Protein in urine (Proteinuria) symptoms, causes, tests and treatments
Having protein in your urine is a sign that your kidneys may be damaged. Learn what causes protein in the urine, symptoms, results of urine tests and how it is treated.
- Medically reviewed by
- Shahzia Lakhani
- Last updated
- September 2, 2026
When your kidneys are not working as well as they should, protein can leak through your kidney's filters and into your urine (your pee). Protein in your urine is called proteinuria or albuminuria. It is a sign that your kidneys are damaged. Itcan be a sign that your kidneys may be damaged.
What is Albumin?
Albumin is an important kind of protein in your body. It is made by your liver and helps your body function normally. It helps build your bones and muscles, prevent infection and control the amount of fluid in your blood. Albumin is normally found in your blood, but if your kidneys are not working properly, it may end up in your urine.
What does protein in the urine mean?
A small amount of protein in your urine is normal, but too much can be a sign of kidney disease.
What are the symptoms of protein in the urine?
When your kidneys are mildly damaged and you have a small amount of protein in your urine, you will not notice any symptoms.
When your kidneys have more severe damage and you have high levels of protein in your urine, you may start to notice symptoms such as:
- Foamy, frothy or bubbly urine
- Swelling in your hands, feet, or around your eyes
- Peeing more often
- Feeling sick to your stomach or throwing up
- Muscle cramps at night
If you have any of these symptoms, talk to your doctor right away.
What causes protein in the urine?
Healthy kidneys remove extra fluid and waste products, which leave your body as urine. Your kidneys should not remove important nutrients, like protein, but if your kidneys are damaged, they may leak protein into your urine, causing high levels of protein in the urine, called proteinuria.
Doctors often use tests to check for protein in your urine as a way to determine if your kidneys are damaged.
Anyone can have protein in their urine, and in some cases, it can be caused by short-term issues, like dehydration (when you lose more fluid than you're taking in). Other times, it can be caused by chronic kidney disease. Your doctor will use urine tests to see if there is protein in your urine and may decide to repeat these tests to see if your proteinuria levels stay the same overtime.
What are the causes of long-term protein in the urine?
If your doctor finds high levels of protein in your urine in multiple tests over time (three months or longer), this can suggest a chronic health problem.
Health problems that may cause long-term high levels of protein in the urine include:
Risk factors that give you a higher chance of having kidney disease, such as:
- Diabetes
- High blood pressure
- Family history of kidney disease
- Preeclampsia (a type of high blood pressure that happens during pregnancy)
What are the causes of temporary protein in the urine?
If doctors find high levels of protein in your urine, but this doesn't happen over multiple tests, this may be because it was caused by a short-term issue.
Health problems that may cause a short-term high level of protein in the urine include:
- Dehydration (not having enough water in your body)
- High stress
- Being in very cold temperatures
- Fever
- High-intensity physical activity
How will I know if I have protein in my urine?
The only way to know if you have protein in your urine is to have a urine test. A common urine test that measures this is theurine albumin-to-creatinine ratio (uACR) test.
A uACR test compares the level of albumin to the level of creatinine (a waste product in your blood that comes from your muscles). A normal uACR is less than 30mg/g. If your uACR is 30 mg/g or higher, it can be a sign of kidney disease, and you should ask your doctor if there are other tests you should do. They may ask you to come back in a few months for another uACR test to see if the high level of protein is still there, which can indicate chronic kidney disease (CKD). A uACR test is generally done if you have risk factors for CKD, such as diabetes, high blood pressure, family history of kidney or other factors. If you do not have any risk factors, your doctor will generally not do any type of testing.
If you've been diagnosed with CKD, your doctor may recommend that you test your urine for protein regularly. This can help monitor the progression of your kidney disease.
Along with the uACR, your doctor will likely use the estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) blood test to check your kidney health and monitor your kidney function. The eGFR does not tell your doctor about your urine, but in combination with the uACR, can provide an accurate estimate of your kidney function.
Another test is the urine protein to creatine ratio test, or uPCR. This test measures all total proteins, including albumin, in your urine compared to the level of creatinine to determine how well your kidneys are working.
How do doctors treat protein in the urine?
Doctors treat the cause of protein in the urine:
If you have chronic kidney disease, your doctor will create a treatment plan based on your stage of CKD. This may include specific medicines or changes to what you eat. They may also recommend that you:
- Eat kidney-friendly foods
- Drink less alcohol
- Stop using tobacco
- Be active for at least 30 minutes most days of the week
If you have diabetes, your doctor will help create a treatment plan to help you stay on top of your blood sugar and treatments to protect your kidneys. They may recommend that you:
- Check your blood sugar often
- Take certain medicines
- Sodium-glucose cotransporter-2 or SGLT2 inhibitors, which are medicines that help lower blood sugar by allowing your kidneys to remove extra sugar from your body through urine.
- Glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists or GLP-1 RAs, which are a class of medicine that helps to lower your blood sugar by acting like a natural hormone (GLP-1), raises insulin levels when your blood sugar gets too high, slows digestions and makes you feel full longer.
- Insulin, which when prescribed as a medicine, replaces the hormone insulin in your body.
- Follow a diabetes-friendly eating plan
- Be active most days of the week
If you have high blood pressure, your doctor may prescribe a medicine to help lower your blood pressure and slow down damage to your kidneys. The types of medicine are:
- Angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors, which are a group of medicines that lower blood pressure. They widen your blood vessels, help your kidneys get rid of extra water and lower the hormones that raise blood pressure.
- Angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs), which are a group of medicines that lower blood pressure. They widen your blood vessels.
If you do not have diabetes or high blood pressure, your doctor may still prescribe an ACE inhibitor, an ARB, an SGLT2 or GLP-1 to slow down damage to your kidneys.
Your treatment may include a combination of these medicines. If you have protein in your urine, talk with your doctor about your monitoring and treatment options.
Drinking water will not treat the cause of protein in your urine unless you are dehydrated. Drinking water will dilute your urine (water down the amount of protein and everything else in your urine) but will not stop the cause of your kidneys leaking protein.
Do I need to eat less protein if I have proteinuria?
While it might make sense that having too much protein might be solved by eating less protein, this is not always true. Protein is an important nutrient for your body and eating less may not be helpful. Talk to your doctor about how much protein you eat and consider working with a dietitian to plan kidney-friendly meals. You can also visit Kidney Kitchen to learn more about kidney friendly eating and find kidney friendly recipes.
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