protein shakes for kidney donors

[dschutte]

Hi All, last April I donated a kidney to my sister in law, I had a few complications after surgery, but am now in the clear, due to the inactivity I have gained some weight.   I want to start Isagenix, it is a protein powder based shake diet, I was told by the dietician they were okay in moderation. Each shake contains 24 grams of protein and you are suppose to do 2 shakes a day with a healthy dinner. Has anyone ever tried Isagenix or protein powder shakes? Also, what is the max amount of protein intake in a day?  I was only going to do it for 4 months and then check my levels at my 1 year check up. Thank you for you input.

[Fr Pat]

     Hi. I don't have any experiences or detailed information to share on that, but I have read that the remaining kidney may have trouble handling too much protein. What is "too much' or whether there is a difference between animal and veggie protein, I don't know. Was the dietician who gave you the O.K. aware that you have lost one kidney? Is she/he up-to-date on recommendations for kidney donors? Hope so.
     If you donated last April you should be back to your normal activity level by now, and able to increase it to help with weight loss.
     Please let us know if you find out anything else, and how your progress goes.
  best wishes,
      Fr. Pat

[tantemorte]

I've been drinking LeanWhey protein powder shakes in the mornings when I can't stomach a breakfast or for a midday energy boost.My endocrinologist is OK with it as we are trying to find ways to raise my energy level & fight the fatigue.

[KellyN]

Hi! I have done the Isagenix 30 day program and the maintenance part of it as well and love it! I started last year Jan and lost a total of 35 lbs with that and exercise. I had my 4 year check up two months ago and all my levels were fine. My doctor advised that as long as I didn't over do the shakes I would be fine. I believe that Isagenix is better than most of the protein powders out there when they are compared as well as organic. I do suggest mixing the powder with at least 12 oz of water instead of the 8oz. It's pretty sludgy with only the 8oz and you don't loose anything by adding more water. I wish you the best of luck with the program if you decide to do it. You can private message me if you have any other questions regarding my journey with that program. 

[sherri]

I wanted to take off a few extra lbs so that the scale would read the "right" number. I am a little number focused and sometimes instead of focusing on the whole picture I tend to stress about the number. I started doing Medifast, as it was becoming quite a popular weight loss program in my community. I knew that I should be careful with the amount of protein I eat, but the idea of being able to drop 10 lbs was very alluring. After being on it for  a couple of months and losing about 5 lbs I had my labs drawn. My creatinine was fine, it usually live around .8 - 1.0 after my donation but my microalbumin/creatinine ratio was quite high, probably more than 10 times what it should be. I stopped the diet and reduced my protein intake to the recommended .7 -.8 grams of protein per kg and redid my labs. My microalbumin was back down to normal range. I'm not sure if there is any clinical significance to having an elevated microalbumin level but my body certainly recognized that it needed to work harder to process that extra protein. I have since decided that the number on the scale is of less importance to me. I would love to weigh to 125 lbs and always have a BMI of <25. But being just shy of 5 ft. tall and having had 4 children, I am a little more at ease weighing between 128 - 130. I try to eat from all the food groups and not overdo one group in favor of another. If I was a body builder doing a lot of extra lifting and super exercise, I might be more at ease with increasing the amount of protein. But considering I just do the average amount of walking and some yoga, I can't justify increasing my protein intake and decreasing my carbs.

I have had good success on Weight Watchers. I lost about 25 lbs ten years ago and have managed to keep the bulk of my weight off. Its always the few extra lbs that I struggle with. But I do believe a balanced diet eating the recommended amounts from all food groups is the way to go. It's not fast and not glamorous but, in my opinion, the most well rounded and balanced.

All the best with the weight loss.

Sherri

[Orchidlady]

Protein isn't necessarily bad if done properly and in moderation. Even my husband, the recipient, received permission from the transplant nephrologist and transplant pharmacist to use protein powder - but half a serving, and mainly because he logs and monitors his total protein consumption each day. Both of us go by the half serving guideline, and in conjunction with workouts rather than as meal substitutes.

While the thought of the rapid weight loss is tantalizing, two shakes and one meal a day is probably not sustainable in the long run. Always better to eat real, non processed food. 

It would be wise to review this with your physician rather than a dietician. If you look at the nutrition facts and ingredients of the shakes, I think all the herbal and other additions would concern me more than the amount of the protein. I'm always suspicious of the herbal supplements and review those very closely and with medical input before consuming (and I prefer to avoid altogether) - way too many adverse occurrences of liver, kidney and other organ failure out there from some of the, supposedly safe, herbal concoctions.