New research published in the peer-reviewed journal Nutrients found that a “vegan diet is associated with a 31% lower risk of chronic kidney disease in patients wth hyperuricemia”.
The study notes that hyperuricemia (elevated uric acid level in the blood) is a well-known risk factor for chronic kidney disease, and that little is known about whether a vegetarian or vegan diet is associated with a lower risk of chronic kidney disease (CKD) in patients with hyperuricemia.
From September 5, 2005, to December 31, 2016, researchers retrospectively included clinically stable patients with hyperuricemia who received health check-ups at Taipei Tzu Chi Hospital. All participants completed a dietary habits questionnaire to determine whether they were omnivorous, lacto-ovo vegetarian, or vegan.
A total of 3618 patients with hyperuricemia were recruited for this cross-sectional study consisting of 225 vegans, 509 lacto-ovo vegetarians, and 2884 omnivores.
“After adjusting for age and sex, vegans had a significantly lower odds ratio (OR) of CKD than omnivores (OR, 0.62; p = 0.006)”, the study found. “The OR of CKD remained significantly lower in vegans after adjusting for additional confounders (OR, 0.69; p = 0.04).”
Additionally, age, diabetes mellitus, hypertension, obesity, smoking, and very high uric acid levels “were independent risk factors for CKD in patients with hyperuricemia.” Moreover, structural equation modeling revealed that a vegan diet was associated with a lower OR of CKD.
The study concludes:
A vegan diet is associated with a 31% lower risk of CKD in patients with hyperuricemia. A vegan diet may be beneficial in reducing the occurrence of CKD in patients with hyperuricemia.
The study was conducted by researchers from the following institutions:
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Department of Post-Baccalaureate Medicine, College of Medicine, National Chung Hsing University, Taichung 402202, Taiwan.
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School of Medicine, Chung Shan Medical University, Taichung 40201, Taiwan.
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Division of Nephrology, Department of Internal Medicine, Changhua Christian Hospital, Changhua 50006, Taiwan.
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Department of Pediatrics, Taipei Tzu Chi Hospital, Buddhist Tzu Chi Medical Foundation, New Taipei City 23142, Taiwan.
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School of Medicine, Tzu Chi University, Hualien 97004, Taiwan.
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Division of Nephrology, Taipei Tzu Chi Hospital, Buddhist Tzu Chi Medical Foundation, New Taipei City 23142, Taiwan.
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Good Clinic, New Taipei City 24146, Taiwan.
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Division of Family Medicine, Mackay Memorial Hospital, Taipei 104217, Taiwan.
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School of Post-Baccalaureate Chinese Medicine, Tzu Chi University, Hualien 97004, Taiwan.
