Is Too Much Protein Bad?

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I am consistently over my protein limit that was set by MFP. Sometimes by twice. I only started noticing recently. Is this bad? Will it hinder my weightloss or effect me in some other way?
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  • bgelliott
    bgelliott Posts: 610 Member
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    It's not bad at all but you need to make sure you drink plenty of water because protein is harder for the body to break down than carbs and fats. It will not hinder your weight loss, if anything, it will help!
  • synthomarsh
    synthomarsh Posts: 189 Member
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    I have seen some survivor man shows where if ALL you eat is protein you can get protein poising buuuut thats like if your in survival death starvation mode so I am sure your fine, Its actually better for weight loss it takes more cals to convert protein into energy than the other macros so keep it up!
  • TimeForMe99
    TimeForMe99 Posts: 309
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    The protein level is a minimum required to sustain your body. A more realistic value would be 1 gram per pound of lean body mass, or about 100 grams for a woman on average. You are on the small side so maybe push that down a bit. The offset would be to carbs.
  • golfinlynn
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    Yes, too much animal protein is harmful to you. It can lead to bone loss, kidney damage, kidney stones, arthritis, cancer promotion, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and the list goes on. To achieve optimal health, a whole foods, plant based diet should be followed. An article on this topic can be found here: http://www.drmcdougall.com/misc/2004nl/040100puproteinoverload.htm
  • SabrinaLily
    SabrinaLily Posts: 121
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    Personally, MFP says I should have 45 grams of protein a day but my personal goal is to crest 100. It's easy to do and still have a HUGE variety of food. I have Special K's high protein cereal for breakfast, some sort of chicken (salad, sandwich) for lunch, some type of meat for dinner and usually a 50 calorie egg-white snack somewhere in the day. That gets me my 100 grams and leaves plenty of room for carbs and such.
  • ndj1979
    ndj1979 Posts: 29,139 Member
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    Yes, too much animal protein is harmful to you. It can lead to bone loss, kidney damage, kidney stones, arthritis, cancer promotion, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and the list goes on. To achieve optimal health, a whole foods, plant based diet should be followed. An article on this topic can be found here: http://www.drmcdougall.com/misc/2004nl/040100puproteinoverload.htm

    I think mcdougal (the guy who wrote the article) is a mcdouche....I read an article on simply shredded the pretty much debunks all of this claims..
  • thisismeraw
    thisismeraw Posts: 1,264 Member
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    Yes, too much animal protein is harmful to you. It can lead to bone loss, kidney damage, kidney stones, arthritis, cancer promotion, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and the list goes on. To achieve optimal health, a whole foods, plant based diet should be followed. An article on this topic can be found here: http://www.drmcdougall.com/misc/2004nl/040100puproteinoverload.htm

    A diet filled with animal protein can be just as healthy as a plant based diet. Too much protein is only bad if you have kidney.

    Optimal health can be achieved with a diet that is plant based, vegan, vegetarian or one that includes animal protein. Of course all those can be unhealthy diets as well.
  • Wetcoaster
    Wetcoaster Posts: 1,788 Member
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    Excerllent read with facts....

    http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/nutrition/protein-controversies.html



    Here is the summary......

    Summary

    A number of health risks have been attributed to the consumption of high protein intakes, this includes potential problems with the kidneys, bone health, metabolic acidosis and certain types of cancers. For the most part, these risks tend to be extremely overstated.

    While high protein intakes may cause problems when there is pre-existing kidney disease, no research suggests that high protein intakes cause kidney damage. While there is potential for high protein intakes to cause body calcium loss, this appears to only occur when calcium intake is insufficient in the first place; high protein intakes with high calcium intakes improves bone health. Ensuring sufficient vegetable intake along with a high protein intake is a key aspect not only to bone health but to preventing a small metabolic acidosis which may occur when large amounts of protein are consumed by themselves.

