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.......too much protein ? I need 187 grams of protein a day to build, for instance like today I have consumed 268 grams according to fit day - is that ok ?

omaragha wrote:.......too much protein ? I need 187 grams of protein a day to build, for instance like today I have consumed 268 grams according to fit day - is that ok ?

Technically, your body can convert excess protein into glucose if it is needed, but...

Don't worry about that right now. Eat as much as you need to feel satisfied, keep lifting and in a few weeks check your results and you can adjust from there.

+1 props to marochka_raduga. She is spot on. Don't worry about too much protein until/unless you are seriously targeting fat loss in preference to muscle gain (and assuming you are already pretty lean).

I have to disagree, there is such a thing as too much protein. Protein can be toxic. There are over 300,000 hits regarding "too much protein in urine" as reported by google. Water consumption is critical as protein concentrations strain the filtering process. I think 1.5-2X your body weight is sufficient and drinking 1-1.5 gallons of water throughout the day (not guzzled) will help keep the waste flushed.

andrewpmast wrote:I have to disagree, there is such a thing as too much protein. Protein can be toxic. There are over 300,000 hits regarding "too much protein in urine" as reported by google. Water consumption is critical as protein concentrations strain the filtering process. I think 1.5-2X your body weight is sufficient and drinking 1-1.5 gallons of water throughout the day (not guzzled) will help keep the waste flushed.

Well, since you're going to turn this into a reductio ad absurdum , too much water can kill you too.

Proteinuria is mostly a concern for those with compromised kidney function. My cat took benazepril for the last year of her life to help her deal with that, but her doctor had the good sense not to try to convince me to put an obligate carnivore on a reduced-protein diet. We kept her well hydrated with subcutaneous fluid infusions and fed her a good quality diet. Admittedly, I don't need to resort to needles to get adequate fluid intake, because I can be reasoned with and persuaded to drink more as required. And I think the OP could too. Moreover, I don't think that an extra 80 grams of protein is going to be harmful to him at this point. Hell, how do we know he wasn't consuming that much protein on a "high-everything" diet before going low-carb anyway?

Once he learns how to eat for gaining muscle/losing fat, then he can learn the tweaks like making sure he's not eating too much protein. If we encouraged obese people to wait to begin a muscle-sparing fat loss diet until they knew how to do everything perfectly, they'd all die of massive coronaries and stroke!

marochka_raduga wrote:Once he learns how to eat for gaining muscle/losing fat, then he can learn the tweaks like making sure he's not eating too much protein. If we encouraged obese people to wait to begin a muscle-sparing fat loss diet until they knew how to do everything perfectly, they'd all die of massive coronaries and stroke!

Brains... on... same... wavelength.

If you're fat, you just need to get on any plan at all to start, and remain on some plan (I get bored easily, so I'll probably change around a bit) for the rest of your life. Hopefully the plans won't kill you. Humans lived for millennia on less-than-perfect, omnivorous diets, and we're very tolerant of eating the wrong things for prolonged periods, though eventually they might do us in. Witness the obesity and Type 2 diabetes "epidemic" in the USA as a direct result of USDA recommendations to eat more carbohydrates and fewer fats.

Now, there's a question: what does the science say? I don't want to plunge into all the specific studies, but 2g of protein per kg of body weight is an extremely defensible position, with ample research indicating it's a fine ratio for athletes. I weigh 211 lbs (95.7kg), so at least 70g per day (bare minimum US recommendation for average weight/height people) up to 190g of protein per day would have some scientific basis.

Beyond that 2g protein per kg ratio, you're diving into the world of anecdote and bodybuilding culture. That said, for those who are not currently in renal failure the only downside to high consumption of protein is excess nitrogen. Period. What's the long-term toxicity of excess nitrogen? In people with kidney failure, well, death is the result. In people with healthy kidneys, there appear to be no problems at all. For those with a genetic tendency toward kidney stones (IIRC, some 3%-5% of all people), consumption of large amounts of water is a requirement to avoid kidney stones.

All this points to the fact that your body pisses out the excess nitrogen as urea. Sure, it's toxic, but so are a lot of by-products that end up in the toilet.

My only point is, you can be perfectly justified consuming up to 2g per kg of body weight of protein per day if you want to, and if your kidneys function adequately. Beyond that, there are a lot of people who claim it builds more muscle mass.

It's your body. It's your science project.

--Matt B.

His question was if there is such a thing as too much protein. I still believe the answer to be yes, regardless of any consideration as to kidney health.

And I also think that water consumption should be mentioned when suggesting to somebody that it's ok to eat over 2x their body weight in grams of protein. I say that because in this lads query, it would sound to me that he's a beginner to a ketogenic diet and it's important to know that water is critical to balancing out the load put on the kidneys by the byproduct waste sent to them. You can't disagree with me that it certainly woudn't hurt to bring up water consumption to help dilute and flush out the waste product caused by excess protein intake on a low carb (ketogenic) diet.

Regarding reductio ad absurdum, we can say that anything in excess is bad and well thus ending this discussion on the first reply to his inquiry! Incidentally, I eat between 200-300g of protein on most days and I drink 1 gallon of water easily. I pee all day long. I think I'd just sooner get a catheter to save some time.