In my practice - and I train active, health conscious folks - the majority are woefully low in protein. I aim for 30 grams minimum per meal and might go as high as 60+. Have done for a long time. Have not seen ANY of the suggested side effects for myself or the people I train. Not even a hint of it. And studies demonstrate that as we age our protein requirements go up.
I agree that many people need more intention around protein. As a dietitian who works primarily with women, especially in perimenopause and beyond, I absolutely see the value of adequate protein for muscle and overall health.
My concern isn’t protein itself. It’s the tone and the way the message is landing.
What I’m seeing clinically is that some women are absorbing the “protein push” from a fear-based place, worried they’re doing it wrong, and then swinging toward:
• Highly processed (and often expensive) protein products
• An overemphasis on animal sources with little plant diversity
• A sharp drop in fiber intake because too much protein has replaced plants
When nutrition messaging gets overly narrow, even around something important, balance can get lost.
Protein matters.So do fiber, phytochemicals, plant variety, and overall dietary patterns.
I could not have said it better myself. Sounds like you’re doing great work to educate women! I think everyone needs to learn how to prioritize protein as part of an otherwise healthy, dietary pattern, and I totally agree about the processed protein products, potentially being a net negative.
Brady—I enjoyed your video and the information you shared. I agree that most people actually do not get enough protein. I train mostly women and have to plug the importance of tracking protein all the time. However, I actually did believe the doctor who removed my husband’s kidney stone when he told me Isogenix (remember that diet trend?) was likely responsible for the stone. That was 10 years ago, but now rethinking that. What are your thoughts?
Lack of scientific evidence inherently means "In my opinion". Anyone can have an opinion. More protein inconvenient for you? Well how convenient to latch onto "In my opinion". Scientific evidence is overwhelmingly positive for increasing the amount of protein as a percentage in your diet. Note, "as a percentage".
Hello, we have not read the same scientific evidence. Here are a few examples to balance.
Altman, M.O., Gagneux, P., 2019. Absence of Neu5Gc and Presence of Anti-Neu5Gc Antibodies in Humans—An Evolutionary Perspective. Front Immunol 10, 789. https://doi.org/10.3389/fimmu.2019.00789
Ardisson Korat, A.V., Shea, M.K., Jacques, P.F., Sebastiani, P., Wang, M., Eliassen, A.H., Willett, W.C., Sun, Q., 2024. Dietary protein intake in midlife in relation to healthy aging – results from the prospective Nurses’ Health Study cohort. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 119, 271–282. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ajcnut.2023.11.010
Budhathoki, S., Sawada, N., Iwasaki, M., Yamaji, T., Goto, A., Kotemori, A., Ishihara, J., Takachi, R., Charvat, H., Mizoue, T., Iso, H., Tsugane, S., Japan Public Health Center–based Prospective Study Group, 2019. Association of Animal and Plant Protein Intake With All-Cause and Cause-Specific Mortality in a Japanese Cohort. JAMA Intern Med 179, 1509–1518. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamainternmed.2019.2806
Chen, Z., Glisic, M., Song, M., Aliahmad, H.A., Zhang, X., Moumdjian, A.C., Gonzalez-Jaramillo, V., van der Schaft, N., Bramer, W.M., Ikram, M.A., Voortman, T., 2020. Dietary protein intake and all-cause and cause-specific mortality: results from the Rotterdam Study and a meta-analysis of prospective cohort studies. Eur J Epidemiol 35, 411–429. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10654-020-00607-6
Cirillo, M., Lombardi, C., Chiricone, D., De Santo, N.G., Zanchetti, A., Bilancio, G., 2014. Protein intake and kidney function in the middle-age population: contrast between cross-sectional and longitudinal data. Nephrol Dial Transplant 29, 1733–1740. https://doi.org/10.1093/ndt/gfu056
Frank, H., Graf, J., Amann-Gassner, U., Bratke, R., Daniel, H., Heemann, U., Hauner, H., 2009. Effect of short-term high-protein compared with normal-protein diets on renal hemodynamics and associated variables in healthy young men. Am J Clin Nutr 90, 1509–1516. https://doi.org/10.3945/ajcn.2009.27601
