5 health risks from consuming too much protein, from heart disease to weight gain

Channel News Asia ^

[nickcarraway]

Many of us eat more protein than we need. We asked experts what can happen if people have too much of a good thing.

If you’ve browsed the packaged-food aisle of a grocery store lately, or scanned the updated Dietary Guidelines for Americans, you might think that when it comes to protein, more is better.

Packaged cereal, popcorn, pancake mix and coffee drinks are being infused with the nutrient. And the new inverted food pyramid, released by the US government in January, features protein prominently, with steak, chicken and cheese at the top. Research suggests that most US adults are eating far more protein than is needed for good health. And according to a 2025 survey of 3,000 US adults, 71 per cent said they were trying to eat more – up from 59 per cent in 2022.

Protein is an essential nutrient. But more is not necessarily better, said Bettina Mittendorfer, a professor of nutrition and exercise physiology at the University of Missouri School of Medicine. And in some cases, eating much more than what nutrition experts recommend can come with some risks.

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TOPICS: Health/Medicine; Science
KEYWORDS: donate; eatbugs; keto; ketogenic; protein

[SkyDancer]

I take a protean shake with me on flights - 16g’s

[politicianslie]

I just saw some advice to start the day with 40g of protein to kick start your day, it was emphasized that 20 g was not enough. That advice was for over 60 yo and up to fight muscle loss (sarcopenia).

[HYPOCRACY]

I had steak and eggs this morning.

[Texas resident]

One of the best breakfasts I ever had was after a duck hunting trip. Chicken fried steak, fried eggs and a lot of bacon.

[healy61]

For the life of me, I could not care less what nutritionist and leftist eat. Why do they care what I eat?

[HYPOCRACY]

Now I’m hungry...

[sjmjax]

I think the real problem is that “we” in general just eat too much.

It’s the total calorie intake vs total energy expenditure equation that’s out of wack.

Those on unique diets are most often are just eating fewer total calories than “normal”. It’s not magic.

And a diet restricted in diverse nutrient sources can have long term consequences.

[Mr Rogers]

“It’s the total calorie intake vs total energy expenditure equation that’s out of wack.”

Not true. If you’ve become very fat, your body’s hormone system gets out a whack. Just cutting calories won’t get the job done. I was a very fat kid. In the 9th grade, I cut calories and lost 50 pounds, but I still had significant belly fat. When I was 20. I dieted down to less than 120 pounds - as a 5’8” male - but still had fat belly.

Went Keto at 60. 8 years later, I’m 150 pounds and very little belly fat. Some, and SOME fat is good. I’m nearly 70 and see no value in getting ripped! But it took more than cutting calories to make it go away. And stay away. It took very low carb and eventually a loose carnivore diet. For a few years.

At this point, my body is once again doing “calorie in/calorie out”. That is how a normal body is meant to function. It is how my sister, who never ate 10 chocolate chip cookies a day, has lived her entire life. But how I ate as a kid got me to where it took doing something else, for YEARS. to recalibrate my body.

[lastchance]

You gain weight from eating too much of any food. However it takes consuming a lot more protein rich foods to gain a significant amount of weight than it does foods consisting mainly of refined grains and high sugar content.

I suspect this is one of those “Save the planet!! Do not eat meat!” We did the research!” papers.

[lastchance]

Research suggests that most US adults are eating far more protein than is needed for good health.

There is a big difference between what is needed for “good health” and what is needed for optimum health. Older people especially often do not get enough protein from the foods they eat. These people often seem to be in good health, until certain labs are run and protein deficiency is shown.

[Pete from Shawnee Mission]

Brave search info on Gout.

Gout is a common form of inflammatory arthritis characterized by recurrent attacks of sudden, intense pain, redness, and swelling in joints, most commonly the big toe. It is caused by hyperuricemia, or persistently elevated levels of uric acid in the blood, which leads to the formation of needle-shaped monosodium urate crystals in the joints and surrounding tissues.

Key aspects of the condition include:

Causes: The primary driver is the body’s inability to excrete enough uric acid (90% of cases) or overproduction of uric acid. Risk factors include a diet high in purines (red meat, organ meats, shellfish), alcohol consumption (especially beer), obesity, and certain medications like diuretics.

Symptoms: Attacks, or "flares," typically begin at night with severe pain, swelling, and warmth, reaching maximal intensity within 12 hours. Without treatment, flares can lead to tophi (hard uric acid deposits under the skin) and kidney stones.

