Is increased protein intake harmful? Study shows otherwise

Protein and nerds

If you exercise, you've probably already spent a lot of time arguing with friends, family and all sorts of jerks who point fingers at you and tell you that eating so much protein isn't healthy.

These same people will tell you, for example, that lifting weights isn't the best activity and you'd be better off riding an exercise bike in a room full of like-minded morons, under the guidance of an aspiring cult leader who will test the limits of your ventricular walls.

In the past, you've had two possible responses. Either ignore them or give them the middle finger. Now you have a third option. You can show them the results of a study that proved that lifting weights combined with a high protein intake dramatically improves health.

What did they do?

Korean researchers enrolled 18 men in their twenties who had never exercised. They divided them into 2 groups.

Each group completed a 12 week program where they used weights around 60 - 80% of the maximum.

One group ate a normal diet where 60% of the energy came from carbohydrates, 15% from protein and 25% from fat. The other group ate a more protein-rich diet where 55% of the energy came from carbohydrates, 30% from protein and 15% from fat. Both groups consumed the same amount of calories.

What did they find?

After 12 weeks, the high protein intake group had:

• Net muscle mass gains
• Dramatic increases in growth hormone levels
• Increased testosterone levels
• Decreased body fat percentage

The regular diet group did not experience significant changes in the above parameters. You could probably guess this as well. But the higher protein intake group, compared to the regular group, also saw improvements in some health parameters:

1. Dramatically increased insulin sensitivity
2. Improved cholesterol ratio (higher HDL levels)

The researchers summarized it this way "...With a long-term protein-rich diet and training, beneficial hormonal responses occur improving body composition, metabolic profile and energy expenditure."

What does this mean for you?

Everything mentioned above means that your eating habits are correct. Feel free to continue consuming increased doses of protein without fear of protein overdose.

Source: www.t-nation.com - Kim HH1, Kim YJ1, Lee SY2, Jeong DW3, Lee JG1, Yi YH1, Cho YH4, Choi EJ4, Kim HJ5, "Interactive effects of an isocaloric high-protein diet and resistance exercise on body composition, ghrelin, and metabolic and hormonal parameters in untrained young men: A randomized clinical trial." J Diabetes Investig. 2014 Mar 23;5(2):242-7. TC Luoma Translated by Jaromír Uhlíř