Is there such thing as too much protein??

The rule of thumb is to have 1 gram of protein per pound of body weight. From what I understand you can't over do protein and your body will break down everything you throw at it. It's only a bad thing to have too much if you have certain health issues and those that do should ask their doctors. MFP has the protein set extremely low for some reason.

Technically you can have too much protein, but we're talking about 400g+ here - it will tax your kidneys too heavily. But it would be near impossible to eat that much from just whole foods (i.e. you would have to be supplementing with powders).

The protein "limit" defaults to 15%, which is fairly low by a lot of people's standards. I set mine to 25%, and many people go to 40% or higher.

http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=50900

You see so many articles and quotes detailing how people's biggest habit is an OD on carbs. It can be the dieters greatest enemy. I for one was so used to NEEDING them with strenuous swimming training and competing that it has been a struggle to get my intake of them under control.

But, you never hear about protein. If anything, there is a big push for people to consciously try and increase their intake of it (it keeps you full, sustains and builds muscles, etc.). That being said, I have friends and other colleagues into different types of fitness (weight lifting, body sculpting, performance training) that really and truly push protein.

Is a "You can't have too much protein!' attitude accurate? I still have a meal and a snack left to eat today and I'm already almost 20 g over my recommended protein intake for today...is that a bad thing?

Here's the deal:

It's nearly imposible to eat enough protein to be harmful. However, if you eat too much protein it can hinder your ability to burn fat. Same goes with carbs, too many carbs will lower the rate of fat burn.

1g per pound is probably 2x as most people really need. That rule is for people taking steroids and are serious bodybuilders. Eating protein at that level isn't harmful but for many people it could decrease lipolysis(fat burn). Most people don't need more than 0.5g per pound of bw, athletes and extremely active people ight need as much at 0.75g per pound.

http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=50900

That article is a bit off, it's not the protein intake that causes ketosis it's the decreased carb intake that causes ketosis. Otherwise not bad though 0.36 is more of a minumun. For those on resticed intake I would say a little more is better.

When it comes right down to it, protein is still calories, so yes it is possible to go over. It does take more energy for your body to digest than carbs, but if you eat more than you use, your body will still store it as fat.
Minimum carbs to avoid ketosis (your body breaking down muscles to survive) is 50-100g per day, so I wouldn't go below that in lieu of protein.

Please read up before stating a rarity....

Let me put this in perspective. Despite a lot of claims to the contrary, the actual conversion of carbohydrate to fat in humans under normal dietary conditions is small approaching insignificant.Make no mistake, the conversion of carbs to fat (a process called de-novo lipogenesis or DNL) can happen but the requirements for it to happen significantly are fairly rare in humans under most conditions. At least one of those is when daily carbohydrate intake is just massive, fulfilling over 100% of the daily maintenance energy requirements. And only then when muscle glycogen is full. For an average sized male you’re looking at 700-900 grams of carbohydrate daily for multiple days running.Which means that the odds of protein being converted to fat in any quantitatively meaningful fashion is simply not going to happen. Certain amino acids are processed to a great degree in the liver and this can produce glucose, ketones and a few other things. But triglycerides (the storage form of ‘fat’) isn’t one of them.

When it comes right down to it, protein is still calories, so yes it is possible to go over. It does take more energy for your body to digest than carbs, but if you eat more than you use, your body will still store it as fat.
Minimum carbs to avoid ketosis (your body breaking down muscles to survive) is 50-100g per day, so I wouldn't go below that in lieu of protein.

Please read up before stating a rarity....

Let me put this in perspective. Despite a lot of claims to the contrary, the actual conversion of carbohydrate to fat in humans under normal dietary conditions is small approaching insignificant.Make no mistake, the conversion of carbs to fat (a process called de-novo lipogenesis or DNL) can happen but the requirements for it to happen significantly are fairly rare in humans under most conditions. At least one of those is when daily carbohydrate intake is just massive, fulfilling over 100% of the daily maintenance energy requirements. And only then when muscle glycogen is full. For an average sized male you’re looking at 700-900 grams of carbohydrate daily for multiple days running.Which means that the odds of protein being converted to fat in any quantitatively meaningful fashion is simply not going to happen. Certain amino acids are processed to a great degree in the liver and this can produce glucose, ketones and a few other things. But triglycerides (the storage form of ‘fat’) isn’t one of them.

We just got done studying this (ad nauseum) in my college nutrition class. To paraphrase:
Both carbs and protein will be converted to fat if the intake is in excess of what the body needs.
First the cells will use the carbs (broken down to glucose [or fructose or galactose] and the converted to pyruvate) to power the TCA cycle and produce energy, if there is more glucose available in the blood it will be stored as glycogen in the liver, and if there is still more left, it will be converted through lipogenesis into fat because that is the most energy efficient means of storage for future famine. ONCE IT IS FAT, IT CAN'T CONVERT BACK TO GLUCOSE. It's a one way street. The use of carbs in the TCA cycle is aerobic metabolism.
Proteins will be broken into amino acids which the body uses to build muscle tissue etc. If the cells run out of carbs to fuel the TCA cycle it will steal carbons away from the amino acids to fill in the blanks and provide energy (anaerobic metabolism). This also produces lactic acid and KEYTONES as byproducts.
Your body normally switches between the two as you use the glucose available in the cells, but it can only do the anaerobic metabolism for long before the cycle grinds to a halt and can't produce any more energy. This is why you can only do so many reps when weightlifting before you have to take a break between sets.
Excess protein also gets converted first into pyruvate (the same stuff that glucose turns into) and then that gets converted into fat for your body to store.
This is why people find that they they have a weight rebound when they do a diet like Atkins without any exercise. They lose weight quickly from water and the muscle that is being broken down (ketosis), but when they go back to eating like they did before, they gain back even more because the amount of muscle has DECREASED and can't burn as many calores.
It also was the downfall of the "fat free" dieting in the '80s. People would eat tons of fat free foods, because they were fat free, and gain body fat because their bodies would convert the excess carbs and proteins into fat.
This is why it is important to eat less calories than you expend if you are trying to lose weight. It doesn't mater where the extra calories come from, if the are more than your body is using they WILL be stored as fat.
If you don't eat the minimum amount of carbs that your body requires, and it goes through it's stores of glycogen, it will have to resort to anaerobic metabolism for maintaining basic functions. The minimum amount of carbs per day to prevent ketosis (according to the FDA) is 50-100g.

The question was whether it is possible to eat too many grams of protein. I assumed that the OP was asking from a weight loss standpoint. The short answer is Yes. Excess calories are excess calories. If your body can't use it, it has to store it, and that means fat.