Frimat, M., Teissier, T., Boulanger, E., 2019. Is RAGE the receptor for inflammaging? Aging (Albany NY) 11, 6620–6621. https://doi.org/10.18632/aging.102256
Naghshi, S., Sadeghi, O., Willett, W.C., Esmaillzadeh, A., 2020. Dietary intake of total, animal, and plant proteins and risk of all cause, cardiovascular, and cancer mortality: systematic review and dose-response meta-analysis of prospective cohort studies. BMJ 370, m2412. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.m2412
Rohrmann, S., Overvad, K., Bueno-de-Mesquita, H.B., Jakobsen, M.U., Egeberg, R., Tjønneland, A., Nailler, L., Boutron-Ruault, M.-C., Clavel-Chapelon, F., Krogh, V., Palli, D., Panico, S., Tumino, R., Ricceri, F., Bergmann, M.M., Boeing, H., Li, K., Kaaks, R., Khaw, K.-T., Wareham, N.J., Crowe, F.L., Key, T.J., Naska, A., Trichopoulou, A., Trichopoulos, D., Leenders, M., Peeters, P.H.M., Engeset, D., Parr, C.L., Skeie, G., Jakszyn, P., Sánchez, M.-J., Huerta, J.M., Redondo, M.L., Barricarte, A., Amiano, P., Drake, I., Sonestedt, E., Hallmans, G., Johansson, I., Fedirko, V., Romieux, I., Ferrari, P., Norat, T., Vergnaud, A.C., Riboli, E., Linseisen, J., 2013. Meat consumption and mortality--results from the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition. BMC Med 11, 63. https://doi.org/10.1186/1741-7015-11-63
Song, M., Fung, T.T., Hu, F.B., Willett, W.C., Longo, V.D., Chan, A.T., Giovannucci, E.L., 2016. Association of Animal and Plant Protein Intake With All-Cause and Cause-Specific Mortality. JAMA Intern Med 176, 1453–1463. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamainternmed.2016.4182
Zhang, X., Kapoor, D., Jeong, S.-J., Fappi, A., Stitham, J., Shabrish, V., Sergin, I., Yousif, E., Rodriguez-Velez, A., Yeh, Y.-S., Park, A., Yurdagul, A., Rom, O., Epelman, S., Schilling, J.D., Sardiello, M., Diwan, A., Cho, J., Stitziel, N.O., Javaheri, A., Lodhi, I.J., Mittendorfer, B., Razani, B., 2024. Identification of a leucine-mediated threshold effect governing macrophage mTOR signalling and cardiovascular risk. Nat Metab 6, 359–377. https://doi.org/10.1038/s42255-024-00984-2
When trying to balance your caloric intake with goals regarding your own body composition you have so many calories you want to consume. Protein 4cal/g, Carbohydrates, 4cal/g, Fat, 9cal/g, Fiber 2cal/g. Say my maintenance goal is 2400cal/day. Now choose your food composition.
Surely they are terrified that if everyone starts eating twice as much protein as they did before, they will get it from processed meat or from animals raised in poor welfare environments, rather than getting it all from legumes. Many influencers pushing the protein increases are also promoting grass fed, organic or at least high welfare animal products, but that doesn’t really scale to the general population that mainstream media serves.
From the Rotterdam Study. "Plant protein intake is inversely associated with all-cause and CVD mortality. Our findings support current dietary recommendations to increase intake of plant protein in place of animal protein". Higher consumption of Meat is inversely beneficial. Of course there is no nuance of what kind of meat. No one I know who is advocating for more protein increases meat consumption.
Completely agree! I didn't want to pick on that particular study too much, but the study had a few flaws one of them being that the higher protein group also had a higher incidence of smoking and we all know that a higher incidence of smoking by itself is going to lead to higher mortality. So why not if you were the research team take out that variable?
you wouldn't live in a dismantling house with mold and bad running water, won't you ?
Our house, planet Earth, goes bad. Biodiversity plummets. Our western habit of eating so much animal protein is no stranger to this. Don't you think we need a safe environment to live in ?
There a plenty of people thriving all around the world with reasonable amounts of proteins intake. There is no need to accelerate on this. But something that accelerates, is atherosclerosis when you enjoy too much steaks : iron, TMAO, Neu5Gc, AGEs, sodium in transformed meat...
I prefer to chose to cooperate more with my environment and hope for less damage for everyone and everything.
