Is this too much from protein?

I have been making a big effort to raise my protein, however today my ratios are at 60% Protein and 25 % fat and 15% carbs. Is this too much protein, will my body just end up turning it into fat?

Eating that much protein is hard on your kidneys.  One day probably won't hurt, but you wouldn't want to eat that much protein every day.  Especially since it's far more than your body needs for rebuilding muscle, etc.

Your body won't just turn it into fat necessarily though.  You only put on fat if you consume more calories than you burn.  In terms of putting on fat, it doesn't matter whether those calories are fat, carbs or protein.

my cals are not high so im eating at a deficit, so the amount of protein is not a huge amount, was 150g today, so would this still matter even though it was a high percentage?

What are you eating to get to 150g of protein in a day? I had a hard enough time trying to get 70g of protein today.

3 boiled egg whites, cottage cheese, chicken breast for lunch, beef for tea, and protein shake. came out as 155g of protein. cals stil quite low/moderate thou because low on carbs bout 60g of those.

You really don't need that much protein in my opinion.

http://www.indoorclimbing.com/Protein_Require ment.html

This site combined a bunch of research from various sources to get the following ranges to shoot for:

• Carbs 40 to 60%
• Fat 20 to 30%
• Protein 10 to 15%

Granted, some people cut down on carbs and up the others, but still...

"Exceeding your maximum daily protein intake could reduce your atheletic performance and have an undesirable effect on your health."

"High Protein Diet - exceeding the daily maximum protein requirement

Most people meet their daily protein requirements by many times over. In addition there is a misconception that a high protein diet is helpful for training. High protein diets do not help improve muscle strength or aid in training. In fact, high protein diets can be harmful to your health. There is far more risk to your health from high protein diet than from low protein diet.

• Proteins have a high amount of nitrogen. When nitrogen is broken down in the liver it creates ammonia. Ammonia is poisonous. The increased level of ammonia in the body is harmful to cells and may decrease atheletic performance.
• Stress on kidneys occurs when more than 2 grams per kilogram of ideal body weight per day is consumed.
• High levels of protein intake require increased amount of vitamin B6. It is possible to become deficient in vitamin B6 while using a high protein diet.
• Calcium loss, which leads to osteoporosis, occurs with high levels of protein intake.

The best thing to do is balance protein intake in the proper ration with carbohydrates and fats."

Just a thought...

Yeah, what they said, it's too much protein.  It's not healthy.  Our bodies are genetically designed to function most efficiently with our largest calorie source coming from complex carbohydrates with smaller amounts of fat and protein.  Start eating more real fruits and vegetables and reduce the amount of protein in your diet...

Fat - 18.2% (296 grams)
Protein - 26.4% (971 grams)
Carbohydrates - 55.4% (2,035 grams)
Alcohol - 0.0%
Other - 0.0%

Daily Calorie Intake - 2,413 cals
Daily Sodium Intake - 3,357 mg
Daily Sugar Intake - 116 grams
Daily Cholesterol Intake - 219 mg
Daily Saturated Fat Intake - 10 grams
Daily Fiber Intake - 37 grams

I am currently trying to get very lean (I'm not hellbent on 3% bodyfat, I just want to expose my abs). I have always been told and read (even on these forums) that in order to maintain my muscle mass while I get lean (I am not building muscle during this 4-8 week phase, just getting lean) the rule of thumb is to consume my body weight in protein. I weigh 150, so I have been eating about 150g of protein a day. One or two days I unintentionally consumed about 190g.

Is that 2g per kg of bodyweight correct for stressing the kidneys? Because my weight in kg is approx. 68kg, so that means a max of 136g of protein for me.

Is this hardcore and unhealthy?

Okay, I checked out that indoor climbing site because every bit of that information was WHACK.  60% carbs?!?!?  That has GOT to be either a joke or someone is adding funny stuff to the brownies...err...protein shake...we don't eat brownies here, right?  LOL  Those percentages are so wrong that I don't even know where to begin.  And the way they say to determine your ideal weight is incredible...like fishing with hand grenades.  I hate to see folks going on such bad info. 

What y'all need to understand is WHEN those recommendations were set and on what model.  Those recommendations were set in the 1950's based on a sedentary male subject of 5'8" and 160 pounds.  The USRDA was set on the same model.  Every bit of that information is outdated for a number of reasons.  The average population has changed, we are bigger people (not fatter, simply bigger regardless), further research has refuted much of what was believed at the time, lifestyles have changed...you name it, it's different now.  But I digress..

Harriet1988, one day of that is no big deal, but I wouldn't eat that ratio every day.  (And I must say that I "bow down to the master" who can get that much protein in in one day!)  That is a ton of protein considering what you appear to weigh.  As another poster stated, excess protein will not turn to fat if you are in a deficit.  Your body will eliminate the excess protein that it cannot metabolize, however.  And it's expensive to eat that much protein just to have it literally go to waste.

