Too much Protein, in the long run, is not good
The human being is genetically programmed to use as little energy as possible and to store a lot of energy for bad times by means of body fat. This programming worked excellently in earlier times, our species was able to successfully assert itself against external influences.
Proteins are also Calories
Today, however, the situation is a little different. In a very short time, a food shortage in the industrial nations has turned into an excess of readily available energy.
The people who live in certain countries not only have enough to eat, they have too much.
Social diseases such as diabetes, obesity, and high blood pressure result from this. Regardless of the time of day you eat your calories, if the energy is not used up, the body stores them, first in the liver and, when its capacity has been reached, in the fat pads around our belly. The body works a little differently when processing proteins or amino acids. These are stored in the body primarily in the form of muscles. However, this storage requires a further growth stimulus. In combination with targeted training, the amino acids are mainly stored in the form of muscle mass. The result is an increase in muscle mass and muscle strength.
More Protein isn’t necessarily better
But what happens to an excess of protein? Contrary to popular belief, when it comes to proteins, more is not necessarily better, because the growth stimulus no longer increases due to additional protein from a certain amount. So the excess is not stored in the muscles. Instead, it is indirectly converted into fat and stored or excreted via other metabolic pathways. An overabundance of proteins not only harms the muscle structure but also leads to fat build-up or can damage the kidneys if there is insufficient water consumption.
Now the question arises, what is the optimal, ideal amount of protein intake? In a nutshell, the ideal amount would is around 20 grams of protein every three to four hours. Ideally, it should be scheduled so that one of these protein meals comes right after a workout. The fact that this amount is sufficiently covered by 100 grams of chicken or 60 grams of soy, for example, will probably surprise a few of you. Big meat smorgasbords are therefore of little use in terms of training progress.
