Be aware of the following 3 risks if you are on a high protein diet & bull; hello healthy

Maybe you are on a diet to lose weight? Or are you undergoing a program to build body muscles? Many people are on a high-protein diet to lose weight or gain muscle quickly. But is a high protein diet safe?

What is a high protein diet?

Protein is a very important substance needed by the body. These nutrients are found in almost all body tissues and are the building blocks of the body. Various important roles played by protein in the body include supporting growth, the formation of the immune system, hormones, enzymes, and various other body tissues. Many dietary principles recommend consuming high protein and reducing carbohydrates. In addition, protein is thought to hold hunger pangs for longer.

There are two types of high-protein diets, namely diets that are accompanied by restricted carbohydrates and replaced with protein, and diets that replace all carbohydrate needs with protein. A high-protein diet typically consumes 25 to 35 percent of total calories in a day. Meanwhile, what our bodies need is only about 10 to 15 percent of protein from total calories a day. According to the Ministry of Health's provisions regarding nutritional adequacy rates, normal protein needs that must be met every day are 62 to 65 grams for men and 56 to 57 for adult women, or as much as 0.8-1.0 grams per kg of body weight. per day.

Is it true that a high-protein diet can withstand hunger?

Some experts claim that consuming more protein can increase satisfaction and hold hunger pangs longer. Eating foods that are high in protein so that they are low in fat and carbohydrates will cause an increase in the hormone leptin in the body. The leptin hormone is a hormone that works to reduce and suppress appetite in the body. Therefore, many recommend increasing protein consumption if you want to lose weight.

Is a high protein diet good for health?

There are several possible effects of a high protein diet. However, that does not mean that a high protein diet should not be done. Who should be more careful about eating a high protein diet?

A diet high in protein and kidney damage

Although there are recommendations for patients with kidney disease, such as kidney failure, not to consume too much protein, this does not mean that protein is not good for consumption. Actually, healthy people have no problem eating foods high in protein. Patients who already experience kidney disease due to various risk factors are not allowed to consume too much protein because it will aggravate the work of the kidneys, which have previously been damaged. However, what if the kidneys are healthy and able to work properly? It's okay to eat a high-protein diet, and some studies suggest there's no solid evidence that a high-protein diet causes kidney disease in healthy people.

Diet high in protein and damage to the liver

The liver is an organ that plays an important role in all metabolic processes in the body. Just like the case in patients with kidney disease, patients with liver dysfunction such as cirrhosis, it is recommended not to consume large amounts of protein, and even have to reduce the amount of protein in one day so as not to aggravate the disturbance in the liver. However, in people who are healthy and have normal liver function, it is okay to eat foods high in protein. Until now there has also been no research that proves that eating foods high in protein can cause liver damage.

Diet high in protein and cancer

A study published in the Journal of Cell Metabolism found that consuming multiple sources of protein for a long period of time in middle age, increased the risk of death from various causes by 74%, and the risk of dying from cancer increased to 4 times greater than that of people who consumed the protein consumed. low. In fact, the results of this study stated that the group of people who consumed moderate amounts of protein still had a 3 times greater risk of developing cancer compared to the group who consumed small amounts.

Then, is consuming protein dangerous?

Of course not, protein is still the substance most needed by the body, but it is the type of protein we eat that influences this occurrence. Most people probably think that the only source of protein comes from beef or chicken and so on. Whereas protein has two sources, namely animal protein derived from animals and vegetable protein derived from plants. In that study, the researchers stated that the group that consumed more vegetable protein, such as soybeans, kidney beans, and other legumes, had a lower risk of developing cancer.

So, how do you go about having a safe, high-protein diet?

From the various studies that have been mentioned above, applying a high protein diet does not cause problems for healthy people, but your body still needs other nutrients to support bodily functions. If you do a high-protein diet by replacing all the amount of carbohydrates with protein, this will be dangerous for the body because it can result in ketosis, where the body lacks sugar in the body which is usually used as an energy source and then breaks down fat as a substitute for fuel. This process will produce ketones in the blood which can be harmful to health.

Eat enough portions and keep consuming various food sources in a day to avoid you lacking a nutrient. In addition, you should choose good, low-fat protein sources, such as nuts, fish, skinless chicken, lean beef, and low-fat dairy products.