You bet--if kidney stones result! Your best friend may swear by
it, but did you know that high-protein diets may put you at risk
for kidney stones? It's true, according to internist Shalini
Reddy, MD, who's studying the connection to kidney stones at the
University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas.
Eating lots of protein creates the perfect environment for
kidney stones' formation: urine that's high in calcium and acid.
But the good news is that you don't have to go on high-protein
diets to lose weight. In a study comparing one of the high-
protein diets (30 percent protein) with one matching the
Prevention diet (15 percent protein), with each diet allowing
only 1,200 calories a day, subjects in both groups lost the same
amount of weight over 6 weeks (7 to 9 lb). (Reported at the
American Dietetic Association meeting, Oct 2000)