Nitrogen Balance

Nitrogen Balance is the ratio between the amount of nitrogen that is consumed by the body and that which is excreted from it.

Nitrogen plays an important role in the body, being the main component of proteins and nucleic acids. Nitrogen intake occurs mainly from food in the form of proteins and amino acids. Nitrogen is excreted from the body through urine in the form of urea, creatinine, uric acid and ammonia, as well as through sweat, feces and through the respiratory system.

With a positive nitrogen balance, the amount of nitrogen consumed exceeds the amount excreted. This occurs during periods of growth, recovery, pregnancy and lactation.

A negative nitrogen balance occurs when nitrogen excretion exceeds nitrogen intake. This condition can develop after injuries, surgical operations, during fasting, serious illnesses and stress, when the body's needs for nitrogen increase.

Maintaining nitrogen balance is important for the normal functioning of the body and its nutrition. Monitoring nitrogen balance is necessary in the treatment of various diseases and weakened conditions.

Nitrogen balance is the ratio between the amount of nitrogen consumed and the amount of nitrogen excreted from the body.

Nitrogen balance is important for maintaining health, as nitrogen is one of the main components of proteins, which are necessary for tissue growth and repair.

Nitrogen balance can be positive if the amount of nitrogen taken in exceeds the amount excreted; or negative if the amount of nitrogen excreted is greater than the amount absorbed.

Negative nitrogen balance develops in people after injury or surgery when their energy needs exceed their endogenous nitrogen sources. In this case, the body begins to use its protein reserves for energy, which can lead to muscle loss and a weakened immune system.

To maintain nitrogen balance, it is important to monitor your diet and consume enough protein. It is also necessary to monitor the level of nitrogen in the blood and consult a doctor if necessary.

***Nitrogen balance in the body***

Nitrogen balance is a condition that characterizes the balance between nitrogen intake from food and nitrogen removal from the body through the kidneys or intestines. Knowledge of nitrogen balance is important for proper nutrition and health control. Disturbances in this balance can lead to various diseases such as kidney disease, gout and others.

After *nitrogen* enters the body from food and chemical compounds, it is absorbed into the blood. The nitrogen then enters the liver, where the nitrogen is divided into three ureas. One urea becomes a byproduct of protein metabolism and is excreted through the intestines, while the other two are used to create new proteins in the body. The nitrogen is then converted into ammonia, which is excreted from the body in urine or feces.

Nitrogen balance is defined as the difference between nitrogen taken into the body and nitrogen excreted from the body. If the amount of nitrogen to be excreted is less than the amount of nitrogen taken in, the balance will be positive. This condition occurs in healthy people. Otherwise, the condition is called negative nitrogen balance. It develops in the presence of a negative balance of amino acids between the rate of formation of free amino acids and the rate of their hydrolysis.

When nitrogen balance is negative, the nitrogen excreted from the body exceeds the amount of nitrogen absorbed. This condition is called ***nitrogen deficiency*** and can be observed with long-term use of high-protein diets, indigestion, inflammatory disease of the gastrointestinal tract, liver pathology, congenital metabolic abnormalities, burns, and prolonged hunger strike. Also, the nitrogen balance often changes with pathological tissue proliferation and tumors. Negative nitrogen imbalance is manifested by symptoms of kidney failure: shortness of breath, swelling, itching, smell of urine, loss of appetite, general poor health, fatigue.

There are also nitrogen imbalances that cause ***anemia***, which occurs due to accelerated excretion of folic acid or vitamin B12. This occurs in cases of excess of large amounts of vegetarian food or a diet containing few calories. In children, anemia develops due to high meat consumption due to intolerance to animal products. Sometimes doctors find a correlation between positive nitrogen and positive