Is A High Protein Diet Dangerous? – Study Shows That 1.5 Grams Of Protein Per Pound Of Body Weight Is Safe

There have been a few videos I've done in the past on protein intake and diet hacks that will make it a lot easier to hit your daily requirements.

There's always the guys who pop in on there who try to argue that you don't need that much protein to recover properly, or that a high protein diet is dangerous.

These types of comments are typically misguided, as the research available isn't conducted on men who have enhanced physiques with supraphysiological abilities to utilize protein.

When it comes to enhanced athletes, higher protein intakes can result in increased muscle growth outcomes, and there are studies that show there is absolutely no safety concern when it comes to consuming a high protein diet.

Another misguided argument commonly made is that a high protein diet is dangerous.

Is A High Protein Diet Dangerous? Myth Busted

A lot of people truly believe that you're going to get kidney disease from having a high protein diet, and it's just unhealthy to have anything more than a gram per pound of body weight.

I'm not saying you need to have more than a gram of protein per pound of bodyweight.

Your individual goals, what drugs you're using, what drugs you're not using, will all influence what kind of macronutrient split you should have for your diet.

Other factors include the type of training you do, if you train at all, your lifestyle, if you're sedentary, if you work a labor intensive job, and a variety of other individually dependent factors.

One study in particular I found very interesting, as the study had trained athletes eating almost exactly 1.5 grams of protein per pound of bodyweight for a fairly long span of time.

This study was published in 2016 and was called “A high protein diet has no harmful effects: one-year crossover study and resistance-trained males.”

It specifically addressed the potential for high protein diets to be damaging to the kidneys.

In this study the subjects consumed 2.51-3.32 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight per day.

If you break the numbers down, that's up to 1.5 grams of protein per pound of body weight, which is an amount that a lot of guys would freak out about and say is excessive and dangerous.

The study was for a one-year period on men who train, not rodents, not monkeys, or some other animal subject.

Only resistance-trained males were used as subjects in this study.

The overall impact on the renal system was nonexistent.

Zero negative impact after having that much protein for a year straight, and it had no negative effects on lipid profiles.

For the guys who want to reference clinical studies on protein, this is a perfect example of how consuming more than a gram of protein per pound of body weight is not going to hurt you, assuming you have healthy kidney function to begin with.

Should You Have More Than A Gram Of Protein Per Pound Body Weight?

I believe there are cases where preexisting impaired natural kidney function will make it more difficult and dangerous to consume a high protein diet.

Slamming a bunch of protein with preexisting kidney issues will likely tax them further.

However, if you're a perfectly healthy guy, you train hard, and you consume 1.25-1.5 grams of protein per day because you feel that's what you need to optimally recover, you're not going to hurt yourself, despite what many people claim.

Conclusion

Do I think everyone should have more than a gram of protein per pound body weight?

No, I don't.

But, if you're enhanced and you have a supraphysiological amount of hormones in your system and you want a steady inflow of protein throughout the day which you can utilize efficiently, by all means, I think you should probably have more than a gram of protein per pound bodyweight.

I also don't think it's going to have a significantly negative effect on your health or longevity.