Protein excess hard on body

Adam Pacheco said he will do anything to bulk up his body.

Pacheco, a UNM freshman, is trying to gain 15 pounds of muscle this semester. He is trying to accomplish this goal by consuming caveman-size portions of protein on a daily basis.

"I eat at least 10 pounds of chicken and steak every week," Pacheco said, adding that meat is not necessarily his favorite food group, though it is essential to gain muscle. "I know it might not be the healthiest thing to do, but I haven't seen any negative impacts yet."

Pacheco is not unlike many athletes and fitness buffs who supplement their diets with huge amounts of protein, the building blocks of muscle, to improve their fitness levels.

But that decision does not come without dangers, said Marianne Hirt, a registered dietitian at Presbyterian Hospital.

Hirt said in the rush to gain muscle mass, many people tend to neglect the other essential ingredients of a healthy diet like fruits and vegetables.

"Increasing the amount of protein in your diet has definite benefits," she said. "The problem is that people are taking it too far."

Hirt said while it's true muscle is built from the amino acids in protein, the body can only absorb so much of them at any given time.

"After the body is full of the amino acids, the rest is really just a waste," Hirt said.

Protein shakes are becoming the method many people prefer for getting the protein they want, but this is the most dangerous method of all, said Allen Hughes, a personal trainer at Defined Fitness, a local health club.

Although technology is constantly improving the quality of protein shakes, they wreak havoc on a person's kidneys and liver when taken for too long.

"It is essentially like drinking sand," Hughes said, adding that while people are constantly looking for a fitness shortcut, nothing beats a well-balanced diet. "Increased protein levels are just one of the fast tracks to success, but it doesn't beat good old hard work."

Still, many people see high levels of protein as necessary for people with strenuous lifestyles or who are looking to change their body image.

"Protein is underrated in terms of its benefits for the human body," said Jim Sharp, a spokesman for General Nutrition Centers. "It fuels the muscles and helps with a person's energy level. As long as it isn't abused, there is no problem with relying on it as a muscle builder."

Hirt disagrees, noting diets high in animal protein have equally high levels of cholesterol, which if unchecked, can lead to coronary heart disease, diabetes, stroke and several types of cancer.

The American Heart Association urges most adults to limit fat intake to 30 percent of total daily calories, less than 10 percent of which should be saturated fat.

It would be impossible to reach these targets by following some of the high-protein diets, Hirt said.

"The bottom line is that too much of any one thing is bad for your health," she said. "Balance is the key to health."

Pacheco said he understands the risks and, like many people, he plans on remaining on the high protein diet only until he reaches his goal.

"The only real risks come years down the road," he said. "A person would have to be crazy to do this for that long."