Key TakeawaysHigh protein diets can help with weight management, wound healing, and building muscle.You shouldn’t eat too much protein. Eating more protein than recommended won’t have health benefits and could actually cause side effects.If you eat more than 2 grams per kilogram of body weight per day, you might start experiencing symptoms ranging from GI discomfort and dehydration to kidney disease.

Key Takeaways

High protein diets can help with weight management, wound healing, and building muscle.You shouldn’t eat too much protein. Eating more protein than recommended won’t have health benefits and could actually cause side effects.If you eat more than 2 grams per kilogram of body weight per day, you might start experiencing symptoms ranging from GI discomfort and dehydration to kidney disease.

Protein is an amino-acid-packed nutrient that you need for muscle, bone, and immune system health. While upping your protein intake can be beneficial in some cases, it isn’t helpful at other times and can even lead to side effects and health problems.

“More isn’t always better when it comes to supporting muscle health,” Colleen Rauchut Tewksbury, PhD, RDN, a national spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, told Verywell. “Instead, you should focus on how much, how often. Research suggests that more than that does not have much benefit and could even lead to overconsumption.”

The recommended daily intake of protein varies depending on your overall health and how much physical activity you do in a day. The current Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) is 46 grams for women and 56 grams of protein for men.

The RDA varies depending on your fitness and health goals—for example, you may need more protein as you age to offset losing muscle mass or if you want to build more muscle in the gym—but the daily limit should not exceed 2 grams per kilogram of body weight per day. If you tip over this limit chronically, you’re likely to experience digestive, renal, or vascular problems.While a healthy body typically won’t have a problem metabolizing extra protein, people with certain underlying chronic conditions may experience dangerous health consequences from eating excessive protein.

How do you know you’re eating too much protein? Here’s how to identify the signs.

‘Keto’ Breath

Stinky breath can be a sign that you’re inketosis—when your body burns fat instead of glucose as its main energy source. Ketosis is associated with a high-protein diet, including the Keto diet.

Dehydration

If you start eating more protein, you’ll probably start urinating more often because your kidneys are working harder to metabolize the excess nutrient. All that urinating can lead todehydration, so it’s important to drink lots of water if you are on a high-protein diet.

Weight Gain

Eating more protein than your body can handle can lead to weight gain in a few ways that aren’t related to putting on muscle.

More protein usually means more calories, and the protein source you choose may be packed withsaturated fat. Additionally, your body converts excess protein into sugar that gets stored as fat. Over time, these factors can contribute to weight gain.

GI Discomfort

Gastrointestinal symptoms are pretty common if you’re eating more protein. A diet high in protein (especially animal protein) and low infibercan lead to constipation, nausea,diarrhea, and stomach pain.

Certain sources of protein, like meat, can take more work for your body to break down.Some people also tend to have a hard time digesting whole nuts, especially if they don’t chew them well.

You might be more likely to notice GI side effects if you’re relying heavily on protein supplements, shakes, powders, and bars if they contain ingredients likesugar alcohols.

Relief for GI Symptoms of Too Much Fiber

Heart Disease

Protein can have positive and negative effects on your cardiovascular system depending on the types of protein you eat.

Fish, seafood, and plant-based protein like legumes, nuts, and seeds can benefit your heart health, while animal-based protein like red meat, processed meat and foods can increase your risk of heart disease.

Kidney and Liver Trouble

If you have kidney orliver disease, the process of breaking down excess protein can be too much work. Eating too much protein if you havekidney diseasecan even contribute to renal (kidney) failure.

When Should You Actually Increase Your Protein Intake?

You may want to consider increasing your protein intake if:

For most people, there are no health benefits to consuming more than the RDA of protein per day. And protein isn’t the only nutrient you should be prioritizing.

“A normal functioning body can get rid of excess protein consumed in the diet, but when you focus on only protein, you may be missing essential fiber and carbohydrates.” Leah Groppo, RD, a clinical dietitian with Stanford Health, told Verywell. “We should focus more on what our plate looks like instead of focusing on a number.”

What This Means For YouThere’s no benefit, and can be side effects, to eating more protein than your body needs and can actually use. Staying within the recommended daily amount of protein will be enough to support your health goals and avoid the potentially serious consequences of eating too much protein.

What This Means For You

There’s no benefit, and can be side effects, to eating more protein than your body needs and can actually use. Staying within the recommended daily amount of protein will be enough to support your health goals and avoid the potentially serious consequences of eating too much protein.

20 Healthy High-Protein Snacks

10 Sources

Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Adults’ daily protein intake much more than recommended.

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Hernández-Alonso P, Salas-Salvadó J, Ruiz-Canela M, et al.High dietary protein intake is associated with an increased body weight and total death risk.Clin Nutr. 2016;35(2):496-506. doi:10.1016/j.clnu.2015.03.016

Dallas DC, Sanctuary MR, Qu Y, et al.Personalizing protein nourishment.Crit Rev Food Sci Nutr. 2017;57(15):3313-3331. doi:10.1080/10408398.2015.1117412

McArthur BM, Mattes RD, Considine RV.Mastication of nuts under realistic eating conditions: implications for energy balance.Nutrients. 2018;10(6):710. doi:10.3390/nu10060710

American Heart Foundation.Protein and heart health.

Ko GJ, Rhee CM, Kalantar-Zadeh K, Joshi S.The effects of high-protein diets on kidney health and longevity.J Am Soc Nephrol. 2020;31(8):1667-1679. doi:10.1681/ASN.2020010028

University of Nottingham.Protein.

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