A common question from clients seeking to change their diets is how protein is healthy. There are many weight loss programs out right now and many weight loss products. Many help people lose weight quickly by adding excess protein to their diet. Most experts agree to lose weight we need to reduce junk carbs (white flour, white rice, corn products, white sugar, etc) and junk fats (trans hydrogenated fats, fried foods, etc.) What most experts disagree on is the protein: how much is enough, not enough, or too much?

Current high protein diets like Atkins, Zone, etc, recommend in excess of 12-14% of the Daily Total. The thinking behind this is the body needs protein to rebuild itself on a daily basis, therefore the need for excess protein. What they fail to understand is that the body recycles itself, keeping a vast majority of amino acids (protein building blocks) every day. This combined with the meat, dairy and egg lobby serves to increase protein into our daily diet beyond what we can process. The long term cost is the body must deal with this excess protein somehow, and on an extended program this creates many symptoms which are not health enhancing, but disease contributing.

What we have found in our office over 27 years of clinical practice is that 6-7% of body totals in diet serve well as a daily protein requirement. This would be the amount of meat you could fit in a deck of cards. Remember, nuts, seeds, grain, vegetables, and fruits all have cell walls, which are also made of protein. The average American is rarely protein deficient. The larger problem is protein excess leaving us with the same diseases as the kings and queens of Europe in the 1700-1800’s. See the Pottinger Cat Study and T. Collin Campbell of Tufts University study on excess protein consumption for some eye opening data.

In Health & Service,

Dr. Roland Phillips