Protein - why is it limited?

TriedEverything

Hi,

This may well have cropped up on the forum before, but I am just curious as to why we are given a limit on the amount of protein we eat each day? I wouldn't have thought it mattered - and protein-based foods are not usually the ones that people binge on! I seem to have gone over mine a few times, which surprises me as I think I tend to eat more carbs than anything (although obviously I'm trying to cut down on those at the moment).

I always thought high-protein diets - such as Atkins for instance - were supposed to be the best for fast weight loss (although not necessarily that good for general nutrition purposes).

Anybody have any thoughts on this?

sjcply

I go over on protein everyday. You can go in and manually adjust your percentages to eat more protein.

go to my home goals then change goals, then u can manually change your goals. just up your percentage on protein and hit save

Jorra

If you limit calories, you have to limit carbs, protein, and fat. Calories come from these three sources, so you have to draw a line somewhere.

If you want a higher protein goal, you can change your ratios of carbs/protein/fat in your settings.

bcattoes

I believe they use the USDA recommended daily allowance. If you want to do a specialized diet like Adkins you can go in and modify it to fit the diet's recommendations.

SergeantSunshine_reused

Yea just for the sake of having ratios you cant have on unlimited xD

Protein see it more as a goal, not a limit

HoopFire5602

You should be eating 1 gram per lb of body weight. I always go over and then some because I lift weights heavily and do a lot of aerial work.

Egger29

It's not Limited. The default Settings for MFP are 55% Carb, 30% Fat and 15% Protein. For the majority, 15% is quite low on the proteins, so that is easily changed by setting up Custom Goals.

What you change it do all depends on your lifestyle and routine.

Cheers!

EuroDriver

i eat like 100+ extra protein everyday.. MFP says i should have like 120-140 id have no muscle left

Espressocycle

I think it's just the way the program works. Green until you get enough, then red. Theoretically, they could make certain things like protein or potassium turn yellow until you reached some toxicity point, but they don't.

paintitblack

Too much protein is actually bad for you! Obviously, one needs sufficient protein to survive and a lot of people worry about not getting enough. Research suggests, however, that people very rarely are under fed when it comes to protein but a mass percentage of people go over.

I think a lot of people take the whole "you can never have enough a good thing" saying when it comes to protein, which is the wrong way to go about it! If you're worried about the protein levels on here, they are well within the healthy range. It shouldn't matter too much if you go over though, they seem to be smack bang in the middle of how much you need per day. Just don't eat more than double.

kmelski

Google for "eat too much protein" and you'll find a few articles detailing what can happen if you go overboard. Eating too much protein is apparently associated with kidney problems and possibly diabetes as well.

http://www.webmd.com/diet/news/20000425/protein-popularity

http://www.cleveland.com/healthfit/index.ssf/2011/01/eating_too_much_protein_is_ris.html

ATT949

You should be eating 1 gram per lb of body weight. I always go over and then some because I lift weights heavily and do a lot of aerial work.

Runner's World recommends 0.9 to 1.0 grams of protein per kilogram, not per pound.

I haven't checked any other source.

[time passes]

I Googled "how many grams of protein do I need" and checked about half a dozen responses. Yes, some of them were crap sites but they all reported approximately, 1 gm/kg not 1 gm/lb (2.2 pounds to the KG).

Could you cite your source that say that you should be eating that level of protein.

ATT949

I used 50/25/25 for protein/carbs/fat when I was losing weight. It worked well for me. I lost 95 pounds in seven months and felt hungry only a few times.

When I switched to running, I found that in the running world, my diet should consist of 25/50/25 with some folks going as high as 60% carbs.

A few years back, I asked my GP about nutrition and carbs specifically. He looked at my then 250 pound body and asked if I was planning on running a marathon. When I told him I wasn't, he replied, somewhat tongue in cheek, "Well, you don't need carbs then."

He assured me that I did need some carbs but he advised me to stay away from carbs and get more of my calories from proteins. Per your comment, one doesn't hear of people becoming obese eating protein. Maybe there's something to that, eh?

cbirdso

You should be eating 1 gram per lb of body weight. I always go over and then some because I lift weights heavily and do a lot of aerial work.

Correction - You should be eating 1 gram for each KILOGRAM of body weight.

TriedEverything

Thanks everybody - you are a very knowledgeable bunch of people!

I didn't realise you could alter those settings on MFP. I don't think I am going over by that much (not enough to cause any damage - I hope!)

I would think that if you are eating a limited number of calories (few enough to lose weight) you would be unlikely to be eating a vast amount of protein ( as long as you were including a variety of foods in your diet - which I generally do).

Thanks for the advice on ratios too, which I wasn't aware of.