Proteins are essential for our health because together with carbohydrates and lipids they represent the three fundamental macronutrients for our survival.
Proteins are responsible for ensuring the growth and renewal of tissues, allowing digestion, the development of immune defenses and the transport of blood oxygen. For these reasons, and others, they are extremely important.
We can find them in foods of animal and vegetable origin such as meat, fish, eggs, milk, legumes, soy and derivatives, dried fruit. And if a protein deficiency is harmful to our health, so is the excess. Let's find out why.
Proteins are essential for our health because together with carbohydrates and lipids they represent the three fundamental macronutrients for our survival. Proteins are responsible for ensuring the growth and renewal of tissues, allowing digestion, the development of immune defenses and the transport of blood oxygen. For these reasons, and others, they are extremely important. We can find them in foods of animal and vegetable origin such as meat, fish, eggs, milk, legumes, soy and derivatives, dried fruit. And if a protein deficiency is harmful to our health, so is the excess. Let's find out why.
Eating the right amount of protein helps keep weight under control while an excess can have the opposite effect. But what is the recommended daily dose? According to the U.S. Food and Nutrition Board, in adults it is 0.8 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight (for children and young people, in the growth phase, it should be doubled or tripled).
An excess of protein could cause a continuous sense of thirst. The urge to drink more could be provoked by the fact that the kidneys are busy disposing of excess protein, causing more urination and therefore slight dehydration.
The excess of protein, in addition to making you sweat more, also increases the amount of ammonia present in the body. Ammonia is one of the metabolites of proteins and could cause bad smell of sweat, urine and breath.
The excess of protein could put the body in difficulty from the point of view of intestinal regularity. This could be due to the fact that protein is preferred instead of fiber, making digestion more difficult and favoring constipation instead.
Ingesting too much protein could eventually cause feelings of mental confusion. This could be related to the fact that proteins are preferred to carbohydrates, the latter essential for providing energy to the brain, following the transformation into sugars.