Insufficient protein can cause a host of side effects and ultimately lead to death. A healthy adult not undergoing athletic training requires 0.36 g of protein per pound of weight. Athletes undergoing endurance or strength training require slightly higher amounts of protein -- endurance trainers need 0.54 to 0.64 g per lb. and strength trainers need 0.72 to 0.77 g per lb.
Early Symptoms
Insufficient amounts of protein in your diet can result in a number of physical and mental symptoms. Protein keeps your immune system functioning properly, so if you lack enough protein, you can become more susceptible to colds, infections and infectious diseases. Anemia or water retention can result, and eventually weakness, fatigue, hair loss and inability to recovery quickly from a workout or strenuous activity.
Protein-Energy Malnutrition
Protein-Energy Malnutrition is the term used to describe a lack of protein that has become severe enough to qualify as a deficiency. Primary PEM comes from too little protein in the diet and can affect the proper functioning of nearly every organ in your body. A moderate stage of PEM is in effect with a loss of 10 to 20 percent of your body weight, a weak grip and reduced capacity to perform tasks that require a lot of energy. The most severe stage of PEM generally causes a loss of more than 20 percent of your body weight, inability to eat full-size meals, low blood pressure, low body temperature and slowed heart rate. Other symptoms of the severe stage of PEM include constipation; wrinkled and baggy skin; brittle, dry, thin hair; extreme fatigue; and skin lesions.
Kwashiorkor
Diarrhea, loss of appetite, patchy hair and mottled skin are symptoms that appear in infants suffering from kwashiorkor, or protein malnutrition. The condition most often occurs in poor countries when a mother weans her infant from protein-rich breast milk too soon, usually to feed another. Adults and children in any country, however, can suffer similar symptoms from a protein deficiency, which can become fatal.
Nitrogen Balance Index
When you don't get enough protein in your diet, your body does not have the capacity to build new tissue or even adequately maintain the tissue it has. Such a lack of protein, known as a negative nitrogen balance on the nitrogen balance index, occurs when your body expends more protein than you consume. If you continuously deprive your body of the protein it needs, it can start to break down healthy tissue to obtain energy. A healthy diet maintains a state of nitrogen equilibrium, which means your body expends the same amount of protein you consume. On the flip side, eating too much protein can result in a positive nitrogen balance and a fatty weight gain. Your body does not store excess protein but rather converts it into fat.
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