Treatment: Acute attacks are managed with NSAIDs, colchicine, or glucocorticoids to reduce pain and inflammation. Long-term prevention involves lifestyle changes (weight loss, dietary modifications) and medications like allopurinol to lower uric acid levels and prevent future attacks.

[catnipman]

For a 195-pound male aged 72, the recommended daily protein intake is about 89 to 106 grams.

rots of ruck in achieving that amount on a daily basis, so obviously it’s a hoax that folks are eating so much protein as to provoke heart disease and weight gain. the very opposite is true ...

[Harmless Teddy Bear]

Because they want to tell you what to do.

They have the firm belief that they are smarter and so should be in charge of everything. The problem is that while they may know a great deal in one tiny area their over all viewpoint is limited.

It is why the expert class tends to lean toward fascism.

The government should run everything and because they are so smart surely the government, in their wisdom, will put them in charge.

Not the way it works as they tend to find out to their sorrow.

[Mr Rogers]

“It has been known since the late 1960s that fructose raises uric acid levels. Examples of foods which contain fructose are fresh fruit (max 10% fructose), dried fruit (max 40% fructose), table sugar (50% fructose) and corn syrup (55% fructose). Uric acid levels rise about 13% after eating meals containing fructose. People with gout have more exaggerated responses to fructose than healthy controls.”

https://www.diagnosisdiet.com/full-article/does-meat-cause-gout

I guess for me there is a simple test: Do carnivores have significantly greater problems with gout? The answer seems to be no.

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“This new analysis looks at the role of non-alcoholic drinks and fruit on the first onset of gout. It finds a strong association between sugar sweetened soft drinks, usually containing fructose, and gout. Consuming two servings a day of a sugar sweetened soft drink increased the risk of developing gout by 85% (relative risk 1.85, 95% confidence interval 1.08 to 3.16). This compares with an increased risk of 49% from drinking 15-29.9 g/day of alcohol, 21% from eating an extra serving of meat a day, and 95% from having a body mass index of 25.0-29.9 versus 21.0-22.9; consuming 240 ml of skimmed milk a day decreased risk by 43%.6 A high intake of naturally occurring fructose also increased the risk of developing gout; consuming two or more glasses of fruit juice each day increased the risk by 81% (1.81, 1.12 to 2.93) and eating an apple or orange a day increased the risk by 64% (1.64, 1.05 to 2.56). These epidemiological data provide useful information for formulating appropriate dietary advice that might reduce recurrent gout.”

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC2234537/

” Increasing intake of sugar sweetened soft drinks was associated with an increasing risk of gout. Compared with consumption of less than one serving of sugar sweetened soft drinks a month the multivariate relative risk of gout for 5-6 servings a week was 1.29 (95% confidence interval 1.00 to 1.68), for one serving a day was 1.45 (1.02 to 2.08), and for two or more servings a day was 1.85 (1.08 to 3.16; P for trend=0.002). Diet soft drinks were not associated with risk of gout (P for trend=0.99). The multivariate relative risk of gout according to increasing fifths of fructose intake were 1.00, 1.29, 1.41, 1.84, and 2.02 (1.49 to 2.75; P for trend <0.001). Other major contributors to fructose intake such as total fruit juice or fructose rich fruits (apples and oranges) were also associated with a higher risk of gout (P values for trend <0.05).”

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC2234536/

[Georgia Girl 2]

Eat more peeps! 😉

[stars & stripes forever]

[The FDA allows a surprising number of insect fragments in everyday foods]

It is about time We the People have a say about what is allowed in food, in the water, in the sky ...

[dkGba]

I’m pretty sure unless we the people start hiring mercenaries to target the rich demonic lunatics spraying the skies, releasing ticks, releasing mosquitoes, destroying our food and healthcare and intentionally destroying what Gid has created perfectly-it isn’t going to matter. The assaults on our well being are intentionally insidious and will therefore be effective. They don’t dare come at us close up face to face because they are COWARDS and know we would defend ourselves

[dkGba]

Aargh- God created (yeesh I did the typo again and had to correct it!!)

[reasonisfaith]

It’s sad, isn’t it?

[webheart]

Protein is not “the nutrient” it is at least 21 nutrients. Knowing something contains protein is useless if you don’t know which proteins and don’t understand what amino acids are.