| How
Much Protein Should You Eat?
by Karen Peralta
Don’t sacrifice your
carbohydrates for a high protein diet, and think
twice before “bulking up” those biceps
with protein to look better at the gym. Your daily
diet shouldn’t contain more than 30% protein
ideally, because an excess of it will do you more
harm than good. So says Gail Butterfield, Ph.D.,
director of Nutrition Studies at the Palo Alto
Veterans Administration Medical Center.
Dr. Butterfield says that
excess protein in your diet may have harmful effects.
If you increase protein without adding more calories
and exercise to your daily life, instead of building
muscle mass you will put your other body systems
under undue stress. And eating more protein while
increasing calorie intake -- but keeping at the
same exercise levels -- builds an equal amount
of additional fat and muscle. Meanwhile, a diet
where protein is more than 30% of your calorie
intake causes a buildup of toxic ketones. A “ketogenic”
diet, or one high in ketones, pushes your kidneys
to excessively flush themselves free of toxins.
This can cause you to lose a significant amount
of water, which puts you at serious risk of dehydration,
especially if you exercise heavily during your
workouts.
Such water loss will make
it appear you’re losing weight, when in
actuality you’re not. Plus you will be losing,
not gaining, muscle mass and bone calcium from
this ketogenic diet, while the stress of dehydration
can also badly affect your heart. Dehydration
from a ketogenic diet can make you dizzy and weak,
give you bad breath, and lead to other health-related
problems. This can be the result of a high-protein,
low-carb “fad” diet – one that
emphasizes proteins excessively.
Actual protein deficiency
is a very rare condition and is confined usually
to elderly women or persons with eating disorders.
Protein deficiency is defined as eating 50-75%
of the recommended daily amount of protein. You
should consume 0.36 grams of protein for every
pound of your normal body weight, according to
the US recommended daily allowance -- or RDA --
guides. And protein should make up about 15% of
your daily caloric intake, not go well over 30%
of it.
Protein is absolutely required
for your body’s normal functioning, as it
helps synthesize your enzymes and hormones. It
maintains your fluid balance and the building
of antibodies against infections. It also is the
basic building block for your muscles, bones,
cartilage, skin, hair and blood, and is essential
for the formation of all of the cells in your
body You should eat protein-rich foods such as
meat, cheese, milk, fish and eggs to get enough
protein in your daily diet. You can also find
protein in soy products, as well as in combinations
of food such as rice or corn with beans, when
it comes to vegetable proteins that you may consume.
You should eat a balanced
diet rich in fruits, vegetables, whole grains,
lean meats, fish and complex carbohydrates, not
one heavy in protein alone. But protein is optimal
for immune functioning, and you may need heavier
amounts of it when injured or otherwise undergoing
any serious healing processes.
Proteins are made up of several
different amino acids, some of which your body
can make on its own. But some of them have to
be ingested. These are called the “essential”
amino acids. You must eat a variety of foods to
make sure you’re getting all of your essential
amino acids. Lack of these can cause growth failure,
loss of muscle mass, decreased immune system functioning,
weakening of the circulatory and respiratory systems
– and even death.
The most common source of
protein in the American diet is meat, but milk
and other dairy products are rich in it. To avoid
too much fat with your protein, eat leaner cuts
of meat, and cook without adding fat by baking,
broiling, barbecuing or boiling your meat. By
eating beans and lentils as well as a variety
of vegetables and grains, you can add terrific
sources of vegetable protein to your diet. Nuts
and seeds are also great sources of non-animal
protein.
The average adult American
needs eight grams of protein each day per twenty
pounds of normal body weight. Yet we generally
eat twice that much protein daily. If you balance
your carbohydrates with your proteins, and eat
a variety of foods to make sure you get all of
the amino acids you need, you will be eating a
healthy diet. You should also make sure you keep
your diet low in fats, oils and refined sugars.
Those substances have no proteins, and hardly
any other nutrients, with one gram containing
nine calories of energy. You do need some saturated
and unsaturated fats in your food, every day.
Unfortunately, “junk food” laden American
eating habits tend to provide far too much of
these fats.
Your daily diet should contain
no more than 30% total calories from fats, hopefully
far less than that. The upper limit on the amount
of fat in your diet will depend on how many calories
you need to maintain your weight, and cutting
back on fat can help you consume fewer calories.
But some dietary fat is needed for good health.
It supplies energy and the essential fatty acids,
which like the essential amino acids can only
be gleaned from your consumption of certain foods.
Fats also promote absorption of the fat-soluble
vitamins A, D, E and K.
High levels of saturated fat
and cholesterol are linked to increased blood
cholesterol and put you at risk for heart disease.
Fat is also associated with protein-rich food
such as meat and dairy products. So you should
lower the daily amount of protein and fat that
you consume to an acceptable level, while raising
the amount of complex carbohydrates you consume
to at least 50% of your daily calorie intake.
This will ensure that you are eating a proper
and not a “fad” -- or risky to your
health – diet every day. Eating meals and
snacks rich in whole grains, fruits and vegetables,
as well as some high protein and certain “fatty”
foods, will help you to obtain your desired weight
and to keep fit -- not fat.
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