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Marc O\u2019Mara<\/p>\nHigh-protein diets are having a moment \u2014 maybe too much so. Recommended by influencers and athletes, these diets suggest that upping your intake can help build muscle, promote weight loss, and even regulate your hormones.<\/p>\n
Marc O\u2019Mara, a senior nutritionist in the Nutrition and Wellness Service at the Brigham and Women\u2019s Outpatient Department, said that while there are health benefits to protein, it\u2019s important to recognize there can be too much of a good thing.<\/p>\n
In this edited interview with the Gazette, O\u2019Mara discusses how much you really need and when enough is enough.<\/p>\n
Why are so many drawn to high-protein diets?<\/p>\n
Protein is important for health and wellness, and it is an important part of weight loss. It\u2019s the one part of any meal that tells your brain that you\u2019re full. It makes us feel full longer.<\/p>\n
It also controls our blood sugars. You can think of protein as setting up a dam at the end of your digestive tract, holding back any sugars that you ate. They\u2019re slowed down and enter the bloodstream over several hours, giving us more hours to burn through those calories.<\/p>\n
A lot of social media content has to do with muscle building.<\/p>\n
You do need protein for building muscle, but social media has taken that and just added lots of extras on top of what the recommendations are. I often see a recommendation to eat 200 grams of protein every single day, which is way over what most people need.<\/p>\n
Recently, I\u2019ve had clients who were shooting for that and their kidneys were negatively affected. Your kidneys process all the extra nitrogen from the protein, and when you\u2019re eating 200 grams a day, sometimes they just can\u2019t keep up and they get stressed.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou do need protein for building muscle, but social media has taken that and just added lots of extras on top of what the recommendations are.\u201d<\/p>\n
Marc O\u2019Mara<\/p>\n
Could you talk a little bit more about the consequences of over consuming protein?<\/p>\n
Beyond negatively affecting the kidneys, protein is high in calories. I have clients who eat large protein portions at their meals, and they\u2019re not losing weight like they hoped. They heard, \u201cOh, protein\u2019s good for weight loss,\u201d but too much will still turn to fat.<\/p>\n
Protein is way higher in calories than vegetables \u2014\u00a0about six times more for the same volume of food. That\u2019s a lot of extra calories that you have to burn.<\/p>\n
How much protein do we actually need?<\/p>\n
A general rule of thumb I give is to use your body weight (in pounds) times 0.36 (for the lower end) and 0.45 (for the higher end) and the resulting number would be grams of protein per day. For example, a 110-pound woman would need right around 45 grams of protein per day.<\/p>\n
Another trick is to use the palm of your hand as a reference for how big a portion of chicken or fish should be at your meal. That would be about 20 to 25 grams of protein. So if she just ate two portions like that in a day, maybe an egg in the morning, a light protein snack, she\u2019s already around 60 grams.<\/p>\n
Some people go a little bit above the goals, and that\u2019s OK, but if you\u2019re doubling or tripling the recommendation, that\u2019s where kidneys start to fight back.<\/p>\n
Does the recommendation change if you\u2019re an athlete or someone with a high level of physical activity?<\/p>\n
Yes, there should definitely be an increase in protein consumption. But the increase in protein isn\u2019t quite as much as people often think. It might be an additional 50 percent from that baseline calculation.<\/p>\n
That same 110-pound female, if she was an athlete, I\u2019d add an additional 20-25 grams of protein to her diet. If you\u2019re someone who regularly does intense workouts and your goal is to build muscle or get toned, you would fit in that same category.<\/p>\n
Another group of people that have different protein needs are women who are pregnant or breastfeeding. What recommendation would you give them?<\/p>\n
They need more too, because they\u2019re literally feeding another human. Generally, I\u2019d recommend about 1.25 times the baseline recommendation for pregnant or breastfeeding women (which is also the recommendation for elderly populations).<\/p>\n
I take care of a lot of pregnant women who have twins at the hospital, and most of them fall in the range of needing about 100 grams per day. They\u2019re trying to get 50 grams for themselves, then an additional 25 grams for each fetus.<\/p>\n
Say a little more about elderly populations.<\/p>\n
The over-age-65 group often gets overlooked in protein conversations. But protein helps them stay strong, prevents falls, and keeps the muscles and bones healthy.<\/p>\n
A lot of us start losing muscle mass after the age of 40 so strength training is important. You can\u2019t just add muscle by eating more protein. You also need strength training, at least two to three times a week.<\/p>\n
Protein can be sourced from both animals and plants. Does it make a difference?<\/p>\n
The Nurses\u2019 Health Study had a paper come out<\/a> that showed that people who were mainly eating protein from beans, nuts, and dairy products had much lower risk of chronic diseases during the rest of their life. That seems like it\u2019s a good thing.<\/p>\n You get a lot of nutrients in addition to the protein when you eat certain plants, like fiber, phytonutrients, vitamins, and minerals. Many animal proteins don\u2019t have those. Also, some studies show plant protein<\/a> is easier on the kidneys.<\/p>\n I hear a lot from like my patients that their doctors want them to eat a more plant-based diet, but they\u2019re concerned about protein. It\u2019s just a matter of focusing on the foods that have plant proteins and trying to get the right amounts.<\/p>\n