I never counted my protein or fiber for the day, figuring that I eat a balanced meal of veggies, protein, some carbs.
Using Carb Manager app to keep track of what I eat, I am surprised to find that I over consume protein, and can exceed by as much as 40 g daily, and under consume fiber by around 10 grams.
The protein “recommendation” “requirement” in grams, is based on 0.36 times the person’s weight in pounds. The fiber guideline is 25 g daily.
Protein is the body’s building block. Is there “concern” about too much protein? The meals seem balanced to me, especially if based on the plate method. It’s not like my protein takes up the whole plate. If someone were eating Paleo/keto, would the person be eating quite a lot of protein (and fats) ? What else does the Paleo/keto person eat?
It is no big deal to do it every once-in-a-while. But if you are consistently eating too much, it will be stored as fat, it can lead to weight gain. And it can also cause your kidneys to be overworked and lead to dehydration.
The recommendations for what you need varies depending on activity level too.
I think this rule applies to absolutely everything - you can get to much of anything. Even water! Or sleep!
Excess dietary protein will be deaminated. The amino portion is metabolized through the urea cycle in the kidneys, and excreted in the urine.
It takes additional water for excretion. The carbon skeleton is metabolized as a carbohydrate, so either used to produce ATP or synthesized into fat, depending on energy status.
I haven’t gained weight, so that’s a relief, (maybe gained some fat, lost muscles) and have been eating about the same proportions for the most part for quite some time.
I understand! I’ve heard about potential kidney concerns.
I eat a quarter pound ( equivalent to about 4 ounces of protein) “chicken” (or fish, beef…any other “protein”) for lunch and a quarter pound of “protein” for dinner; that would be about 60-70 g protein. For my weight, 33 g protein is the recommended daily quantity. A quarter pound, or 4 ounces of “meat” does not seem like an excessive amount of protein. The recommended amount for the average sedentary female is 46 grams of protein. Am I missing something?
4 ounces is certainly not a huge excess. I think the issue if you look at the “standard” diet is if you do it the recommended way, you need to eat a bunch of carbs to get to your daily calorie total. I doubt your kidneys will be negatively impacted by this approach to eating.
The high protein diet, all beef is great in all regards. Eating all beef works best for health, although it is extremely boring. Need animal fat to make up for calories. Read.
A study in digestion effects done by some university in Israel found that the BG effect of identical foods varied widely person by person.
I am assuming that you are pairing that 4 ounces of protein with a varied diet of vegetables and some lower carb fruits from time to time. If so, I wouldn’t worry too much about the fat %, also you aren’t eating very many calories each day, so the % may be high but the total amount isn’t really that much.
@Chris- Many times, it’s less than 4 oz. of protein per meal, and yes, lots of veggies. Recently, I’ve been relaxing on my fruit quantities. It may be time to have a bit less fruits.
This is interesting, as my personal trainer has me aiming for 109g of protein. I am 142lbs, 5’7" and am looking to get to 130-135lbs as a rough goal (with the ultimate goal just to put on some lean muscle and feel strong and lean out or tone up).
Based on your calculation above, I’m not sure whether I should be eating to my goal weight or my current weight:
.36 x 142 = 51.12g
.36 x 130 = 46.8g
In either option, the aim for 110g seems excessive, no? She has not provided me an answer to my question which is if her rationale for 110g is in part for satiety, as I do not believe 3 meals + 1 snack even at each a max of 25g protein would reach that goal, nor is it likely that more than that per meal absorbable from my very limited understanding.
It seems my PT doesn’t know, my Endo won’t really touch the topic of nutrition, and people on the internet don’t agree. I continue to search for the answer to what my macros should be for 1450 calories per day, in terms of carbs, fat and protein. It’s frustrating. I wish there was a clear answer.
I don’t see my Endo for a month, so I certainly hope I am not eating way too much protein for that long in terms of my kidney’s being taxed.
God, don’t we all. Because there are so many competing interests in half-baked nutrition research that area is so full of mis-information (pet-peeve) that making sense of it is nearly impossible unless it is your job or passion. Plus there is no incentive to do definitive research, and even if there was enough incentive, controlling what people eat over a long period of time is ridiculously difficult. So here we are.
As to kidney damage, I wouldn’t worry, it is unlikely that a well running body will have ill effects from 100g of protein over a short period of time. Your bloodwork will allow you medical team to guide you and the personal response your body is having to your diet.