metaboliqBlood test explained
Kidney function test (KFT): creatinine, eGFR and uric acid ranges
Included in the ₹1,799 home panel: collected at home where your pincode is served, and read by a doctor.
Start my free checkA kidney function test shows how well the kidneys are filtering the blood. It is quiet, routine and easy to skip, and it is one of the checks a doctor wants before recommending more protein or harder training.
What it is
What the Kidney function test measures
Creatinine is a waste product of muscle that healthy kidneys clear steadily, so its level in the blood reflects filtering. From creatinine, age and sex the laboratory calculates eGFR, the estimated glomerular filtration rate — how many millilitres of blood the kidneys clear each minute, scaled to an average body size.
Most kidney panels add urea (or blood urea nitrogen), uric acid and the main blood salts — sodium, potassium and chloride. Urine albumin, a separate urine test, shows whether protein is leaking, which is often the earliest sign of kidney strain from high sugar or blood pressure.
Why it matters
Why it matters for weight and metabolism
Excess weight, high blood pressure and raised blood sugar are the leading drivers of chronic kidney disease in India, and early kidney disease has no symptoms. Checking before a plan starts means the plan is written for the kidneys you actually have.
It matters practically, too. Nutrition plans built to protect muscle usually raise protein, and training raises creatinine turnover; with normal kidney function both are well tolerated, while reduced function changes what a doctor and dietitian will recommend. Uric acid also tends to run higher with insulin resistance, sugary drinks and alcohol.
Reading the result
How a result is usually read
Standard reference points, not a reading of anybody's own report. The interval your laboratory prints is the one that applies, and a doctor reads the number beside the rest of the panel and your history.
- eGFR 90 or above
- Normal filtration, provided there is no other sign of kidney damage.
- eGFR 60 to 89
- Mildly reduced; common with age and often not significant on its own.
- eGFR below 60 for more than three months
- Meets the definition of chronic kidney disease, which a doctor investigates further.
- Creatinine
- Read against muscle mass: a muscular person runs higher, a slight older adult lower.
Sources: KDIGO 2012 clinical practice guideline for chronic kidney disease; CKD-EPI 2021 equation for eGFR. Your laboratory's printed interval applies.
At home
How it is collected at home
A phlebotomist from a partnered NABL-accredited laboratory draws one blood sample at your address, in a morning slot, and the laboratory reports the results to the doctor who reads your panel. Home collection depends on your pincode, which is checked before you pay.
Fasting is not required for the kidney test itself; it is drawn from the same morning sample as the rest of the panel.
A large meat meal the night before, creatine supplements, heavy exercise or not drinking enough water can each nudge creatinine or urea upward. A normal day and ordinary water intake before the draw give the fairest reading.
The Kidney function test is part of the core of every Metaboliq panel, whatever else a doctor adds.
The limit
Its limits, stated plainly
eGFR is an estimate, less accurate at the extremes of body size and muscle mass. One raised creatinine is not a diagnosis: kidney disease is defined over three months, and a doctor repeats the test and adds urine albumin before concluding anything.
Read beside it
The tests a doctor reads with this one
A body is read as a whole. These are the results this one is most often read against.
- Liver function test
What a liver function test measures — ALT, AST, GGT, ALP, bilirubin and albumin — what raised enzymes can mean for fatty liver, and what affects the result.
- HbA1c test
What an HbA1c test measures, the normal, prediabetes and diabetes ranges, what can skew the number, and how it is collected at home with no fasting.
- CBC test
What a complete blood count (CBC) shows — haemoglobin, red cell size, white cells and platelets — how anaemia is defined, and why it sits in a metabolic panel.
Conditions it helps a doctor read
Questions
Questions people ask about the Kidney function test
Is a higher-protein diet safe for my kidneys?
For adults with normal kidney function, research has generally found moderately higher protein intakes well tolerated. For reduced function the picture changes, which is exactly why kidney function is checked before a plan raises protein.
What does eGFR mean on my report?
It is an estimate of how much blood your kidneys filter per minute, calculated from creatinine, age and sex. Around 90 or above is normal; values below 60 that persist for three months meet the definition of chronic kidney disease.
Why is uric acid included with a kidney test?
The kidneys clear most uric acid, so it is often reported with kidney markers. High levels are linked with gout and kidney stones and tend to rise with insulin resistance, alcohol and sugary drinks.
One next step
Have it read by a doctor, with the rest of your panel
Health assessment: ₹1,799. Blood test, 45+ metabolic markers, Collected at your home, A doctor reviews your results, A decision on whether this is right for you, A nutritionist on your care team, Health Coach, A personalised plan around day 3. A registered doctor reads every result against your history and writes your plan.