With the high protein craze reaching an apex in pop culture, more and more people are switching to a protein-heavy diet as well as considering boosting their nutrition with protein powders and shakes.
If these dietary options were once most closely associated with the elderly or the body builders among us, they are becoming huge with just about anyone who has too little energy and time to eat right, as the Washington Post noted. From teenagers to pregnant women, it seems everybody today is looking to boost protein whether on the go or at the gym.
“It’s a hot macronutrient because it really does help you feel more full, which is what makes high-protein diets pretty effective for weight loss. The way protein is metabolized even increases your metabolism a little bit when you eat it,” nutritionist Christy Brisette told Women’s Health Magazine.
But are we so obsessed with protein that we are going overboard with it? Can you get too much of a good thing?
Some nutritionists are uncertain about protein supplements, as the Washington Post has reported, because it’s unclear just how the body processes these substances when they are not part of a whole food. For one thing, a whole food generally contains vitamins and fiber than may impact the way the protein is digested. Real foods are balanced in a way a scoop of protein powder is not.
“Is it better to get your nutrition from whole foods? Absolutely,” Rebecca Mohning, a dietitian in the Washington area, told the Washington Post.
Leah Groppo, clinical dietician at Stanford Health Care, agrees that the focus should always be on real food.
“Protein powders are typically not needed, but you can have them if you would like,” she says, “Ideally, focus on foods first. For instance, two hard boiled eggs (12g of protein) and toast is a good snack. Another one is plain greek yogurt with chia seeds and some fruit. ”
In fact, one 2016 study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that women who ate a high protein diet were more likely to have children who were shorter at birth and later on than those who consumed less protein.
Karen Switkowski, the lead author of the study, told the Post that “while it’s important for women to eat enough protein to support the growth of their baby, they might want to be cautious about going far beyond the recommended amounts.”
To make sure you don’t overdo it, Groppo recommends moderation:
“Focus on spreading out protein foods out throughout the day,” she says. “The flipside of eating too much protein means that your body will take the excess calories and store it as fat.”
You can get too much of a good thing. The bottomline is that pushing protein too hard can actually backfire on your diet.
“While protein is necessary as a part of a healthy diet and in building muscle, more is not necessarily always better,” says Elizabeth Bailey, director of Food and Nutrition at Kaiser Permanente’s San Jose Medical Center. “High protein diets can be hard on the kidneys and may worsen any kidney disease that may be present; making it difficult for the body to eliminate the waste products of protein metabolism.”