I'm curious as to why you are eating that much protein, however.  You look tiny!    Are you starting a new workout program?  Are you getting into lifting or endurance training?  (I doubt the endurance training, as that requires heavy carbs, as well.)  I am so curious!  I'm a huge proponent of big protien numbers if you are seriously physically active.

I'm extremely into weightlifting and I'm 5'10", so I would love to be able to pack in that much protein every day!  (Though my eating completely STINKS lately.)  I wish we could see others' food logs like on other sites, because I would love the pointers on how to get that much protein in in a day!

As a guideline, 1 gram of protein per pound of body weight would be minimum.  1.5 to 2 grams if you are trying to put on muscle.  But remember that muscle weighs more than fat!  If you are afraid of the number on the scale, muscle will freak your numbers out.  The best judge of health and fitness has little to do with the number on the scale.  Body fat percentage is what you shoot for.   I can send you a zillion liks on protein intake, protein metabolism and body fat percentages, but this is a guideline summary.

Assuming you have healthy functioning kidneys, that much protein isn't going to harm you, it might be more than you need, but it isn't going to do any damage.  A high protein diet may stress your kidneys, but stress doesn't always equal bad.

Depending on your goals and how well your body handles a low carb diet, I don't really see anything wrong.  Fats are probably a little on the low side though.

Original Post by texasfire:

60% carbs?!?!?  That has GOT to be either a joke or someone is adding funny stuff to the brownies...err...protein shake...we don't eat brownies here, right?  LOL  Those percentages are so wrong that I don't even know where to begin. 

As a guideline, 1 gram of protein per pound of body weight would be minimum.  1.5 to 2 grams if you are trying to put on muscle.  But remember that muscle weighs more than fat!  If you are afraid of the number on the scale, muscle will freak your numbers out.  The best judge of health and fitness has little to do with the number on the scale.  Body fat percentage is what you shoot for.   I can send you a zillion liks on protein intake, protein metabolism and body fat percentages, but this is a guideline summary.

 40-60% carbs is a totally normal recommendation that you'd get from most dieticians.  The key is that those carbs should be coming primarily from vegetables, beans/pulses, whole grains, fruit, etc.  Nobody's suggesting consuming most of your calories in white bread and jelly.

I  had heard 1 g protein per kilogram of body weight (which gives 0.5 g protein per pound), and 1.5 to 2 g protein per kilogram of body weight if trying to put on muscle.  I weigh about 150, and consuming 150 g protein every day would take a mammoth effort - getting up to 300 g of protein per day would be well near impossible!  (That's 1200 calories/day from protein alone!)

I completely understand where you are coming from.  Truly, I do.  And you are correct in that you state a normal recommendation.  This is the old school mentality that I mentioned. 

Do you realize that your body needs ZERO carbs?  Even the RDA handbook states this.  All recommendations are coming from the various "experts".  The fact still remains that there is no physiological need for carbs.  It does not meet the criteria to be considered an essential nutrient.  Fact.

But I am really not trying to insult anyone here, so let's apply logic instead.  Take a look at this article...you will see what I mean.  (Anyone who is trying to change their body composition should read this.) 

If you really don't see the point after reading this, then I promise I will say no more to you about this.  It's a pretty quick read.  Either way, I wish you good luck and good health!

Diet Percentages: Part 2

http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/the-rapid-fa t-loss-handbook/fat-loss/diet-percentages-par t-2.html

This one is particulaly good, as well:

How Many Carbohydrates Do You Need?

http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/nutrition/ho w-many-carbohdyrates-do-you-need.html

yes carbohydrates are not an 'essential nutrient' in that we don't NEED them for energy. however if we only ate proteins and fat to prvide us with the energy we required for a day we would eat far to much fat, sodium etc and not get near enough nutrients, vitamins and fibre. furthermore the brain finds it difficult to utilize energy from fats so would have to get everything from the few amino acids it can utilize.

so to conclude you do need carbs to be healthy- by all means make sure that most of it is veg, fruit, oats, and the brown stuff but if you cut it out completely you would surely suffer. the reason that  it is recommended 40-60 % is because with that balance you can get the right amount of easily accessible energy without having to overkill yourself with fat and meat, along with enough vitamins and minerals to keep you healthy.

the only fact is that if you eat less calories than you use you will lose weight. everything else is more a personaly choice. i personally keep my carbs to oats with breakfast, fruit and veg with lunch and veg and brown rice/sweet potato with my dinner- its pretty low carb in comparison to the protein i take in but again its all personal preference.

Texasfire, those articles were interesting and made a lot of sense (and backed up what I'd heard that we need ~1 g protein per kilogram - not 1 g per pound).  But they still don't imply that a 50-60% carb diet is bad - just that it's kind of a silly way to report carbs and that we'd be better off measuring how many grams of each nutrient we eat.  And it's worth noting that while we *technically* could survive without carbs, our body would break down our muscle so effectively we need a minimum of about 50 g carbs per day to not have our muscles breakdown and an additional 50-70 g if we don't do well in ketosis.  Add the 25 g fibre that we need, and that brings us up to needing 125-145 g carbs per day.

