Too much protein?

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30more2go
30more2go Posts: 9 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I am new to MFP and just wondering about the protein goals it has set up for me. I eat a lot of lean protein and am over a good 50-75 grams of the MFP goals everyday. Am I eating too much protein?- I thought that lean protein was a major part of healty weight loss. Help!

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  • Sarauk2sf
    Sarauk2sf Posts: 28,072 Member
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    It is fine, and in fact good to go over. They are set really low on here and unless you have a medical condition that indicates otherwise should be treated as a minimum.

    Rule of thumb, if you are exercising, try to get at least 1g protein per lb/LBM.

    Fixed typo
  • jonnythan
    jonnythan Posts: 10,161 Member
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    That's actually on the low side. The general recommendation for people losing weight and exercising is 2 grams of protein per kg of bodyweight. For instance, I'm about 75 kg at 15% body fat, so my lean mass is about 64 kg. That gives me 128g protein per day. Some people eat more, sometimes much more. People who are really trying to preserve or grow muscle can sometimes eat up to 2 grams per lb of bodyweight, which is a bit extreme, but gives you a sense of where the upper end is.
  • Gallowmere1984
    Gallowmere1984 Posts: 6,626 Member
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    It is fine, and in fact good to go over. They are set really low on here and unless you have a medical condition that indicates otherwise should be treated as a minimum.

    Rule of thumb, if you are exercising, try to get at least 1g protein per g/LBM.

    This, with extra emphasis on the 'at least' part. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2129150/
    "It has been suggested that strength training athletes with greater experience become more efficient at protein utilization [27]. This contention was supported by Lemon et al. [27] who found that novice bodybuilders in the early stages of training were in negative nitrogen balance (-3.4 grams of N) when consuming 1.35 g·kg-1·day-1 and in positive nitrogen balance (+8.9 g) when consuming 2.62 grams of protein daily. Utilizing regression analysis and adding a safety buffer of 2 SD units, the protein needs to acquire zero nitrogen balance was calculated to be 1.6–1.7 g·kg-1·day-1."

    Basically, if you are new to training, you're likely to be better served by 1.6-1.7g per kg of lbm, if not higher.
  • amye004
    amye004 Posts: 32
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    If you want to eat more protein without it showing a negative, change your goals!

    Click on My Home
    Click on Goals
    Click on Change Goals Button on the bottom of the page
    Click custom.
    (I know the first two are right, a little fuzzy about the others but its easy enough tofollow from there).

    I increased my protein as it helps me stay full and I find I am less sore after workouts. Hopefully this helps!
  • Sarauk2sf
    Sarauk2sf Posts: 28,072 Member
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    It is fine, and in fact good to go over. They are set really low on here and unless you have a medical condition that indicates otherwise should be treated as a minimum.

    Rule of thumb, if you are exercising, try to get at least 1g protein per g/LBM.

    This, with extra emphasis on the 'at least' part. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2129150/
    "It has been suggested that strength training athletes with greater experience become more efficient at protein utilization [27]. This contention was supported by Lemon et al. [27] who found that novice bodybuilders in the early stages of training were in negative nitrogen balance (-3.4 grams of N) when consuming 1.35 g·kg-1·day-1 and in positive nitrogen balance (+8.9 g) when consuming 2.62 grams of protein daily. Utilizing regression analysis and adding a safety buffer of 2 SD units, the protein needs to acquire zero nitrogen balance was calculated to be 1.6–1.7 g·kg-1·day-1."

    Basically, if you are new to training, you're likely to be better served by 1.6-1.7g per kg of lbm, if not higher.

    Poop - it is meant to read per lb/LBM - I have a typo.

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