High Protein Diet

While a high protein diet such as the Atkins Diet plan might seem like a logical choice for weight loss, it’s not always the best long-term solution. Sure, proteins are more work to digest, helping you to burn more calories than you take in almost every time. However, if you eat too much protein, it can have a negative impact on your health and well being.

While it works great to suppress appetite and keep people feeling full, as well as to aid in significant weight loss, it’s not exactly the perfect cure for dieters in the long-term. There certainly isn’t enough research to support a long-term high protein diet, which is why many professionals still shy away from recommending it to people.

Protein is important for life, but only needs to be 10% to 35% of a daily intake, no more,and probably much less. Anyone who is strength training or building muscle will generally consume more protein, but this is usually done by following a proven plan or with medical assistance or supervision of some kind. Diets that alter your eating habits to the extreme of giving you too much of a good thing are not always the best solution, so if you choose a diet like this you should discuss it with your doctor first.

Like any diet, the high protein diet requires balance. While you want a lot of protein, you also have to have fiber, nutrients, some carbs (good ones, not bad), and other elements in your diet to have a balanced lifestyle. Too many people get caught up in eating one food or another, not realizing that their body needs all kinds of fuel to get the job done on a regular basis. Most people have no problem getting the Recommended Dietary Allowance of protein (56 grams for men and 46 grams for women) each day, but trying to get them to eat more is almost impossible.

You would have to eat a lot of protein at every meal just to reach the 35% range. Unless you have kidney problems or disease, you don’t have any inherent risks involved in a high protein diet. However, you do need to increase the protein intake slowly and try to aim for around 120 grams of protein a day, according to experts. This will give you the best results with weight loss. As always, you should check with your doctor before adding too much of a particular food group to your diet or altering your diet significantly.