Is Protein Overrated...???

[TeamInzer]

I'm NOT saying that it is or isn't overrated, to tell you the truth I do not know the answer to this question. What is the consensus around here...

Let me give you an example, similar to my diet. Basically, I eat anywhere from 5-8 meals a day mainly consisting of greens, fruits, whole wheats, and some protein (100-170g, i.e. egg, whey, milk, some lean meat)

So if I ate more protein and less carbs, I would gain more muscle. I just find that kinda hard to believe, and wouldn't that be unhealthy??

I guess I'll start there.

[bookv]

I stick to 1.5x my bodyweight in protein. I do believe more of it is based on calories consumed though. Say you take in 300 grams of protein but is 1000 cals under maintenance, you're gonna lose muscle regardless. On the contrary, say you ate only 1g/lb bodyweight of protein, but overall have a caloric surplus, i don't see why you wouldn't gain. I think whats equally important is the source you're getting the protein from, I'd take 150g from high BV sources as opposed to 250g from lower BV sources.

[Mike0430]

Originally Posted by TeamInzer

So if I ate more protein and less carbs, I would gain more muscle. I just find that kinda hard to believe, and wouldn't that be unhealthy??

Depending on your body weight yes. Protein is the building block of muscle. You can't build a brick wall without bricks, no matter how hard you try. And if you need the wall to be bigger, but don't have enough bricks to make it that big, it just won't happen. Of course there is a limit of how much protein your body needs, but if your after maximum muscle growth, wouldn't you rather be safe then sorry? You could come up short on protein every day and still grow, just not as fast as you would if you hit that magic number. So in most circumstances, all things being equal, yes more protein would equal faster muscle growth in a given period of time.

As for cutting carbs, why would you want to do that? If your goal is muscle growth then your going to want to shoot over your daily caloric maintenance, so your going to need a lot of carbs and fats as well.

[mcdbb]

Originally Posted by TeamInzer

I'm NOT saying that it is or isn't overrated, to tell you the truth I do not know the answer to this question. What is the consensus around here...

Let me give you an example, similar to my diet. Basically, I eat anywhere from 5-8 meals a day mainly consisting of greens, fruits, whole wheats, and some protein (100-170g, i.e. egg, whey, milk, some lean meat)

So if I ate more protein and less carbs, I would gain more muscle. I just find that kinda hard to believe, and wouldn't that be unhealthy??

I guess I'll start there.

An excess of protein does not build muscle. Just like an excess of bricks does not build a house. You just have a ton of bricks left over. The excess will get used up for energy, so you'll be burning protein during your workout, and if the protein keeps on coming it will eventually get stored as fat.

I do understand the "better safe than sorry" concept that floats around these forums and it makes sense but there is a certain point where it gets ridiculous - guys who are 120 lbs, probably lifting slightly more than their body weight plunking down 250g+ of protein and expecting it to make some kind of magical difference.

[TeamInzer]

wasn't there some vegan bodybuilder who was built like a mac truck 250+ lbs.

someone refresh my memory on his name..

[BerkeleyBoy]

Having extra protein can be beneficial in times such as earthquakes and hurricans and such, because the extra bricks will help repair the brick wall.

[TeamInzer]

I just want to be as healthy as possible, and I know too much protein can be bad thing..

[Mike0430]

Originally Posted by TeamInzer

I just want to be as healthy as possible, and I know too much protein can be bad thing..

How do you KNOW this?

[TeamInzer]

Originally Posted by Mike0430

How do you KNOW this?

Besides being a biology major; it's called research. And not .com research .edu research

[TeamInzer]

http://www.medicinenet.com/script/ma...ticlekey=50900


.com but source is reliable.

[braddd]

I hear too many people saying I should be eating 1g per lb. This says 0.36 or some such thing. Too many opinions = confusing. Just going to tweak my own diet in the end anyway.

[Rodzilla]

in general I would say people over-eat protein. However; most of these "stresses" too much protein supposedly puts on the body have been refuted.

http://www.medicinenet.com/script/ma...ticlekey=50900
^is not a good source

[Jules Verne]

Originally Posted by TeamInzer

I just want to be as healthy as possible, and I know too much protein can be bad thing..

For pure health concerns and no other goals, I would just eat 20-40g of protein with each meal.

[Steel Jacket]

Originally Posted by BerkeleyBoy

Having extra protein can be beneficial in times such as earthquakes and hurricans and such, because the extra bricks will help repair the brick wall.

Cornball.

[Diab0lic]

Originally Posted by TeamInzer

I just want to be as healthy as possible, and I know too much protein can be bad thing..

Define too much......

"Too much" of anything is a bad thing

You can definitely eat more protein than 150g per day and suffer no ill health effects.

Just make sure its from clean sources (not too much accompanying fat), eat enough antioxidants and fibre and keep your water intake high to ensure proper removal of nitrogenous waste products and you will be fine

[Mr. Aries]

Originally Posted by Steel Jacket

Cornball.

..

[Ke422azn]

bodybuilding was never meant to be healthy. Everything in life is about balance and trade offs.

