Too Much Protein

sylviablakely

Hi Everyone
Just wondered what your thoughts were on eating too much protein each day. My calories are never over and I never go over on carbs, fats and sugar in fact I am always way under on these but.....my protein count is always over. Personally I don't see this as a problem as I am following all the other rules and my weight is going down but I wondered what others think about this. Also the protein I am eating is mainly from chicken and fish (hardly ever eat red meat).:drinker:

RachelHancock

I think MFP overestimates how many carbs you need - have aplay with the settings, initially work out your weight in lbs then change the ratios of protein/carbs / fat until you get this number to match the number of grams of protein per day.

stick with that for a week then tweak as you see fit

sunshine79

Being over on protein is not a problem, it's god for burning fat and building muscle. Customise your settings to increase your protein intake. :drinker:

Well done on your loss so far

NightOwl1

Over protein = good. There is really no such thing as too much protein (obviously, there's a limit, but it's not one that many people will ever reach)

Macacadopai

I'm almost always over my protein goal due to the fact that only one of my shakes have 22g and the goal is 40 something? Too low for me since I work out. I don't worry about the protein too much as long as the fat,carb and sugar levels stay put

Sasha_Bear

I'm always over my protein, but I don't think there is a such thing as to much protein. Mine is mostly from chicken and nuts so I don't see how it can be a bad thing.

ChessRonin

Over protein = good. There is really no such thing as too much protein (obviously, there's a limit, but it's not one that many people will ever reach)

Unfortunately, this isn't true. If you get all of your protein from whole foods (not supplements), then it probably is true, but if you're using protein supplements, you should know that you can have too much.

What happens if you have too much? Well, if you over-ingest by a lot in a short period of time, then you could have gastrointestinal issues. But aside from that, you should be aware that any protein that your body does not use is excreted, and this adds to the workload of the liver and kidneys, which are already handling the increased load of by-products from protein metabolism which they must process and excrete. You can see why this is potentially a problem.

Perhaps more concerning, however, is that in order to digest and metabolize protein your body uses calcium. If there is not enough calcium in your diet, your body will leech calcium from your bones. I don't think I need to elaborate on why this is a bad thing.

There are other potentially negative effects from eating too much protein, but the point is that you should not just cram as much protein as you can into your body; figure out how much you think that you need, and eat that much. As a rule of thumb, however, never go over 1gram of protein per pound of bodyweight per day. For most men and women, up to 60 grams of protein per day is plenty.

http://www.cdc.gov/nutrition/everyone/basics/protein.html

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/high-protein-diets/AN00847