5 Signs Your Body Is Telling You That You’re Eating Too Much Protein, According to a Registered Dietitian

When it involves protein, the final consensus is usually: eat extra of it. Like, much more of it. It is no marvel why individuals are placing cottage cheese in every thing to get these beneficial properties. However how a lot is too a lot for the sake of your well-being?

There’s little doubt that consuming satisfactory quantities of protein is necessary for thus many causes. The macronutrient is important for constructing, repairing, and oxygenating the physique, producing digestive enzymes, and serving to regulate hormones. However based on Melanie Murphy Richter, RDN, a registered dietitian and neuronutritionist, you’ll be able to have an excessive amount of of a very good factor. “An excessive amount of of something is probably going going to result in undesirable unwanted side effects and outcomes, and protein is not any exception,” she says.

Forward, Richter shares 5 methods your physique is telling you that you could be be consuming an excessive amount of protein and the right way to decide the suitable quantity to devour based mostly in your particular wants.

5 attainable indicators you’re consuming an excessive amount of protein 

1. Digestive points

In accordance with Richter, a telltale signal of an excessive amount of protein is constipation, particularly for many who aren’t correctly hydrated. That is usually as a result of in the event you’re loading up on one macronutrient, you may not be consuming sufficient meals with fiber (like advanced carbohydrates, fruits, and greens). As such, it’s necessary to devour a well-balanced weight-reduction plan composed of fiber and fluids to assist preserve issues shifting alongside.

Richter provides that overdoing it on protein in your weight-reduction plan can even lead to extra fuel and even diarrhea, “particularly if different vitamins like B-vitamins or vitamin C present in contemporary vegetables and fruit are missing within the weight-reduction plan.”

2. Dehydration

Richter explains that protein consumption prompts the manufacturing of urea, a waste byproduct present in urine from metabolizing protein. “It must be eliminated [from the body]. This, in flip, will increase urination which might probably result in dehydration and even electrolyte imbalances,” Richter says. Signs of this type of dehydration can embrace fatigue, lack of focus, and muscle cramps, she provides.

3. Kidney stones

“An excessive amount of protein can put stress on the kidneys², that are liable for filtering out the surplus nitrogen produced in the course of the breakdown to amino acids,” says Richter. “Over time this will probably result in kidney stones or different extra problematic kidney points,” she says. (And anybody who has had a kidney stone can inform you: You do not need one.)

4. Dangerous breath

Over-consuming protein can even affect oral well being. “When protein is being damaged down within the physique, it could possibly improve ammonia manufacturing, which is a byproduct of protein metabolism. This may trigger noticeable foul breath,” Richter says.

5. Modifications in hormonal steadiness

In accordance with Richter, overconsumption of protein can affect two nutrient-sensing pathways within the physique: mTOR and IGF-1, which might affect coronary heart well being, longevity, and probably trigger unintended weight acquire when hyperactivated. “That is very true in case your protein consumption isn’t additionally balanced by bodily exercise for protein to be correctly utilized,” she says.

Some analysis research additionally recommend that extra IGF-1 could also be linked to an elevated danger of most cancers and mortality³. In the meantime, excessive quantities of mTOR might improve the chance for heart problems⁴. Richter provides that these fluctuations in mTOR and IGF-1 can even “prematurely age you, accelerating the speed at which your well being will decline.”

How a lot protein is an excessive amount of per day?

In accordance with Richter, the reply isn’t one-size-fits-all, partly as a result of consumption suggestions range in your age and bodily exercise. She says it’s a “hotly debated subject, and other people range drastically on their suggestions.”

She argues that almost all Individuals are already assembly (and even exceeding) the really useful each day consumption. In reality, knowledge exhibits that the typical American girl eats about 68.7 grams per day, which is correct on monitor with present dietary suggestions. “As a long life knowledgeable, I can inform you that one gram of protein per pound of physique weight [or more] is completely an excessive amount of protein, particularly in the event you aren’t rigorously understanding each day,” Richter says.

How ought to I calculate my protein consumption?

“The candy spot of protein consumption for the typical particular person is about one gram per kilogram—not pound—of physique weight. That will equate to about 68 grams a day for an individual who’s 150 kilos,” Richter says as a normal suggestion.

Be mindful, these aren’t to be interpreted as strict suggestions, and might range based mostly on particular person wants. As an example, Richter says athletes or somebody recovering from sickness of any sort might need to improve protein consumption to 1.2 to 2 grams per kilogram of physique weight. “Nonetheless, these ranges shouldn’t be sustained for lengthy intervals of time,” she says. Certainly, analysis means that consuming greater than 2 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight over the long run may cause severe well being points.

What’s the healthiest protein to eat?

Richter recommends going plant-based each time attainable. “Analysis exhibits that animal protein consumption⁶ might set off [mTOR and IGF-1] pathways at an exponentially greater fee than plant-based proteins,” she says. Richter additionally factors out that extra animal protein consumption has been related to an elevated danger of coronary heart illness and all-cause mortality⁷.

Richter’s suggestion is to swap animal meals for plant-based choices like legumes (lentils, peas, or chickpeas), beans (black or kidney), tofu, nuts (and nut butters like peanut or almond), and seeds (like hemp). However she provides that meat and fish can even have a spot in a nutritious diet. She recommends growing fish consumption (corresponding to trout and canned or contemporary tuna), and supplementing it with poultry, eggs, or beef a couple of times every week. “For girls who’re menstruating, animal-based sources of protein could be extra bioavailable types of iron throughout your menstrual cycle,” she provides.