Consuming too much protein may result to any or either of the both, especially since the body’s need for protein is dependent on several factors and may not be the same for everyone.
When are we consuming too much protein?
The Health and Medicine Division of the National Academies recommend that 98 percent of the general population may be able to get their average requirement of protein if they eat at least .36 grams of protein per pound of body weight daily.
That figure is the standard for the RDA, which is the popular textbook guidelines for measuring the nutritional values of food and the ones that are often shown on food labels.
With that standard measurement, it equates to about 54 grams of protein for an average 150-pound woman and 72 pounds of protein for an average man weighing about 200 pounds.
Americans eat more protein than recommended
A 2010 report from the US Department of Agriculture show that the average American actually consumes more protein than the prescribed RDA benchmark, where men were consumed 98 grams daily, while women consumed 68 grams.
There were some adults that had less protein intake among older ones and some teenage girls, but the report would show that many Americans are either meeting level or slightly over it.
Problem over semantics
To say the least, it would be misleading to declare that consuming ‘too much protein’ based on the report may tend to confuse people into believing that going slightly over the recommended values could be generally bad. Instead, the more appropriate tone could be eating ‘more than enough’ protein.
But questions abound with how one conducts daily activities like exercise or workouts compared to a sedentary one. As the RDA suggests it at .36 grams per pound of body weight, it gives one the idea that this is based on an average person’s weight.
Surely, if one goes through a rigid training exercise or workout program, it follows that the person would need more protein in his body. So it would follow that an athlete or a weightlifter can perform well with that average level, then they could perform better with a higher protein intake.
Extra calories from extra protein
You might be surprised to find out that having more than enough protein in the body can end up as calories and add more weight to the body.
You eat protein to get your amino acids and build your own protein- based body parts like the muscles, skin, hair, nails, enzymes and every kind of components that make up the cells. The body, however, only has the capability to convert proteins at a maximum level.
Figure this out, having an extra 100 grams of protein will not make the body decide to build 100 grams of muscle and hair, instead, that protein will just end up as food. For example, you have a 20-galloon gas tank in your truck, what happens when you decide to pump in 30 galloons for gas? It either gets spilled or you store the extra gas in gas containers.
Just like the body burns carbohydrates and fat as fuel, so does protein.
That effect is also a characteristic of bodybuilders and gaining mass. They are healthy, but they have a heavier body weight, thanks to mass gained by the body in the form of bigger muscles. If all proteins consumed by the body gets to be converted, then imagine seeing body builders as huge as elephants or whales, just because all protein consumed gets converted.
In summary, make sure to track your food or protein consumption with your activity going slightly over the protein values based on RDA may not be generally harmful. All that’s needed is an awareness of how you have your proteins, how much you need inside of you and how to burn it with your training workouts to give you the benefits of gaining mass.
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