    Concerns over heart disease and cancer are more related to the high fat content of many cuts of meat, along with other nutritional factors such as insufficient fruit and vegetable intake that contributes. Other lifestyle factors that typically accompany the consumption of higher fat cuts of meat are also a likely contributor to the overall health risk. The consumption of lean cuts of meat has actually been shown to improve overall health; both athletic and diets for general health should ideally contain plenty of fruits and vegetables for this reason.
  • SlimSumday
    SlimSumday Posts: 379 Member
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    Thanks all! I have been trying to eat properly with vegetables, fruit, fish and either vegetarian versions of meat or low fat meat. It's amazing that protein can be found in so many foods!
  • DatMurse
    DatMurse Posts: 1,501 Member
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    Yes, too much animal protein is harmful to you. It can lead to bone loss, kidney damage, kidney stones, arthritis, cancer promotion, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and the list goes on. To achieve optimal health, a whole foods, plant based diet should be followed. An article on this topic can be found here: http://www.drmcdougall.com/misc/2004nl/040100puproteinoverload.htm


    Your right it causes problems with your body and damage









    If you have kidney problems and other underlying medical conditions.


    thats like me saying fat is bad because people with no gall bladder cant process it
    carbs are bad because diabetics cant produce insulin
    protein is bad because people with kidney problems cant filter it properly

    better yet lets all drink water.
    oh wait that causes water toxicity.
    lets not drink it
  • ashleybreuer
    ashleybreuer Posts: 51 Member
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    I'm female and eat ALOT of protein. It's rare that i've ever under 130 a day for my protein consumption. But my macros are 35/35/30 and I have a genetic disorder called Gilbert's Syndrome that requires a higher protein diet. I haven't had any side effects (that I know of) consuming such a high amount for only being 5'2" and weighing 121 lbs.
  • Ramberta
    Ramberta Posts: 1,312 Member
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    I am consistently over my protein limit that was set by MFP. Sometimes by twice. I only started noticing recently. Is this bad? Will it hinder my weightloss or effect me in some other way?

    Well, your protein goal is very low. If you go into your manual macronutrient goal settings instead of letting MFP calculate it for you, you can change your ratios. My goal for a 2,000 calorie diet is approximately 130g of protein, minimum. I always struggle to break 100, lol.

    Keep up what you're doing; if anything, you'll probably have to start eating even more protein if you adjust your ratios.
  • chutch93
    chutch93 Posts: 9
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    I have seen some survivor man shows where if ALL you eat is protein you can get protein poising buuuut thats like if your in survival death starvation mode so I am sure your fine, Its actually better for weight loss it takes more cals to convert protein into energy than the other macros so keep it up!
    you don't get "protein poisoning" you get ketosis.
  • krhn
    krhn Posts: 781 Member
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    Fom what you have said... Definitely not bad - it's good as it insures you can protect your muscles from being used up!
  • mumtoonegirl
    mumtoonegirl Posts: 586 Member
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    I eat about 120 a day, I strength train and need it. I do drink a gallon of water a day to keep myself flushed.
  • mikejholmes
    mikejholmes Posts: 291 Member
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    Yes, too much protein is bad, but you're nowhere near having 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.

    From Wikipedia -- Rabbit Starvation
  • DatMurse
    DatMurse Posts: 1,501 Member
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    Yes, too much protein is bad, but you're nowhere near having 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.

    From Wikipedia -- Rabbit Starvation

    -old observational study
    -people ate nothing but pure protein
    -no other forms of micronutrients or macronutrients
    -they die
    -therefore pure protein up to 280-365g of protein at 80kg bw will kill you.

    its a dumb link

    you know how many people would be dead right now if that was true?
  • neanderthin
    neanderthin Posts: 9,937 Member
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    Yes, too much protein is bad, but you're nowhere near having 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.

    From Wikipedia -- Rabbit Starvation

    -old observational study
    -people ate nothing but pure protein
    -no other forms of micronutrients or macronutrients
    -they die
    -therefore pure protein up to 280-365g of protein at 80kg bw will kill you.

    its a dumb link

    you know how many people would be dead right now if that was true?
    Just cook the rabbit in duck fat and your golden.
  • butterflylover527
    butterflylover527 Posts: 940 Member
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    Oh my, you protein is set extremely low! Don't worry about going over.
  • Ampierce
    Ampierce Posts: 53 Member
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    Bump, good info for reading later ;)