I've heard there is good evidence that weightlifters eating an appropriate (high) protein intake for hypertrophy don't harm healthy kidneys, though the sources seemed biased.
But has that statement been debunked for sedentary people or people with kidney disease?
> As long as you have don’t have pre-existing kidney issues, you don’t need to worry about high-protein intakes killing your kidneys, and it’s time to put this myth to bed.
Unfortunately most of the research cited there was in "resistance-trained" individuals (and one in nurses, who are far from sedentary). The meta analysis also included at least some research on active individuals. And the author is a bodybuilder and fitness coach.
The one study of overweight individuals mentioned found no adverse side effects but only lasted six months, which may not be long enough for clinical effects to become obvious.
Also, the author overlooked gout entirely.
Based on all that, I'm not convinced it is safe for sedentary individuals.
I think the author should have written:
> As long as you are highly active and have don’t have pre-existing kidney issues...
I think it's an omnipresent concern in people with 10-20% kidney function left, and outside that cohort, it's a concern if you're getting a supermajority of your calories from protein for a prolonged period of time (which is quite rare/expensive for most of us)
Most people who eat "high protein diets" are not actually eating all that much protein, because their food is laced with lots of fat and some carbs. The guy eating burgers and sausage all day long is actually on a high-fat diet. This fools people because fat is so nutritionally dense, and because lean protein is basically always chock-full of bulky water. The soy "protein" I'm eating still has fat and carbs.
PS: this has been debunked, still docs keep saying it.