Kidney markers
Low eGFR Levels: What a Number Under 60 Means
Reviewed by a qualified clinician · analysed at UKAS-accredited UK labs (ISO 15189)
Last reviewed September 20266 min read
Every Helvy guide is written by our health editors, then checked by a qualified clinician before it goes live and re-checked as the science moves. We name clinical roles, not individuals, until each reviewer has agreed to be credited publicly. This is wellness guidance to help you understand your own data, not a diagnosis.
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Under 60 is the figure UK labs treat as low. Between 60 and 89 is classed as normal on its own. The UK Kidney Association says a single reading of 51 to 59 needs a second, confirming test before anyone calls it kidney disease. eGFR is a calculation, and several ordinary things push it down.
Not sure which markers you need? Build your test →Your report says eGFR 57. The printed range starts at 60. Nobody has rung you, and you have now read the word kidney forty times.
Here is the part the report leaves out. eGFR is not measured. It is worked out from another number, and that makes it easier to knock about than most lines on the page.
1. What is eGFR, in plain words?
It is an estimate of how fast your kidneys filter your blood. The e stands for estimated, and it earns that letter.
No machine watches your kidneys work. A lab measures creatinine, the waste your muscles make, then feeds it into a formula with your age and sex. What comes out is eGFR.
“Glomerular Filtration Rate (GFR) is the standard measure of kidney function.”
So your eGFR is only ever as steady as your creatinine. Our guides to the eGFR blood test and creatinine levels by age cover the marker underneath it.
2. What counts as a low eGFR in the UK?
Under 60 is the line. Above it, the number is usually left alone.
That surprises people sitting at 72, because 72 looks low next to a healthy young adult figure of 100 or more. It is not treated that way.
“an eGFR of 60 to 89 ml/min/1.73m² should be classified as normal in the absence of any other evidence of CKD.”
eGFR chart: the bands UK services use
| Your eGFR | Band | How it reads |
|---|---|---|
| 90 or more | G1 | Normal filtering. |
| 60 to 89 | G2 | Normal on its own. |
| 45 to 59 | G3a | Mildly to moderately reduced. |
| 30 to 44 | G3b | Moderately to severely reduced. |
| 15 to 29 | G4 | Severely reduced. |
| Under 15 | G5 | Kidney failure. |
One thing to unlearn. An eGFR of 57 does not mean you have 57% of a kidney left. People read it that way constantly, and it is the single biggest cause of a bad night after a routine blood test.
The figure is a rate. It estimates how many millilitres of blood your kidneys clean each minute, adjusted for body size. Healthy young adults clear well over 100. Losing some of that speed is not the same as losing that share of the organ.
Those bands describe filtering speed. They are not a verdict on you. A reader at 57 and a reader at 22 are in very different places, and both sit below 60. Our guide to blood test reference ranges explains why a printed band is a population average.
3. Why does one low reading settle nothing?
Because the guidance says so, in as many words. A number just under 60 is a prompt to check again, not a finding.
“a single eGFR of 51-59 ml/min/1.73m² in an individual who has had a previous eGFR of 60 ml/min/1.73m² or has not previously had an eGFR reported should not trigger a diagnosis of CKD without a confirmatory eGFR.”
Read that as permission to breathe. If 57 is your first ever eGFR, the guidance does not want a label hung on it yet.
Kidney function is also judged over time, not on one morning. The picture that matters is whether the number is falling, holding, or was never as low as it looked. Our kidney function test guide walks through the whole set.
4. What lowers eGFR that is nothing to do with your kidneys?
Four things, and the first one is dinner.
- Meat before the test. The UK Kidney Association advises that adults should not eat any meat in the 12 hours before a blood test for eGFR.
- Muscle. Creatinine comes from muscle, so a large or very well trained person makes more of it. More creatinine, lower calculated eGFR.
- Being short of fluid. A dry morning concentrates the blood and lifts creatinine.
- Age. Filtering slows across a lifetime. A figure in the seventies is ordinary at 70 and unusual at 30.
Creatine supplements deserve their own mention, because the name confuses everybody. Our guide on whether creatine raises creatinine covers what that does to the sum.
The same traps catch the markers beside it. See dehydration and blood test results and eGFR levels by age, which shows the spread across the decades.
5. What should you ask your GP?
Three questions get you further than another hour of reading.
- Have I had an eGFR before? An old result turns one number into a direction.
- Should this be repeated? Ask when, and whether to skip meat beforehand.
- Has my urine been checked? A urine albumin test asks a different question from a blood test, and kidney health is assessed on both.
Some things need a GP sooner rather than at the next review. Much less urine than usual, swelling in the ankles or face, or blood in the urine are all worth same-day advice. A full blood count is often run at the same time, since anaemia travels with reduced kidney function.
A blood test measures the marker. Only a qualified clinician can put it beside your history and say what it means for you.
6. Which blood test reports eGFR?
Helvy’s Thyroid & Vital Organs panel (£159) reports eGFR with creatinine and urea, plus liver markers, thyroid markers and a full cholesterol profile. It is the only one of our panels that carries eGFR.
One honest limit. No home blood test includes a urine sample, and urine albumin is part of how kidney health is assessed properly. Your GP holds that half.
Not sure which fits? The build-my-test tool walks you through it, and the metabolic health hub collects our kidney and organ guides.
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See eGFR, creatinine and urea on one report
Helvy’s home blood tests report the kidney markers as a set, so no single number has to carry the story alone. Samples are processed by UKAS-accredited UK labs.
Frequently asked questions
What is a low eGFR in the UK?
Under 60 ml/min/1.73m² is the figure treated as low. The UK Kidney Association classes 60 to 89 as normal where there is no other evidence of kidney disease.
Is an eGFR of 57 something to worry about?
It sits just under the line, and the guidance asks for a second test rather than a conclusion. A single reading of 51 to 59 should not trigger a diagnosis without a confirmatory eGFR. Take it to your GP and ask whether to repeat it.
Does eating meat affect an eGFR result?
Yes. The UK Kidney Association advises adults not to eat meat in the 12 hours before a blood test for eGFR, because it lifts creatinine and the formula reads that as slower filtering.
Can muscle make eGFR look low?
It can. Creatinine is waste from muscle, so a heavily built or well trained person tends to run higher creatinine and a lower calculated eGFR without anything being wrong.
Does eGFR fall naturally with age?
Filtering slows across a lifetime, so a figure that would be unusual at 30 is ordinary at 70. Our eGFR levels by age guide shows the spread across the decades.
Can a low eGFR go back up?
A reading pushed down by fluid loss, a big meat meal or a hard training week often reads higher on a repeat. Whether a genuinely reduced filtering rate changes is a question for your GP, who can see the trend and the cause.
Related guides
eGFR Levels by Age UK
What the number usually reads at each decade.
eGFR Blood Test UK
How the estimate is made, and from what.
High Creatinine Levels UK
The marker the eGFR sum is built from.
High Urea Levels UK
The third kidney number, and what it adds.
Kidney Function Test UK
What a full kidney check actually covers.
Dehydration and Blood Test Results
How much one dry morning can move a result.
Related panels
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