Science and your rationale win again 💪
In my practice - and I train active, health conscious folks - the majority are woefully low in protein. I aim for 30 grams minimum per meal and might go as high as 60+. Have done for a long time. Have not seen ANY of the suggested side effects for myself or the people I train. Not even a hint of it. And studies demonstrate that as we age our protein requirements go up.
I agree that many people need more intention around protein. As a dietitian who works primarily with women, especially in perimenopause and beyond, I absolutely see the value of adequate protein for muscle and overall health.
My concern isn’t protein itself. It’s the tone and the way the message is landing.
What I’m seeing clinically is that some women are absorbing the “protein push” from a fear-based place, worried they’re doing it wrong, and then swinging toward:
• Highly processed (and often expensive) protein products
• An overemphasis on animal sources with little plant diversity
• A sharp drop in fiber intake because too much protein has replaced plants
When nutrition messaging gets overly narrow, even around something important, balance can get lost.
Protein matters.So do fiber, phytochemicals, plant variety, and overall dietary patterns.
I could not have said it better myself. Sounds like you’re doing great work to educate women! I think everyone needs to learn how to prioritize protein as part of an otherwise healthy, dietary pattern, and I totally agree about the processed protein products, potentially being a net negative.
Brady—I enjoyed your video and the information you shared. I agree that most people actually do not get enough protein. I train mostly women and have to plug the importance of tracking protein all the time. However, I actually did believe the doctor who removed my husband’s kidney stone when he told me Isogenix (remember that diet trend?) was likely responsible for the stone. That was 10 years ago, but now rethinking that. What are your thoughts?
Afraid I can’t comment. Not really up on what happened there!
Lack of scientific evidence inherently means "In my opinion". Anyone can have an opinion. More protein inconvenient for you? Well how convenient to latch onto "In my opinion". Scientific evidence is overwhelmingly positive for increasing the amount of protein as a percentage in your diet. Note, "as a percentage".
Hello, we have not read the same scientific evidence. Here are a few examples to balance.
Altman, M.O., Gagneux, P., 2019. Absence of Neu5Gc and Presence of Anti-Neu5Gc Antibodies in Humans—An Evolutionary Perspective. Front Immunol 10, 789. https://doi.org/10.3389/fimmu.2019.00789
Ardisson Korat, A.V., Shea, M.K., Jacques, P.F., Sebastiani, P., Wang, M., Eliassen, A.H., Willett, W.C., Sun, Q., 2024. Dietary protein intake in midlife in relation to healthy aging – results from the prospective Nurses’ Health Study cohort. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 119, 271–282. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ajcnut.2023.11.010
Budhathoki, S., Sawada, N., Iwasaki, M., Yamaji, T., Goto, A., Kotemori, A., Ishihara, J., Takachi, R., Charvat, H., Mizoue, T., Iso, H., Tsugane, S., Japan Public Health Center–based Prospective Study Group, 2019. Association of Animal and Plant Protein Intake With All-Cause and Cause-Specific Mortality in a Japanese Cohort. JAMA Intern Med 179, 1509–1518. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamainternmed.2019.2806
Chen, Z., Glisic, M., Song, M., Aliahmad, H.A., Zhang, X., Moumdjian, A.C., Gonzalez-Jaramillo, V., van der Schaft, N., Bramer, W.M., Ikram, M.A., Voortman, T., 2020. Dietary protein intake and all-cause and cause-specific mortality: results from the Rotterdam Study and a meta-analysis of prospective cohort studies. Eur J Epidemiol 35, 411–429. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10654-020-00607-6
Cirillo, M., Lombardi, C., Chiricone, D., De Santo, N.G., Zanchetti, A., Bilancio, G., 2014. Protein intake and kidney function in the middle-age population: contrast between cross-sectional and longitudinal data. Nephrol Dial Transplant 29, 1733–1740. https://doi.org/10.1093/ndt/gfu056
Frank, H., Graf, J., Amann-Gassner, U., Bratke, R., Daniel, H., Heemann, U., Hauner, H., 2009. Effect of short-term high-protein compared with normal-protein diets on renal hemodynamics and associated variables in healthy young men. Am J Clin Nutr 90, 1509–1516. https://doi.org/10.3945/ajcn.2009.27601
