Denton County Living Well Magazine January/February 2016 | Page 32

How much is too much?

W

By Julie Alvira, MD, MBA

e all have heard that following a high
protein low carbohydrates (low carb)
diet is good and you lose weight fast.
We have also heard that if you perform
intense resistance training, you should
ingest a good amount of protein after working out (post
workout) to repair muscle. And of course we have heard
that high protein diets are beneficial for anti-aging. But
have you heard that for females a very high (in excess) protein nutrition plan can be counterproductive? What about
kidney disease and other related conditions in both males
and females?

A look back
More than 40 years ago, Dr. Robert Atkins wrote the
book about the Atkins revolutionary diet. Generally
speaking, his diet states that if a person cuts drastically
on carbohydrates, the body turns to the fat that is stored
for fuel. The person usually eats lots of protein. The result
is interesting due to the fact that the body burns body
fat because it releases a byproduct called ketones that
the person will use for energy. Atkins diet is an example
of a high protein/high fat very low carbohydrates plan.
Sounds risky right? Another diet, like Atkins, but with a
twist, is The Zone. This is a high protein/low fat plan
with moderate carbohydrates.
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DENTON COUNTY Living Well Magazine | JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2016

According to the American Dietetic Association, a high
protein diet means that of the total number of calories
a person consumes each day, 25-35% of those calories
come from protein as opposed to a typical diet in which
only about 10-15% of calories comes from protein (Chang,
2014). When a person ingests a substantial amount of
lean protein and zero, or a very low quantity, of carbohydrates, he or she feels fuller longer, which translates into
eating less frequently, which equals weight loss. Sounds
nice, right? Well, not so fast.

Drawbacks of high protein plans
Sometimes very high protein plans lack nutrients. Eating
a diet based of only protein forces the body into starvation mode (most body tissues use glucose––blood sugar––
supplied by carbohydrates as fuel). When there are not
enough carbohydrates to use as fuel the body is forced to
use the stored blood sugar from the liver and muscles. This
results is muscle breakdown. If the carbohydrate restriction
is prolonged, the brain (which runs on glucose) will go into
the process called ketosis and use the fat stores for fuel. Kidneys go into overdrive in order to flush the ketone, which
causes a significant amount of water loss. This water loss
looks like weight loss on the scale. The effect can cause
dehydration, especially if a person exercises heavily. But