Do you know what happens when you eat more protein?

Do you know what happens when you eat more protein?

Some people say that your kidneys will shut down.

Some people say that your belly will hurt and you'll feel terrible.

Some people say you will even get fat.

Now as with every topic, there is a little bit of truth and a whole lot of misinformation with these statements.

If you have kidney problems already and you don't have the proper macronutrient ratio and calories in your meal plan, then yes these things can happen. But it means that you are doing it wrong.

A normal person who has healthy kidneys and eats a balanced meal plan with protein, fats and carbs will rarely suffer from the above statements. There is a specific reason for each one to happen.

Existing Kidney problems can be made worse by high protein intake but protein consumption rarely causes kidney problems.

High protein intake will tear up your stomach if you don't eat good fats and fibrous carbs with it.

And if your calorie intake is too low or too high, you can get fat.

The reality is that higher (not extreme) protein intake combined with good fats and fibrous carbs in the right ratio, will aid in performance enhancement, lean body mass production and fat loss.

In a nutshell, you will get leaner, stronger and faster, quite quickly.

Recent example: Cagefighter, my loyal, diehard, still running, great client is always battling the nutrition plan as she does too much activity and never eats enough. So her performance goes way up and way down based upon how much running she does compared to how well she is eating.

I always harp on her to eat more of the right stuff and to crank up her protein. Sometimes she listens, sometimes she doesn't and in the Iron garage gym - it's quickly apparent whether she did or not that week.

Yesterday, she came in and hit the bowflex chest press which is always a hard one for her. She usually can only put on a few light resistance rods. But I put on all the rods for max resistance to see what would happen. To my surprise, she knocked out a dozen reps for multiple sets - never done before in over two years. Her pushups (military standard) were remarkably better as well.

I asked her what did she do differently this week? She told me that she had eaten more protein in the form of chicken and fish than she normally does. So, naturally, I told her to keep at it.

Now this is not surprising to me as this has happened repeatedly over the last 8 years in the garage gym and other locations with dozens of clients. Higher protein intake = increased performance and normally improved body composition as well.

So if your performance or fat loss goals are not being met, simply adjust your macronutrient ratio during your non-workout meals to high protein, medium fat and low carb and your pre/post workout meals to high carb, medium protein and low fat. Try it for a couple weeks and see what happens. 9 times out of 10, you will see some rapid, great things happen.

Give it a try and let me know how it works out.

Eric Dempsey
Master Sergeant, U.S. Army Retired
NASM Certified Personal Trainer & Weight Loss Specialist
Graduate Student In Exercise Science At Cal U.
Dempseys Resolution Fitness 

www.dempseysresolution.com