Frimat, M., Teissier, T., Boulanger, E., 2019. Is RAGE the receptor for inflammaging? Aging (Albany NY) 11, 6620–6621. https://doi.org/10.18632/aging.102256
Naghshi, S., Sadeghi, O., Willett, W.C., Esmaillzadeh, A., 2020. Dietary intake of total, animal, and plant proteins and risk of all cause, cardiovascular, and cancer mortality: systematic review and dose-response meta-analysis of prospective cohort studies. BMJ 370, m2412. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.m2412
Rohrmann, S., Overvad, K., Bueno-de-Mesquita, H.B., Jakobsen, M.U., Egeberg, R., Tjønneland, A., Nailler, L., Boutron-Ruault, M.-C., Clavel-Chapelon, F., Krogh, V., Palli, D., Panico, S., Tumino, R., Ricceri, F., Bergmann, M.M., Boeing, H., Li, K., Kaaks, R., Khaw, K.-T., Wareham, N.J., Crowe, F.L., Key, T.J., Naska, A., Trichopoulou, A., Trichopoulos, D., Leenders, M., Peeters, P.H.M., Engeset, D., Parr, C.L., Skeie, G., Jakszyn, P., Sánchez, M.-J., Huerta, J.M., Redondo, M.L., Barricarte, A., Amiano, P., Drake, I., Sonestedt, E., Hallmans, G., Johansson, I., Fedirko, V., Romieux, I., Ferrari, P., Norat, T., Vergnaud, A.C., Riboli, E., Linseisen, J., 2013. Meat consumption and mortality--results from the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition. BMC Med 11, 63. https://doi.org/10.1186/1741-7015-11-63
Song, M., Fung, T.T., Hu, F.B., Willett, W.C., Longo, V.D., Chan, A.T., Giovannucci, E.L., 2016. Association of Animal and Plant Protein Intake With All-Cause and Cause-Specific Mortality. JAMA Intern Med 176, 1453–1463. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamainternmed.2016.4182
Zhang, X., Kapoor, D., Jeong, S.-J., Fappi, A., Stitham, J., Shabrish, V., Sergin, I., Yousif, E., Rodriguez-Velez, A., Yeh, Y.-S., Park, A., Yurdagul, A., Rom, O., Epelman, S., Schilling, J.D., Sardiello, M., Diwan, A., Cho, J., Stitziel, N.O., Javaheri, A., Lodhi, I.J., Mittendorfer, B., Razani, B., 2024. Identification of a leucine-mediated threshold effect governing macrophage mTOR signalling and cardiovascular risk. Nat Metab 6, 359–377. https://doi.org/10.1038/s42255-024-00984-2
When trying to balance your caloric intake with goals regarding your own body composition you have so many calories you want to consume. Protein 4cal/g, Carbohydrates, 4cal/g, Fat, 9cal/g, Fiber 2cal/g. Say my maintenance goal is 2400cal/day. Now choose your food composition.
Surely they are terrified that if everyone starts eating twice as much protein as they did before, they will get it from processed meat or from animals raised in poor welfare environments, rather than getting it all from legumes. Many influencers pushing the protein increases are also promoting grass fed, organic or at least high welfare animal products, but that doesn’t really scale to the general population that mainstream media serves.
I’d be hesitant to conclude that’s the reason for the pushback, but you bring up a fine point Steve!
From the Rotterdam Study. "Plant protein intake is inversely associated with all-cause and CVD mortality. Our findings support current dietary recommendations to increase intake of plant protein in place of animal protein". Higher consumption of Meat is inversely beneficial. Of course there is no nuance of what kind of meat. No one I know who is advocating for more protein increases meat consumption.
Look at Peter Attia and his Venison company...
Impressive!
Completely agree! I didn't want to pick on that particular study too much, but the study had a few flaws one of them being that the higher protein group also had a higher incidence of smoking and we all know that a higher incidence of smoking by itself is going to lead to higher mortality. So why not if you were the research team take out that variable?
Hello,
you wouldn't live in a dismantling house with mold and bad running water, won't you ?
Our house, planet Earth, goes bad. Biodiversity plummets. Our western habit of eating so much animal protein is no stranger to this. Don't you think we need a safe environment to live in ?
There a plenty of people thriving all around the world with reasonable amounts of proteins intake. There is no need to accelerate on this. But something that accelerates, is atherosclerosis when you enjoy too much steaks : iron, TMAO, Neu5Gc, AGEs, sodium in transformed meat...
I prefer to chose to cooperate more with my environment and hope for less damage for everyone and everything.
Red or blue pill ?
Have a nice day you all
- nfkb, European MD