| Q: I love to eat steak, chicken, and my protein shakes. | | | | used by the body. Your body cannot "store" protein - it |
| Can there be such thing as too much protein in my | | | | is excreted as urine. |
| diet? | | | | There are also issues with the dangers of making the |
| A: Yes. | | | | kidneys filter high levels of protein. Their renal function |
| While the recommended daily allowance of protein is | | | | is designed to process a fixed amount of protein. |
| less than 100 grams, most sports trainers and | | | | When a person triples or quadruples the workload, the |
| nutritionists recommend around 1 to 1.5 grams of | | | | kidneys do have to work harder. When you factor in |
| protein per pound of bodyweight. For a 200-pound | | | | the rigors of pre-contest water deprivation, you begin |
| male, this equates to 200 to 300 grams of protein per | | | | to realize the real strain that kidneys go through thanks |
| day. Some nutritionists recommend up to TWO grams | | | | to bodybuilding. And it conjures of memories of the |
| per pound of bodyweight, which would put the | | | | dozen or so big-name bodybuilders who have |
| 200-pound trainer at 400 grams of protein per day. | | | | suffered from kidney failure. |
| Some top athletes regularly consume up to 500 or | | | | As with all good things, moderation is the key. Start at |
| 600 grams per day. However, it should be considered | | | | 300 grams of protein and move up very slowly - |
| that they are 250 to 300 pounds (or higher!) and they | | | | maybe 50 grams daily every week. As the benefits |
| naturally have a higher caloric requirement than the | | | | begin to taper off, consider not adding any more |
| rest of us. | | | | protein. After all, the bodybuilding phase of your life will |
| Because each gram (g.) of protein contains four | | | | likely last two decades, before it evolves into training |
| calories, your body stores excess protein as fat. Just | | | | for health and longevity. Your kidneys are in this for the |
| as it would with carbohydrates or fats which were not | | | | long haul. So take care of them! |