Too much Protein?

maamom

For the last couple of months or so I have changed my diet and have started lifting weights in the gym with the aim of bulking up. I came up with this diet plan after reading the stickies and a number of other threads. However I heard Paula Mee on the radio at the weekend talking about protein and this has left me a little worried. She was saying too much protein in the diet causes kidney stones and she also talked about limiting the amount of eggs you eat in a week. Basically I am wondering am I now consuming too much protein.
Below is my diet plan.

Breakfast:
Large bowl of porridge made with milk
and
3 Scrambled eggs

Lunch
Steak with green veg
or
2 pork chops with beans
or
chicken (1 breast) wholegrain wrap

Dinner
2 Chicken breasts stir fried with veg and rice

Snacks
Fruit, Yogurt also protein shake after gym which has two scoops of whey powder(48gms of protein) plus a banana, large spoon of peanut butter, oats and milk(400mls)

thegreatiam

how much protein is it?

height, weight age etc all important factors here.

Your diet looks ok, needs more veg tho id say you're being pretty vague about stuff like what veg and portion sizes. how big chicken breast? what size steak? how much rice.


As a general rule of thumb youll need 1g of protein er lb in body weight, but youll have a large margin of error. anywhere between 80% and 125% of that figure will be fine.
im 90 kgs 190lbs. SO I usually aim for around 200g of protein, but I go as low as 160 or as high as 250 on any given day. Your body will generally pee any excess out and unless you have kidney problems already you shouldnt be worried.

maamom

6ft 2 and 162 pounds hence trying to bulk up. Your right I am quite vague about weights of food as I am not very good for weighing or measuring things. Chicken breasts and steaks are just average size ones from supermarket. I think 5 chicken breasts is around 800 grams.

My main worry was about too much protein causing problems such as kidney stones which you seem to believe is not an issue and also am I eating too many eggs.

Barracuda1

maamom wrote: »

For the last couple of months or so I have changed my diet and have started lifting weights in the gym with the aim of bulking up. I came up with this diet plan after reading the stickies and a number of other threads. However I heard Paula Mee on the radio at the weekend talking about protein and this has left me a little worried. She was saying too much protein in the diet causes kidney stones and she also talked about limiting the amount of eggs you eat in a week. Basically I am wondering am I now consuming too much protein.
Below is my diet plan.

Breakfast:
Large bowl of porridge made with milk
and
3 Scrambled eggs

Lunch
Steak with green veg
or
2 pork chops with beans
or
chicken (1 breast) wholegrain wrap

Dinner
2 Chicken breasts stir fried with veg and rice

Snacks
Fruit, Yogurt also protein shake after gym which has two scoops of whey powder(48gms of protein) plus a banana, large spoon of peanut butter, oats and milk(400mls)

Why don't you try adding vegtable protein instead of all the meat sources. They are of higher quality. Try some soyabeans/chickpeas they can be purchaes in leading supermarkets very cheaply and they are far healtier. I find for best results the more basic the food (non processed) the better the outcome.

feelgoodinc27

Barracuda1 wrote: »

Why don't you try adding vegtable protein instead of all the meat sources. They are of higher quality. Try some soyabeans/chickpeas they can be purchaes in leading supermarkets very cheaply and they are far healtier. I find for best results the more basic the food (non processed) the better the outcome.

In what ways are they of higher quality and healthier?

Barracuda1

feelgoodinc27 wrote: »

In what ways are they of higher quality and healthier?

I found myself that they were better rather than meat protein. I also eat meat for its nutrients but when I mixed the meals and added soya bean I found to have more energy for the aerobic part of my regime. I would not be a fan of milk for protein intake so I use Lactose free milk with has zero bad fats like alot of the vegetable protein

runawaybishop

Barracuda1 wrote: »

I found myself that they were better rather than meat protein. I also eat meat for its nutrients but when I mixed the meals and added soya bean I found to have more energy for the aerobic part of my regime. I would not be a fan of milk for protein intake so I use Lactose free milk with has zero bad fats like alot of the vegetable protein

That's just anecdotal evidence though, so no offense but its not massively useful and could be plain untrue. If you want to make a strong statement such as "plant protein is better" you will need to back it up with some studies. Then we can all move on to plant protein and high five you for a job well done.

Kidney stones are the result of the kidneys not passing uric acid out efficiently. That doesn't mean protein causes kidney stones as such, more that an issue with your kidneys causes a lot of protein to exacerbate the underlying issue.

http://kidney.niddk.nih.gov/kudiseases/pubs/stonesadults/

Anyway, what did Paula Mee say was sufficient protein?

Barracuda1

runawaybishop wrote: »

That's just anecdotal evidence though, so no offense but its not massively useful and could be plain untrue. If you want to make a strong statement such as "plant protein is better" you will need to back it up with some studies. Then we can all move on to plant protein and high five you for a job well done.

Kidney stones are the result of the kidneys not passing uric acid out efficiently. That doesn't mean protein causes kidney stones as such, more that an issue with your kidneys causes a lot of protein to exacerbate the underlying issue.

http://kidney.niddk.nih.gov/kudiseases/pubs/stonesadults/

Anyway, what did Paula Mee say was sufficient protein?

