know what normal is and if this is a big problem? Thanks - Nic
Nic…normal ranges for males is 7-25 mg/dL. I really haven’t done enough research to tell you how critical your level is. Hopefully a fellow T-man can chime in. I am getting some blood work done tomorrow, including BUN and creatinine. I will let you now how I fare, and what I find out. Shawn provided a very good explanation that you may want to read over again.