About High Protein Diets And Heart Disease

High protein diets are popular methods of losing weight. For most healthy people, diets such as the Atkins and the Zone are not harmful for the short term. But eating a high protein diet long term can increase your risk of heart disease--because the meats, dairy products and eggs that are high in protein are also high in fat and cholesterol. The American Heart Association does not endorse high-protein diets because of the restrictions of other foods that provide essential vitamins and minerals.
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Body Basics

Your body requires protein, found in your bones, muscles, skin, organs, blood, hormones and enzymes. But the body does not store excess protein.
As it is digested and metabolized, protein breaks down into amino acids, which your body uses to make enzymes and other proteins. What is not used for energy is converted to fat or turned to waste that is processed through your kidneys and liver. High levels of such waste can lead to kidney damage.
Excess protein over the long term can also cause your body to lose calcium, which can lead to bone loss.
Amino acids are the building blocks of proteins, and our bodies require about 20 of them for normal functioning. Nine are "essential," meaning we must get them from food because our bodies cannot make them. The other 19 are "nonessential." We can get them from food, but our bodies also can synthesize them as needed.

Guidelines

Government dietary guidelines say women from age 19 to 70 should consume 46 grams (g) of protein per day, and men should consume 56 g because their bodies generally contain more muscle than those of women. The American Heart Association says no more than 35 percent of your total daily calories should come from fat--guidelines tricky to follow on a high-protein diet.

Effects

High-protein diets can cause you to lose weight. By cutting out carbohydrates, your body loses fluid. At the same time, if you restrict your carbohydrate intake, your body creates substances called ketones and enters a state of ketosis, meaning it burns fat for energy. Ketosis can cause nausea, but it also lowers appetite--and that may help you eat less.

Side Effects

You may experience weight loss by eating a high-protein diet, but you may also inadvertently increase your risk of heart disease or stroke by consuming too many proteins that are high in fat.
If you cut out high-carbohydrate, high-fiber plant foods, you lose their assistance in lowering your cholesterol--and that can increase your risk of heart disease.
And, the American Heart Association says, since a high-carbohydrate diet that includes fruits, vegetables, nonfat dairy products and whole grains has been shown to reduce blood pressure, if you limit these foods, you may see your blood pressure rise. That's because of a reduction in calcium, potassium and magnesium at the same time you increase sodium intake with more protein.

Risks

Do high levels of protein harm the heart? The Harvard School of Public Health says recent studies say no--and that increasing your intake of vegetable protein while cutting back on easily-digested carbohydrates may benefit the heart.
Citing a 20-year study of more than 82,000 women, researchers reported a 30 percent reduction in heart disease risk for those who ate low-carb diets high in vegetable protein, compared to those who ate high-carb, low-fat diets. "But women who ate low-carbohydrate diets that were high in animal fats or proteins did not have a reduced risk of heart disease," they wrote.

Protein Sources

Meat is not the only food that contains dietary protein. Milk, yogurt, eggs, beans, grains and legumes also are good sources. To get the full range of essential amino acids, you must eat a variety of foods.
Dr. Darwin Deen and dietitian Lisa Hark say in their book "Nutrition for Life" that people who eat less red meat and more lean fish and chicken (without skin) lower their risk of heart disease.
Lean choices go beyond meats. You can also seek out low-fat yogurts, cheeses and milks, and you can eat egg whites instead of full eggs. Low-fat soy products can be healthy choices, too, because they contain a full complement of amino acids. Other plant proteins do not and therefore must be combined with other foods to get complete protein.