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Wednesday, 5 July 2017
Beef, It’s What’s For Dinner Or Should It Be?
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Yes, you can eat too much protein...

One of the most popular questions that I often get from new clients is... ” How much protein do I need to be eating each day?” While this is definitely an important number to know, this seems to be everyone's primary focus. People seem to think that they need very large amounts of protein in their diet especially if they've just begun a new exercise program.

Yes, Americans, you're getting more than enough protein...

The typical American diet usually consists of ample amounts of protein. The current dietary recommendation for protein intake for the average active or sedentary individual is 0.8 grams per kilogram per day. If you are physically active your needs might be higher.  Needs are based on many different factors such as body composition, training regimen, and goals. So if this is the recommendation, more must be better, correct? While this might be true of some things, it isn't better when it comes to your dietary protein intake.

Here's the not-so-good news about too much protein...

Since the body can only store a certain amount of amino acids either in the amino acid pool in the liver or as muscle, and lastly used as energy, the remainder of dietary protein eaten above these amounts will be stored as fat.

I once had a conversation with a power lifter who told me that he often ate TWO ROTISSERIE CHICKENS A DAY in order to get the amount of protein that he thought he needed to build muscle. While he did have big strong arms, he also had excess fat around his abdominal area!

An example of what too much protein will do to your body...

Another problem of consuming too much protein occurs when you're trying to limit your calorie intake while still balancing adequate carbohydrate and fat intake. Simply put eating too much protein doesn't leave enough calories for the other two macros. For example, I once had a client who told me that he was eating about 250 g of protein per day. Someone had told him that he needed to eat 1 g of protein per pound of bodyweight. With protein having 4 calories per gram, which meant he was eating 1000 calories per day in just protein alone! 

While an individual's protein needs can based on several factors, the general recommendation for an average individual is approximately 15 to 20% of your total caloric intake. In the above mentioned cient's case he was eating over 50% of his calories as protein! As a result, he was not eating nearly enough carbohydrates and was exhibiting signs of lethargy and fatigue. After talking, I convinced him to greatly decrease his protein intake while increasing his intake of complex carbohydrates. About two days later, he emailed me to let me know that he had so much more energy than before we had talked! 

Are YOU eating the right amount for YOUR goals?

I can help you to do this through proper nutrition by determining how much protein YOU actually need based on many individual factors. Contact us today to book your appointment!

Remember….. “The Right foods in the Right amounts at the Right times.”

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Posted on 07/05/2017 3:08 PM by Kyle Smithson
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