Protein has become the nutrient of the moment, promoted relentlessly on social media and increasingly stamped on supermarket packaging. The question researchers keep being asked is whether more is actually better.
What happens if you eat too much protein?
Protein has become the nutrient of the moment, promoted relentlessly on social media and increasingly stamped on supermarket packaging. The question researchers keep being asked is whether more is actually better.
Nutrition academic Margaret Murray notes that protein is essential for building muscle tissue, enzymes and hormones and for immune function, but that most people in countries like New Zealand and Australia already eat comfortably more than dietary guidelines recommend.
Beyond a certain point the surplus is not stored as muscle. It is either used for energy or broken down, and very high intakes can displace fibre-rich foods, add saturated fat depending on the source, and put avoidable load on the kidneys in people with existing disease.
The more useful advice is about distribution and quality: spreading intake across meals, and prioritising whole food sources over powders, which tend to be expensive solutions to a problem most people do not have.
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