Review article Effect of low-protein diet on renal function: are there definite conclusions from adult studies?

Low-protein diets have been used for roughly a century in order to alleviate uraemic symptoms and to delay progression of chronic renal failure (CRF). Currently a number of different low-protein diets are used, supplying either 0.6 g protein/kg body weight or 0.3-0.4 g supple- mented with anaino-acids or keto-acids. Single centre trials have attempted to demonstrate the efficacy of these diets in slowing down the progression of CRF. The results from these trials are, however, sometimes inconclusive, showing either a high efficiency of the low-protein diet or no effi- ciency at all. Conclusive data from multicentre trials, how- ever, are not yet available. A crucial point in analysing the efficacy of low-protein diets is the degree of compliance with the protein restriction. Today, the data available indi- cate that somfimes only a poor degree of compliance is achieved both in single and in multicentre trials.