To much proteins....

BigdaddyJ

A lot of times i get to much proteins at the of the day ( sometimes as much as 1/3!!). Can I just igore this or should I cut somewhere? what does it do?

stevemcknight

1/3 of your calories coming from protein is certainly not a problem. I eat between 40-50% of my daily intake protein, 25-35% carb and 15-20 fat.

shughes6

I wouldn't be too concern. There is protein in a variety foods from dairy products, grains, meats/fish/poultry, dried beans and nuts, etc. As long as you don't have any condition affecting your kidneys, you should be fine. How much protein are you going over? I probably wouldn't worry.

Sayde, RD (Registered Dietitian)

samseed101

1/3 of your calories coming from protein is certainly not a problem. I eat between 40-50% of my daily intake protein, 25-35% carb and 15-20 fat.

Same here. 40% protein, 40% carbs, 20% fat. For my goals, protein is EXTREMELY important so I need to get that much each day.

EKarma

I usually run over on my protien, fiber, and sugar.. (apples have a lot of sugar!!):blushing:

BigdaddyJ

I wouldn't be too concern. There is protein in a variety foods from dairy products, grains, meats/fish/poultry, dried beans and nuts, etc. As long as you don't have any condition affecting your kidneys, you should be fine. How much protein are you going over? I probably wouldn't worry.

Sayde, RD (Registered Dietitian)

well today for exemple i was 32 over...

Raphi

Moi je pense pas que c'est grave: think of all the people who drink protein shakes and stuff... Protein feed your muscle don't they?

geicko

Too much protein can cause kidney problem. If you eat more then what you body can handle, the remaining is eliminated by the kidneys. Have your kidneys been recently checked ?

" High-protein diets like that of the popular Atkins diet may accelerate the loss of kidney function in people with early kidney problems. However, these diets do not seem to affect people with normal kidneys, suggests new research. The problem is, as many as 20 million Americans are at risk for reduced kidney functon but don't know it. Therefore, people on high-protein diets may be unknowingly damaging their kidneys."

That said, you would probably need to eat a whole lot more protein to get to the bad levels since your are on a restricted calories diet. If you are interested in calculating what number you should try not to go over, I really like the calculations suggested here: http://www.ehow.com/how_2084077_compute-protein-needs-using-lean.html

It gave myself a maximum of 105 g which is consistent with other recommendations given in % by

Raphi

Wow, Geiko you realy know your stuff :bigsmile: ! Any advice on artificial sweetners?

geicko

:laugh:

I was just concerned I would do me bad as I am taking a protein shake every morning before my workout (so that bring my daily intake quite high), so I investigated the subject a little bit I'm not a scientist and can only report on what I've read though... so call it an educated guess, no absolute truth

I have absolutely no idea what's good and bad regarding those artificial sweetners ! Seems the lobbies are too big on both sides to ever get to some real facts... As for myself, I don't mind consuming food that contains artificial sweeteners but have nothing to say to back it up except that's the way they do those products and I like them ! I cook with real sugar though, and just try to eat less of those sweet treats. I also have stevia at home, but since I drink my coffee black, I'm not even sure why I bought this :laugh:

SHBoss1673

I agree with geicko with some caveats (see below) but I'll add some additional info in here.

The protein topic drives me a little crazy sometimes. Many of you guys that have been on here a while know that I do lots and lots of research, one of the topics I have studied really deeply is protein metabolism.

Here's some facts about protein.

1) 75% of US citizens receive more than the required amount of protein they need to keep sufficient muscle health.
2) There is a commonly held belief that eating more protein will help you gain muscle. While it's true that you need ENOUGH complete amino acids to allow muscle repair and growth, Generally, unless you are actively trying to build large (and I mean body builder type large) amounts of muscle, the amount of protein for a person who exercises 3 to 4 times a weeks with cardio and anaerobic mixed workouts is only about 2 to 5% more than someone who is sedentary.
3) Protein is energy, it can be converted to fat just like carbohydrates and fats, if you eat extra the results will be the same.
4) eating protein immediately after a workout does very little for you unless you also eat the correct amount of carbohydrates.
5) all protein sources are not the same, eggs are the best source of protein, after that, white meat chicken is next. Many plant protein sources are incomplete and need to be paired with other sources to make complete proteins.
6) 40% or 50% protein won't help you build extra muscle, extensive studies show, anything above 35% is usually converted to fuel energy, this is true even for professional level muscle intense athletes. That isn't to say it's necessarilly dangerous either.
7) Protein synthesis happens in the liver, protein is broken into amino acids, some of which are used for building muscle, some of which are converted to carbohydrates and used as fuel or stored as fat, and some of which is converted to ammonia and excreted in urine (through the kidneys), yes excess protein does put extra stress on the kidneys and liver, although this is a very long term process, usually taking years of higher than normal protein intake to cause serious problems, kidney stones are one common side effect, but there are others that can occur.

