Too much of anything is not always good as it can create lot of problems on many occasions. In the same context, too much of protein in blood is not good for our health, even if it is essential as a building block and for functioning in our body. If there is high level of protein in blood consistently, it can be an indication of a serious health condition.
Medically too much of protein in the blood is termed as hyperprotinemia. When the physician suspects a diseased condition related to too much of protein, he advises total estimation of proteins in the blood. Patient’s blood is collected from vein and sent for analysis in a laboratory.
There are several causes for too much of protein in the blood that we want to discuss below.
Causes Of High Protein Levels In Blood
Some of the main causes of too much of protein in blood are
- Too much of protein in blood is often seen after a stressful exercise. However, protein remains temporarily high in the blood after an exercise but gradually recedes back to normal. It is a physiological process without any disease.
- Even after an epileptic attack, you may find high level of protein in the blood.
- Amyloidosis: in this condition there is an abnormal production of protein in the bone marrow. This protein is called amyloid. When amyloid protein starts gathering in internal organs, the condition is called amyloidosis. Liver, spleen and kidney are generally affected in this fatal condition.
- Inflammation in the tissues as it occurs in bacterial infection, or in burns, or due to certain diseases such as HIV and AIDs can give rise to increased protein level in the blood.
- Certain cancers such as multiple myeloma can cause high level of protein in the blood.
- Kidney failure and eclampsia during pregnancy are known causes of hyperproteinemia.
Side Effects Of Too Much Protein In Blood
- Too much of protein concentration in the blood causes extra burden for the kidney to filter it. Kidney stones can form when there is too high protein level in blood for a long duration.
- Constipation, tingling in hands and legs, extreme tiredness, change in appearance of skin, etc, are some of the side effects of high levels of protein in blood. They are also symptoms of amyloidosis.
- Dehydration: It occurs as a result of accumulation of ketones in the blood. The condition is referred as ketosis.
- Osteoporosis is another side effect of too much of protein in blood.
Treatment For High Protein In Blood
- Too much protein in the blood can result from certain diseases. It is important to treat the underlying disease to reduce excessive blood protein.
- In some way, eating vitamin C rich foods such as citrus fruits, and other vegetables will help the kidney to flush excess amount of protein in the blood. Besides, vitamin C is beneficial to our body in many other ways as it is an antioxidant.
- Excessive mental strain that may cause too much of protein in blood can be managed with some techniques such as yoga and meditation.
- If high level of protein is due to excess of exercise, it is temporary and no medicine is required for it as the level of protein comes back to normal after some time.
Foods that are rich source of proteins include: Meat, milk, cheese, egg, fish.
Vegetarian source of protein is Soy products, rice, beans, corns, lentils, chickpeas, Lima beans, cooked spinach, broccoli etc.