Too much Protein?

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stepgirl1227
stepgirl1227 Posts: 7 Member
in Food and Nutrition
A question for the very active, weigh-lifting ladies.

How many grams of protein per day? What is the maximum grams of protein per day based on weight?

I am 5'6'' 118lb. Walk about 18-20K steps per day. Weight lift 5x per week.

I currently eat 120-160g protein per day easily and could do more. I'm wondering if safe/beneficial to eat more per day???

Would love to hear thoughts from experienced Macro counters. Thank you in advance!

Replies

  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,867 Member
    edited February 2017
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    I shoot for anywhere between 0.6 - 0.8 grams per Lb of body weight...I'm more at the high end in a cut and bring it down a bit in maintenance. The high end works out to be roughly 1 gram per Lb of LBM for me.

    Beyond 1 gram per Lb of LBM, you're just making expensive glucose and there really isn't any particular benefit. This link sums up my thoughts for the most part...

    http://bayesianbodybuilding.com/the-myth-of-1glb-optimal-protein-intake-for-bodybuilders/

    Except in a cut I base my targets around the fact the I'm primarily a cyclist, not a strength athlete even though I do lift...but I lift primarily to support my cycling and to crosstrain.
  • lseed87
    lseed87 Posts: 1,105 Member
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    100-220 is what I'd suggest
  • robs_ready
    robs_ready Posts: 1,488 Member
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    lseed87 wrote: »
    100-220 is what I'd suggest

    For a lady 220g of protein is way more than necessary.

    As a general room of thumb, 0.5 to 1grams for every pound of body weight.
  • ahoy_m8
    ahoy_m8 Posts: 3,053 Member
    edited February 2017
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    It's a good question and I don't know the answer. I suspect the "too much" line is different for everyone. More protein than you need for muscle growth (or sparing, depending on your goal) isn't beneficial, but does have risks. Aside from being expensive, "too much" protein risks constipation short term and kidney stones long term.

    Also, for a long time, there was a --now disproven-- belief that "too much" protein increased osteoporosis risk. It was based on observations of increased serum calcium in study subjects who ate more protein. The hypothesis was protein promoted calcium to leech out of bones (where else could it come from?). However, subsequently it was discovered that protein increases calcium absorption from food, and that accounted for the increase in serum calcium, not "bone leeching."

    Personally, I'm same as your stats with half the steps and I shoot for 100g daily on average. That works out to about 0.9g/pound body weight for me. I generally agree with erring on the high side, but I don't want kidney problems be what alerts me to the fact I've crossed the "too much" line. Good luck, OP!

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