Testing urea levels in the blood provides information about your health. This post covers the causes of high and low blood urea nitrogen (BUN) and what they may mean for you.
What is Blood Urea Nitrogen (BUN)?
Blood urea nitrogen (BUN) is a measure of the amount of urea in the blood [1].
The liver produces urea as a waste product of proteins breakdown. It binds excess nitrogen from used-up proteins and safely removes it from the body [1, 2].
Urea is created not only from dietary protein, but also from protein in your tissues [3].
On a normal diet, we produce about 12 g of urea each day [2].
The bulk of the urea, about 10 g each day, is eliminated by the kidneys [2].
Being a diuretic, urea helps the kidneys quickly flush water and other compounds [4, 5].
A small amount of urea (less than 0.5 g/day) is lost through the gut, lungs, and skin. During exercise, a substantial amount may be lost through sweat [2].
BUN Blood Test
Why Doctors Order it
A blood urea nitrogen (BUN) test is performed to:
- See if your kidneys are working normally or if kidney disease is progressing
- Check for severe dehydration
Any standard blood test will have BUN or urea numbers.
Conventional doctors will look at high or low BUN numbers and not mention anything, but these can indicate that certain processes in the body aren’t optimal.
What Your BUN Levels Mean
BUN levels represent the balance between [6]:
- Urea production (in the liver)
- Urea breakdown, and
- Urea elimination (via the kidneys)
Therefore, BUN is an indicator of kidney health and/or liver health.
However, creatinine is a much more reliable marker of kidney function. BUN is far more likely to be affected by dietary and physiologic conditions unrelated to kidney function [2].
Optimal and Normal Range
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