Bottom line, after copious research, I feel that for most people on MFP 20% to 30% protein is plenty, very few of us need more to remain healthy and continue to gain muscle and lose fat.

deedeehawaii

Dr. John McDougall is a well known expert on dietary needs. His website states:
"To be on the safe side, the World Health Organization (WHO) recommends men, women, and children should get five percent of their calories from protein. WHO recommends pregnant women should get six percent."
"Americans are getting too much protein. The truth is, Americans consume six-to-10 times as much protein as they need. That excess protein overworks the liver and kidneys, causing both these organs to become enlarged and injured. Excess protein consumption causes the kidneys to pull large quantities of calcium from the body, causing bones to weaken and kidney stones to form."
http://www.drmcdougall.com/free_2e.html

In other words, too much protein leaches calcium from your body. :frown:

AwMyLoLo

Dr. John McDougall is a well known expert on dietary needs. His website states:
"To be on the safe side, the World Health Organization (WHO) recommends men, women, and children should get five percent of their calories from protein. WHO recommends pregnant women should get six percent."
"Americans are getting too much protein. The truth is, Americans consume six-to-10 times as much protein as they need. That excess protein overworks the liver and kidneys, causing both these organs to become enlarged and injured. Excess protein consumption causes the kidneys to pull large quantities of calcium from the body, causing bones to weaken and kidney stones to form."
http://www.drmcdougall.com/free_2e.html

In other words, too much protein leaches calcium from your body. :frown:

5%??? I dont know how that would even be possible...


"4) eating protein immediately after a workout does very little for you unless you also eat the correct amount of carbohydrates. "

I eat dinner directly after my daily workouts. Usually it is about 5 oz meat and vegetables... Is there something I should be doing differently? I'm in "Phase 1" of P90X and they recommend 50-30-20 Protein-Carbs-Fat... I don't hit that mark exactly but am usually getting 105-135 g protein per day and going over carbs and fat by around 20-30 grams based on that ratio, eating 1600-1800 calories per day... Whatchu think, Boss?? :smokin:

SHBoss1673

5%??? I dont know how that would even be possible...


"4) eating protein immediately after a workout does very little for you unless you also eat the correct amount of carbohydrates. "

I eat dinner directly after my daily workouts. Usually it is about 5 oz meat and vegetables... Is there something I should be doing differently? I'm in "Phase 1" of P90X and they recommend 50-30-20 Protein-Carbs-Fat... I don't hit that mark exactly but am usually getting 105-135 g protein per day and going over carbs and fat by around 20-30 grams based on that ratio, eating 1600-1800 calories per day... Whatchu think, Boss?? :smokin:

I think 5% protein is too low, I've never seen any credible medical nutrition guideline that recommends anything below 10%, the WHO is a special case remember, they talk about the minimums people need to survive, not optimum levels.

On the other hand, I think 50% protein is way crazy high. Absolutely no need for it unless you are using it as a fuel source (ketogenic diets). I've seen the P90X nutritional guidelines before, I never understood why they went so extreme on the protein though, do they have any reasoning for it? I mean, the human body is designed to use carbohydrates as it's fuel source, that's what the body is good at, that's what it's most efficient at, that's what will allow you to shape your body into a fine tuned engine. Using protein is possible (ketogenic) simply as an emergency measure, left over from the days when a human had no choice in what they ate, if a dead animal was all they could eat for a week, the body made due, it wasn't as efficient, but it kept them alive. IMHO, if you are pretty sure you don't have any kind of an aversion to carbs, generally between 45% and 60% carbs with generally between 20 and 30% protein is a pretty decent mix IMHO (generally keeping fat between 15 and 25%), personally I do 45/30/25 carbs/protein/fat, but that's because I'm actively trying to gain muscle mass, for most people trying to sustain or lower their weight protein somewhere around 25% and carbs somewhere around 50% is usually fine (following most conventional wisdom).

There are specific reasons for people to do low carb diets, but personally, after doing quite a bit of research, I feel that weight loss should NOT be a reason unless you have some kind of medical condition that causes carbohydrates not to be processed as they normally would be in the body (such as a metabolic condition, or an allergy to wheat or gluten...etc.)