too much protein!

urnewbuddee
urnewbuddee Posts: 53 Member
edited September 2024 in Food and Nutrition
I am a pescetarian (a vegetarian who eats fish), so I don't eat any protein-packed meats like chicken or beef. But, I do get a lot of my protein from soy-based food products and many vegetables. Too much protein, actually. The soy-based foods keep my fuller longer than straight up veggies, but I don't know how to balance it so I am not taking in too much protein. Usually only one (occasionally two) of my meals a day include soy protein, but I am still going over my recommended protein limit. Is this ok? Does anyone have any tips as to how I should keep my protein intake low? Any help will be appreciated!

Replies

  • AggieCass09
    AggieCass09 Posts: 1,867 Member
    I wish I had this problem, I'm a vegetarian who really has to focus to eat my 60 g of protein a day! I eat lots of fruit (carbs) maybe sub a soy something for fruit!
  • TateFTW
    TateFTW Posts: 658 Member
    check the link in my signature.
  • urnewbuddee
    urnewbuddee Posts: 53 Member
    I wish I had this problem, I'm a vegetarian who really has to focus to eat my 60 g of protein a day! I eat lots of fruit (carbs) maybe sub a soy something for fruit!

    If you want to up your protein intake, try getting Tofurky deli slices. They're vegetarian/vegan, have tons of protein in them, and they keep you full for a long time. Who says vegetarians can't eat sandwiches anyway? lol
  • Chenoachem
    Chenoachem Posts: 1,758 Member
    OK. So I have been reading " The Complete Guide to Sports Nutrition" by Anita Bean. It was once thought that excess protein may cause liver or kidney damage and place excessive stress on these organs. But this has never been demonstrated in healthy people so it remains only theoretical (Thipton & Wolfe, 2007) There was a study done in 2002 that showed that athletes consuming a high protein diet for 4 weeks experiences a greater level of dehydration due to increase need for water to remove the excess protein in urine.

    The only downfall for excess protein can be, that if you are already eating enough carbs to fill your glycogen store needs some of the excess protein can be stored as fat for later use in fueling your body for intense exercise. However, recent studies have shown that eating more protein can increase the metabolic rate so a proportion of the protein calories are oxidized and give off heat.

    It is recommended to increase protein intake when decreasing calories since cutting calories can cause you to loose muscle mass as well as fat. A higher protein diet can offset some of the muscle-wasting effects. However, this only needs to be increased by 0.2g/kg body weight.

    Some people find on here that the setting is to low. You are probably fine as long as you are drinking plenty of water.
  • LizardIsANerd
    LizardIsANerd Posts: 113
    MFP sets protein way too low, imho.
    I am on a roller derby team and working on building muscle while I trim fat so I manually changed my settings to give me about 100g protein daily and drastically reduced the carbs. They have a very generous portion of carbs on here as a default. I think I am trying for 35% protein 50% carbs and 15% fat.

    ETA: I get a lot of my protein from tuna fish, cottage cheese, and whole wheat with flax, it seems.
  • ProTFitness
    ProTFitness Posts: 1,379 Member
    Well you would have to take in over 200g of protein to worry. YOu need the protein to keep you fuller longer and to help balance your blood sugar. ALso if you don't do bean do those they are a great source of fiber and protien and keep you full longer. Stay away from the canned ones and boil them yourself. I do meals now and then that has black or white beans with broccoli and quiona.
    Hope that helps. Also if you do dairy lowfat cottage cheese, or eggs. Protein helps sustain your lean muscle and lean muscle burns more calores then fat.

    So having and sustaining that lean muscle is what you need to do to loose weight and tone up.
  • fit4lifeministries
    fit4lifeministries Posts: 22
    As has already been stated, the protein intake here is very low. You need the protein to build muscle and for muscle repair. If you are exercising along with your nutrition changes, then you need more protein than someone sitting on their couch. Hang in there and keep up the good work.
  • urnewbuddee
    urnewbuddee Posts: 53 Member
    Thanks to all of you, I seem to be a little less worried about my excess protein intake. I am only consuming at most 13g over the 48g that is suggested for my diet. If it's true that I have to consume close to 200g of extra protein to do my body damage, I think I'll stick to what I'm doing for the most part because I'm losing weight and feeling better than ever. I will take time to readjust my protein intake when I'm planning on eating a meal that I'm sure is packed with the stuff. Thank you all for your help!!!!
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