No offence taken my opinion is open to interrogation by the boards.ie audience. I still believe you should eat some meat in your diet.I always thought the body stored excess protein and changed it into energy when the body needed it.

maamom

runawaybishop wrote: »

Anyway, what did Paula Mee say was sufficient protein?

She didnt give any exact figures for how many grams to eat in a day or week. From what I remember she said 3 portions of red meat, 2 portions of fish and some dairy, cheese and eggs in a week would be enough.

Inspector Coptoor

Barracuda1 wrote: »

No offence taken my opinion is open to interrogation by the boards.ie audience. I still believe you should eat some meat in your diet.I always thought the body stored excess protein and changed it into energy when the body needed it.

No, not really.
Humans have evolved to store glucose in the form of highly branched chains of amylopectin which is called glycogen.
We store a small amount if excess energy in this form in our muscles & liver

Our main energy store is lipid in the form of adipose or fat tissue.

Some organisms can store protein in some forms. Ie albumin in eggs & casein in dairy, but for the most part storing protein would take up too much space to store in teens of calories of storage per centimeter cubed which is why we have evolved to store lipid/fat, it's a much more energy dense molecule gram for gram

thegreatiam

maamom wrote: »

She didnt give any exact figures for how many grams to eat in a day or week. From what I remember she said 3 portions of red meat, 2 portions of fish and some dairy, cheese and eggs in a week would be enough.

this statement means absolutely nothing. there is no definition for portion.
is a portion an 8oz fillet or a 22oz ribeye?
is a portion of fish 1kg of salmon or a handfull of shrimp?
are these portions for you or me? or my wrestler mate who is 6 foot 7 and weighs 24 stone? cos im damn sure even a big portion of steak isnt enough for him to function on.
most important thing's if someone is going to tell you that you have too much of something they need to provide actual figures. vague, non measurable statements like portion, serving, too much. are quite frankly, bull****.

To say you are having too much protein she would need to know your exact weight, lifestyle and medical requirements. from the statement you have quoted I doubt she even knows how much she should be having, let alone the whole nation.

Chancer3001

oh god.

MORE PROTEIN if youre trying to bulk.

the whole "too many eggs" has been debunked. Google the latest studies.

protein is protein, doesnt matter where you get it from. you will however get LOTS more protein from meat than any vegetable source.

1g per lb is a good target. Its not easy to get. try it every day for a month and see.

Barracuda1

Chancer3001 wrote: »

oh god.

MORE PROTEIN if youre trying to bulk.

the whole "too many eggs" has been debunked. Google the latest studies.

protein is protein, doesnt matter where you get it from. you will however get LOTS more protein from meat than any vegetable source.

1g per lb is a good target. Its not easy to get. try it every day for a month and see.

Soyabeans and Chickpeas contain 15-20g grammes per 100 grammes of protein. I have no idea what amount they contain when cooked. IMO eggs are a good source of protein but are colesterol causing like red meat in large quantities

btkm8unsl0w5r4

Chancer3001 wrote: »

1g per lb is a good target. Its not easy to get. try it every day for a month and see.

And thats your target weight, not current weight......

adox

Barracuda1 wrote: »

Soyabeans and Chickpeas contain 15-20g grammes per 100 grammes of protein. I have no idea what amount they contain when cooked. IMO eggs are a good source of protein but are colesterol causing like red meat in large quantities

Isn't that just an old wives tale at this stage?

donncha

The interview with Paula Mee is here on the RTE website and it was mainly about the alkaline diet.

I found this thread by looking through boards for any mention of it so I hope this is a help. The interview was good, she said there was no scientific basis for the alkaline diet but I was disappointed that she didn't directly say it was impossible for food to change the acidity of blood or bodily organs. She did say that the diet will work simply because you're restricting your calorie intake but you're likely missing out on other nutrients and minerals.

colossus-x

maamom wrote: »

For the last couple of months or so I have changed my diet and have started lifting weights in the gym with the aim of bulking up. I came up with this diet plan after reading the stickies and a number of other threads. However I heard Paula Mee on the radio at the weekend talking about protein and this has left me a little worried. She was saying too much protein in the diet causes kidney stones and she also talked about limiting the amount of eggs you eat in a week. Basically I am wondering am I now consuming too much protein.
Below is my diet plan.

Breakfast:
Large bowl of porridge made with milk
and
3 Scrambled eggs

Lunch
Steak with green veg
or
2 pork chops with beans
or
chicken (1 breast) wholegrain wrap

Dinner
2 Chicken breasts stir fried with veg and rice

Snacks
Fruit, Yogurt also protein shake after gym which has two scoops of whey powder(48gms of protein) plus a banana, large spoon of peanut butter, oats and milk(400mls)

It is very unusual for a bodybuilder to be worried about getting too much protein : )

You should look at it like this %protein/%charbs/%fat

The consider norm is 45%protein/45%carbs/10%fat - for bodybuilders. Not required such a high protein content for non-muscle buliders.

Your concern should really be what is the total calorific count of all 3. Protein also contains calories so make sure your not in general eating too much in total.