posted May 15, 2000 08:38 AM            

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okay someone keeps mentioning that too much protein is a possibilty.i often thought and heard that the more protein means the more muscle gain.i myself at a small 155 have been taking in 265 grams a day for the last two weeks and have gained nothing but muscle, i think the guy is lying about the too much protein thing, to the dude that was curious about how much protien you should take listen up, if you can afford all the protein in the world, get it, if i could i would eat nothing but protein shakes and chicken breast,i would probably take in 400 grams every day, not that i think it taste great but how can you get any healthier than that,

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posted May 15, 2000 02:31 PM         

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I definitely agree that extra protein is required to build muscle. However, I wouldn't jump to the conclusion that extra muscle (or protein) necessarily means greater health. Sure, good health reflects a greater amount of muscle tone and overall lower than average fat levels, but having extra muscles does not automatically make a person healthy or fit. Fitness can be measured in a clinical setting. Fitness is measured as: following exercise that increases your heart rate to a target level, there is a period of decreased activity (cool down) and then a period of relative inactivity--during which time the heart rate and breathing rate are measured at timed intervals. This measurement of heart rate and breathing rate (and blood pressure) is the basis for being in shape. So the very short definition of being fit is: how quickly your body returns to a normal heart rate, breathing rate and blood pressure following a finite period of strenuous exercise. It is not necessarily a function of how much muscle mass one has. It's been my experience that many bodybuilders who do not perform cardiovascular activities are not technically in good physical fitness because the stress of cardiovascular activities results in their bodies taking extra time to return to normal. This can only result in greater workload by the heart to perfuse all of the tissues with blood and nutrients. Just think of it this way...if 2 people have normal hearts, both of them exercise to build muscle(but don't do much cardio)...one of them weighs 250 lean pounds and the other is 190 lean pounds...whose heart do you think is having to work harder?The heavier person, almost without fail, just by virtue of how much force is required of the heart to get blood to all the extra tissue.
I understand that extra muscle looks good and that it does help a person achieve good health on the basis of proper nutrition and lowered fat levels, but it does not incur an automatic degree of fitness and health.
I don't want you to think that I'm saying bodybuilding is unhealthy, because I believe it is very healthy if the bodybuilder does at least some degree of cardio activity on a regular basis. I'm doing bodybuilding and cardio for the health benefits as a whole, not for the sole purpose of getting bigger.

But to answer your question, I do think a person can take in too much protein from a clinical standpoint. Look at it this way. If you take in very high amounts of protein every day, but fail to also increase the amount of fiber in your diet to help get the digested proteins out of your system, then you can be at risk for a bowel blockage. Which is an emergency situation. How much is too much? Only you can determine that. However, if you are taking in a great deal of protein every day and you have things such as: getting colds and other little sicknesses often, have diarrhea or constipation, are frequently nauseated in between normal sized meals, then you might be taking in too much. Or you could be taking in too little water or fiber. Just make sure you are eating plenty of dark leafy green veggies and drinking plenty of pure water every day, and you'll probably be just fine.

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posted May 15, 2000 04:20 PM         

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Also remember that too much protein can result in your body up-regulating enzymes that break down protein and actually result in less protein being used.

go to www.ironmag.com, there's a couple of articles on protein cycling that are pretty interesting.

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