You want to be Mr Olympia, and a marathon runner at the same time? Too bad.
You want to be a big ass bodybuilder, but you don't want to eat protein? Too bad.

But can you still be muscular with moderate protein intake? YES.

[TeamInzer]

Originally Posted by Diab0lic

Define too much......

"Too much" of anything is a bad thing

You can definitely eat more protein than 150g per day and suffer no ill health effects.

Just make sure its from clean sources (not too much accompanying fat), eat enough antioxidants and fibre and keep your water intake high to ensure proper removal of nitrogenous waste products and you will be fine

I totally agree.

[TeamInzer]

Originally Posted by Rodzilla

in general I would say people over-eat protein. However; most of these "stresses" too much protein supposedly puts on the body have been refuted.

http://www.medicinenet.com/script/ma...ticlekey=50900
^is not a good source

Yeah, I wasn't claiming them to back my reasoning. If you look back all I said is this is what I go by...but anyway, how can you say that was not a good source??? What are your credentials to make a claim like that...????

[ashley2212]

Originally Posted by TeamInzer

So if I ate more protein and less carbs, I would gain more muscle. I just find that kinda hard to believe, and wouldn't that be unhealthy??

I ran a test on myself with this theory. For ~5-6 months, I ate 1.5-2g protein per pound of bodyweight each day with fewer carbs. Then, for another 5-6 months, I ate ~1g protein per pound of bodyweight each day with more carbs.

I saw no loss in muscle mass, no difference in body fat at the end of this year. What I did see was an increase in my lifts at the gym (I believe partly due to the carb increase but mostly my mindset) and thus, I added a bit of muscle.

In conclusion, I do believe if you're getting enough protein (1-1.25g per lb was sufficient for me) that you're not going to suffer any consequences if it "seems" low. I personally saw the best results on a 40/40/20 split.

Just my experience.

[AbAbber2k]

Originally Posted by TeamInzer

http://www.medicinenet.com/script/ma...ticlekey=50900


.com but source is reliable.

That link is a good example of people grasping pathetically onto archaic ideas about human biology and proper nutrition. High protein diets are perfectly acceptable, and no more dangerous than any other type of diet assuming you micronutrient profiles are in order and you're not eating grossly beyond maintenance levels for long periods of time.

[bosox1362]

Originally Posted by TeamInzer

http://www.medicinenet.com/script/ma...ticlekey=50900


.com but source is reliable.

Skimmed the article.... but normally when people write these things up and give out "recommendations" they are talking about NORMAL people. I probably expend 3x as much energy in the hour I am at the gym as most people do in their entire day...

[TeamInzer]

Originally Posted by bosox1362

Skimmed the article.... but normally when people write these things up and give out "recommendations" they are talking about NORMAL people. I probably expend 3x as much energy in the hour I am at the gym as most people do in their entire day...

If your expending more energy you don't need to replace with protein. Carbs and fat will do just fine..

[Sleepstream]

Protein is definitely overrated. Free-form amino acids all the way.

[TeamInzer]

Originally Posted by ashley2212

I ran a test on myself with this theory. For ~5-6 months, I ate 1.5-2g protein per pound of bodyweight each day with fewer carbs. Then, for another 5-6 months, I ate ~1g protein per pound of bodyweight each day with more carbs.

I saw no loss in muscle mass, no difference in body fat at the end of this year. What I did see was an increase in my lifts at the gym (I believe partly due to the carb increase but mostly my mindset) and thus, I added a bit of muscle.

In conclusion, I do believe if you're getting enough protein (1-1.25g per lb was sufficient for me) that you're not going to suffer any consequences if it "seems" low. I personally saw the best results on a 40/40/20 split.

Just my experience.

nice

[Richie_Awesome]

Meh, I gained 40-45 lbs of fat free mass(muscle and water weight as well) my first year of training consuming a little less than 1g per lbs of bodyweight.

[Uz]

You need at least 500g of protein daily to gain any lean mass. If you aren't getting anything near that, you're wasting your time.

[Belloc]

I've seen some good mass gains with normal intake of protein 80-100g daily.

I think trying to balance your intake of protein carbs and fat to fit caloric macros is the key to muscle gain/fat burning

but no I don't think protein is the holy grail some people make it seem as I believe carbs and fat are just AS important

[strawser9]

Originally Posted by sgntx

You need at least 500g of protein daily to gain any lean mass. If you aren't getting anything near that, you're wasting your time.

thuper therial??????????????


is protein overrated? nah
are protein supplements overrated? yes

the governments RDA of 10% protein is most definitly some rediculous ****...but eating 300g per day weighing 150lbs is also.

1-1.5g is not overrated.

protein isn't overrated, people are! lol.

the real question, is taking seperate amino acid supps overrated?
guess scivation will find out soon with their Xtend tests...i still drink it though, gotta have some flavor while training

[utopia]

Kind of a dumb thread...and I'm still posting (gasp).

No protein is not overated in the sense of what it can accomplish for you.

Taking over 1-1.5g a day per ib. body weight however is overated.

~the end.