I particularly liked the point about the 20 calorie cookie ("high fat") vs. the 300 calorie cookie ("low fat" but much worse for you).  Common sense like that seems to have gotten lost somewhere in all the weight loss marketing that abounds today.  And that's coming from a carb-a-holic who can't tolerate much fat.  But even I can understand that the 1g fat cookie with 20 cals is "better" than the 8 g fat cookie with 300 calories (unless you eat fifteen of the 20 cal cookies, of course!).

Original Post by susiecue:

Eating that much protein is hard on your kidneys.  

Where on earth does this idea come from? I have never seen a research study that validates anyone has ever had any type of kidney damage from eating too much protien.  Why this is fixated on is beyond me. Eating carbs makes your pancreas work but no one every warns about eating carbs being hard on the body.

This website: http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.as p?articlekey=50900

which I wouldn't take to be a totally reliable source of information, suggests how a diet of over 30% protein may stress the kidneys. I wouldn't suggest consuming 0 carbs, your body might fight back and I can tell you that I tried reducing my carbs substantially and I was waking up several times during the night and I just didn't feel right. When I was building muscle a while back, a balanced diet gave me the same results and I felt better, did incredibly well in school. I was boosting my protein and cutting necessary fat and carbs trying to get lean, but I'm quickly starting to realize that I was just as lean when my diet was about 30fat/15prot/55carb (I do work out regularly) I'm going to give my high protein diet a couple more weeks, but I am am starting to think it doesn't really make a noticeable difference.

So for 60% protein. With a lower calorie diet (I assume you are eating less than 2000 by the sound of it), I would swap 35-40% of that protein with carbs, you can keep the fat at 25. My pic is of me on 25fat/25protein/50carb.

This article discusses a study showing that increased protein intake accelerated kidney failure in rats: http://www.nature.com/ki/journal/v27/n5/abs/k i198574a.html

Admittedly, they were rats that were already experiencing weakened kidney function.  The same type of thing is true of humans - those with healthy kidneys can cope with unusually high protein intake for longer than those with weaker kidneys.

I don't have time right now to go fishing through the literature for an analogous human study, but the reason most low-carb diets are high-fat diets is that high-protein isn't healthy for prolonged periods.  A day, fine.  A week, fine.  A couple of months will even be fine for some.  But very few people will do well on years of high-protein intake.

Original Post by susiecue:

I don't have time right now to go fishing through the literature for an analogous human study, but the reason most low-carb diets are high-fat diets is that high-protein isn't healthy for prolonged periods.  A day, fine.  A week, fine.  A couple of months will even be fine for some.  But very few people will do well on years of high-protein intake.

 I wasn't referencing low carb - this mistake is often made when people talk about eating a lot of protien.  People can eat a lot of protien without having to eliminate carbs. Body builders eliminate fat and eat a diet that is 50/50 protien/carbs. Super athelets eat 5000+ calories a day on a 'balanced' diet they would still be eating way more protien than an average person and they don't have kidney problems from it.

The only people who have ever had kidney problems from eating a lot of protien already had kidney problems. Heathly people don't get kidney damage from eating a lot of protien.

I have to be honest. Without attacking anyone I must say that so much of the above is rubbish, high protein diets are more work for the kidneys if you over exceed your RDA, however your RDA for protein is much higher than the average joe if you do either resistance or cardio training. High protein diets have their own long list of benefits, google it.

Original Post by susiecue:

Texasfire, those articles were interesting and made a lot of sense (and backed up what I'd heard that we need ~1 g protein per kilogram - not 1 g per pound) What you need and what you should get aren't the same thing, 1g/lb might be enough to prevent protein deficienty, but it doesn't mean that it's enough for optimum health.  But they still don't imply that a 50-60% carb diet is bad These 3 studies (study 1, study 2, and study 3) show that high carb (~60%) isn't as healthy as low carb and high fat diets- just that it's kind of a silly way to report carbs and that we'd be better off measuring how many grams of each nutrient we eat.  And it's worth noting that while we *technically* could survive without carbs, our body would break down our muscle so effectively we need a minimum of about 50 g carbs per day to not have our muscles breakdown and an additional 50-70 g if we don't do well in ketosis the cultures indigenous to arctic regions don't eat anywhere close to that many carbs and they somehow manage to retain a healthy amount of muscle.  Add the 25 g fibre that we need, and that brings us up to needing 125-145 g carbs per day.

Original Post by slickrick666:

This website: http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.as p?articlekey=50900

which I wouldn't take to be a totally reliable source of information, suggests how a diet of over 30% protein may stress the kidneys.  

Stressing the kidneys isn't necessarily a bad thing.  Thinking hard stresses the brain, but also leads to better brain functioning.  Lifting weights stresses the muscles, which increases muscle function.  Running stresses the heart, which improves heart health.