Protein is among the important constructing blocks of the human physique, essential for constructing and repairing muscle. When you’re all for gaining muscle and/or shedding fats, you possible know the way vital it’s to boost your daily intake of this macronutrient. However is there an higher restrict to how much you should consume? How a lot protein is taken into account an excessive amount of?
There are goalposts, but it surely’s arduous to go overboard. Right here’s what the consultants say.
Are Excessive-Protein Diets Protected?
To begin with, it’s very troublesome to eat a lot protein that it negatively impacts your well being. In keeping with a examine revealed within the American Journal of Medical Vitamin, the typical American consumes less than half of what’s broadly thought-about the “higher sure” of protein consumption: 35 p.c of each day energy.
Nevertheless, research recommend that energetic folks exceeding that higher sure nonetheless might not see any opposed results. In a 2016 study revealed within the Journal of Vitamin and Metabolism, 14 wholesome, resistance-trained males alternated between months of consuming their regular weight-reduction plan and a “high-protein weight-reduction plan” (greater than 3 grams per kilogram of body weight each day). To place that into context, a 154-pound individual must eat greater than 210 grams of protein per day on this weight-reduction plan, which is equal to virtually two kilos of hen.
After a yr of monitoring the topics, researchers discovered “no dangerous results on measures of blood lipids in addition to liver and kidney operate,” which is the place most opposed responses to protein would seem.
Moreover, there may be research suggesting that current suggestions could also be too low for sure populations, together with adults over the age of 65, pregnant and lactating girls, and wholesome kids older than 3 years. So whereas the scientific discourse round how a lot protein is an excessive amount of continues, it’s vital to acknowledge the rising literature that validates the protection and efficacy of high-protein diets for many who require extra of it.
3 Results Related With Excessive-Protein Diets
Whereas research have explored potential dangers of an excessive amount of protein, the Dietary Reference Intakes by the Institute of Drugs asserts that there’s “insufficient data” to offer causal relationships between protein and well being issues, thus highlighting the necessity for managed medical research.
1. Abdomen upset/discomfort
Some folks might expertise gastrointestinal points ensuing from protein supplementation. This can be attributable to the lactose content material in sure protein shakes, comparable to these containing whey protein concentrate. In these instances, utilizing whey protein isolate or plant-based protein is much less more likely to result in these issues, as they include much less lactose than whey protein focus or none in any respect.
Potential GI points can come from complete meals as properly. “When you’re consuming an excessive amount of animal-based protein and never sufficient complex carbohydrates, which include fiber, it’s possible you’ll expertise delicate constipation,” explains Quyen Vu, MS, RDN.
2. Kidney points
Some studies have reported an affiliation between high-protein diets and kidney operate. Nevertheless, it’s “extraordinarily uncommon” for exercisers to develop kidney points or different metabolic problems due to excessive protein consumption, says Glenn Gaesser, PhD, FACSM, professor of train physiology at Arizona State College.
3. Coronary heart points
Some research suggests that consuming extreme protein might have an effect on the cardiovascular system.
“A number of population-based cohort research point out a better untimely mortality danger related to diets which might be excessive in protein, such because the basic low-carb diet, which has far more protein than the everyday American weight-reduction plan,” says Gaesser.
Nevertheless, he continues, “The upper protein consumption, per se, might not be the issue, however quite the opposite traits of the weight-reduction plan, comparable to excessive quantities of animal fats and low quantities of fiber-rich foods.”
Can Consuming Too A lot Protein Have an effect on Weight Loss?
In a phrase, sure. Protein is a supply of energy. In case your aim is to shed weight, it’s vital to create a calorie deficit, a state through which you’re burning extra energy than you’re taking in. When you’re consuming a lot protein that it narrows (or erases) your calorie deficit, that may undermine weight reduction.
“Protein not used for the physique’s traditional development and upkeep capabilities could also be used for vitality, if there’s a lack from different sources, and may be transformed to fats,” says Mindy Haar, Ph.D., RDN, CDN, FAND, a registered dietitian nutritionist and assistant dean at New York Institute of Expertise’s College of Well being Professions. “If overconsuming protein leads you to devour extra energy than you want, you’ll acquire weight.”
Nevertheless, protein continues to be an integral a part of most weight reduction efforts. A meta-analysis of 24 research discovered that calorie-restricted, high-protein diets produced extra constructive adjustments to total physique composition than a standard-protein weight-reduction plan. That is possible as a result of protein promotes fullness and may help protect muscle.
How Do You Know if You’re Consuming Too A lot Protein?
Your first clue will most likely be a stomachache or another minor gastrointestinal drama. Even you probably have guts of metal, know that it’s doable to eat extra protein than you’ll be able to effectively course of.
“Your physique can solely make the most of a certain quantity of protein at one sitting — roughly 30 grams,” says Lisa Moskovitz, RD, CDN, CEO of New York Vitamin Group. “That is equal to about 4 ounces of cooked hen breast or cooked fish, one cup of Greek yogurt, or two cups of black beans.”
It’s additionally vital to house protein consumption all through the day as a result of our bodies don’t retailer extra protein.
“I see rather a lot in my observe that athletes attempt to pack of their protein consumption in a single or a few meals,” says Maddi Osburn, RDN, LD, a registered dietitian nutritionist in Wichita, Kansas. “If an athlete overconsumes protein in a single or two meals, they received’t be getting essentially the most optimum muscle development response, and it will likely be both excreted or saved as fats. As well as, consuming an excessive amount of protein might displace different vital vitamins — like carbohydrates, fat, and fiber — which might be simply as vital for optimum restoration and efficiency.”
