Protein- how much is "too much"

americangirlok

Is it bad to be under my calorie target but over the protein target? Like today the calorie target was 1590, and then I earned 330 in exercise and wound up with 1459 calories. The protein target was 72 and I wound up with 84. Since I've been tracking for about 2 weeks I'm noticing that there are several days I'm over the protein target. Is that bad?

BarackMeLikeAHurricane

MFP sets protein too low. To set your macros, check out this link:

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/819055-setting-your-calorie-and-macro-targets

Also, it's hard to have too much protein.

"It has been observed that the human liver cannot safely metabolise much more than 285-365 g of protein per day (for an 80 kg person), and human kidneys are similarly limited in their capability to remove urea (a byproduct of protein catabolism) from the bloodstream. Exceeding that amount results in excess levels of amino acids, ammonia (hyperammonemia), and/or urea in the bloodstream, with potentially fatal consequences,[1] especially if the person switches to a high-protein diet without giving time for the levels of his or her hepatic enzymes to upregulate. Since protein only contains 4 kcal/gram, and a typical adult human requires in excess of 1900 kcal to maintain the energy balance, it is possible to exceed the safe intake of protein if one is subjected to a high-protein diet with little or no fat or carbohydrates. However, given the lack of scientific data on the effects of high-protein diets, and the observed ability of the liver to compensate over a few days for a shift in protein intake, the US Food and Nutrition Board does not set a Tolerable Upper Limit nor upper Acceptable Macronutrient Distribution Range for protein.[2] Furthermore, medical sources such as UpToDate[3] do not include listings on this topic."

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rabbit_starvation

americangirlok

Apparently it sets my total calories too low? At 1.5 lbs/week it's giving me about 1550, but the calculators you linked at a 30% reduction is about 200 calories per day higher. Super confusing!