Too much protien?

If you dont exercise then protein will be broken down into fat. Not as quickly as pure fat, obviously, but it'll happen. If you exercise regularly I wouldnt worry about going over your intended protein intake a little bit.

If your overeating sure, but going over the protein number MFP sets for you is no big deal and you should probably be eating more protein as it is. Eating more calories than you burn a day will make you put fat on.. not just eating more protein.

How much protein are we talking about?

"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

Protein is important and it's not going to get broken down into fat while you are at a deficit...actually, when you're at a deficit it's even that much more important to get your protein to preserve lean mass. MFP's default macro setting are pretty high carb and low protein/fat. You can manually set your macro goals if it bothers you...I started with a 50/25/25 and am now doing a 40/30/30. You should shoot for .8-1G per Lb of lean body mass...for me, that's around 140 grams.

You need to work out your Macros

http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=121703981&page=1

You should be eating 1g of Protein per lb of Lean Body Mass

I consume roughly 200g a day.

MFP sets everyone's protein to like 50g which is way too low

I'm supposed to be on a high protein, high fat diet.... told to drink LOADS of water... at least 4 L

I think like everything else, you're going to find a multitude of studies that all contradict one another. I don't worry too much about going over protein. I'm probably one of the few that doesn't worry too much about sodium either - but that's because I drink 12-15 glasses of water a day and even on days I go over, I don't see any significant issues.

Is there a way to change the macros goals in mfp?

You need to work out your Macros

http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=121703981&page=1

You should be eating 1g of Protein per lb of Lean Body Mass

I consume roughly 200g a day.

MFP sets everyone's protein to like 50g which is way too low

Its actually 1g per 1kg of body wieght...not 1lb, thats just a marketing scheme used by supplement companies to persaude you to use more of their product.

Recent research shows that the RDA doesn't appear to meet the needs of exercising adults. One of the top researchers in this field, Dr Peter Lemon, stated in a recent review paper that, "the RDA for those engaged in strength training should be about 1.7 - 1.8 grams of protein per kilogram of body mass per day". Dr Lemon came to this conclusion after citing several studies (Fern, 1991, Tarnopolsky et al., 1992) which used amounts of protein ranging from 1.3 - 3.3 grams of protein per kilogram of bodyweight.

At Kent University researchers tested 3 different groups of people:


- On a low protein diet which was 0.9 grams of protein per kilogram of bodyweight.

- Another group eating 1.4 grams of protein per kilogram of bodyweight.

- A group eating 2.4 grams of protein per kilogram of bodyweight.

Both sedentary and strength training groups were involved. The results showed that 1.4 grams resulted in protein synthesis while there were no changes in the low protein group and, finally, the group that ingested 2.4 grams of protein did not see any more increased protein synthesis than the 1.4 grams of protein group


So with that said, it is actually nearer to 0.8g/lb of bodyweight or 1.7g/kg of bodyweight, therefore making 1g per LBM even more correct.

and by following your calculations a 200lb (90kg) person should be eating only 90g of protein instead of the recommended 153g by Dr Peter Lemon?

Granted 1.7g/hg of bodyweight is aimed at strength training people, but pretty much everyone who wants to look good on here is doing strength training anyway.

If you dont exercise then protein will be broken down into fat. Not as quickly as pure fat, obviously, but it'll happen. If you exercise regularly I wouldnt worry about going over your intended protein intake a little bit.

Where did you get this information? Excess calories are turned into fat. Dietary fat also doesn't equal body fat.

Going over the default protien settings for MFP is fine as they are set pretty low. Protein keeps you feel full, longer... it helps muscle repair after workouts... it helps to build muscles/preserve muscle.

I believe the only time extra protein is harmful is when you take in far too much which can cause kidney stones... however I could be wrong so if I am someone please correct me.