Thread: Protein Intake Guide / Help

Is Too Much Protein in Your Diet Harmful?

Bodybuilders and athletes need to consume high amounts of protein to ensure adequate recovery, and to support muscle growth.

First, let's get one thing straight; consuming excess amounts of protein offers absolutely no advantages. Once your body has received the amount of protein it has the enzymes to break down into short chain amino acids, any additional protein consumed will simply be excreted. It will not be used to build muscle or enhance physical performance. Spread out consumption of protein throughout the day and no more than 45min after workouts.

So what happens with the protein(amino's) your body does'nt need for muscle / tissue repair? Any excess protein is filtered in the kidneys where one part of it is converted to a substance called urea, and another part is converted into glucose. The urea is then excreted through the urine, and the glucose is used as a source of energy for the body. If the body cannot use the glucose, it may be converted to body fat.

What are the Effects of Too Much Protein?

As mentioned earlier, excessive protein intake will not benefit you in any way (unless you want fat). It's simply a waste of money, protein supplements and high protein foods are relatively costly. You'll be wasting your hard earned cash if you don't determine how much protein your body needs!

Here are some of the effects that excessive protein intake may cause based on scientific research:

•Excessive calcium loss - Some experts believe that excess protein intake can lead to loss of the mineral calcium.

•Increased risk of dehydration(drink half gallon of water per 100g of protien) - Dehydration can result as a result of excess protein intake because the body uses more of the body's fluids to hydrolyze protein into amino acid chains and dilute the increased urea.(drink more water)

•Kidney and Liver damage - There have never been any studies that prove that excessive protein intake will damage these organs, however, most scientists agree that it is possible if too much protein is consumed over a long period of time.

How Much is Too Much Protein?

It's almost impossible to know exactly how much protein is too much for your body to handle. Thanks to scientific studies, we can estimate appriximately how much protein athletes require.

The table below outlines the protein requirements of different kinds of athletes.

Daily Protein Requirement per lb of body weight:

Endurance athlete

.55 - .65 g

Strength & powder athlete

.65 - .90 g (1 gram /lb is widely accepted)

Athlete on fat loss program

.70 - .80 g

Athlete on weight gain program

.80 - .90 g (1 gram /lb is widely accepted)

As you can see, anyone involved in highly intense activities requires more protein than an inactive person. Remember that the numbers above are for reference only, and are not considered to be exact.

Although excess protein intake has never been proven to cause any serious health problems, it will put unnecessary strain on the kidneys, and may lead to dehydration.

I don't have a Phd, but I think this may help a few of my brothers who may be just starting out.

590metabolism[1].jpgI hope this is large enough for us to read, It shows what happens when we eat protein. Follow the arrows to the acetyl Co and then to the FAT. We need to use the glucose up before it gets to the FAT storage stage. When we eat fat it often goes straight to fat storage.