High Protein Diet Side Effects

On the weight loss forum I mentioned that I am looking to start losing weight by means of a high protein diet.  This is part of my beer belly challenge.  the idea being that I can cut down both the calories and the fat intake that I use as part of my everyday diet, and so lose weight.  more so the protein is more difficult to convert into fat so should be burned as energy easier – meaning my fatty deposits are less likely to grow.

One major factor to consider is that increasing protein and decreasing everything else is exactly the same as any other diet – it won’t work unless you do it in moderation.  Or in this case it will work but you will be harming yourself.

High Protein Diet Side Effects

In and of itself a high protein diet works.  If you increase your protein intake whilst reducing everything else you will lose weight.  But you will also be flooding your body with toxins and won’t be able to sustain the weight loss – a lot of it comes from that dreaded ‘water weight loss’.

How do we know that?

I’m sure you have heard the phrase ‘burning calories’, well if we were to extend that into a metaphor a bit then we can assume that much like a substance needs air (ok, oxygen) to burn so to does your body need carbohydrates to burn calories – carbs are the oxygen in this metaphor.  Interestingly if your body doesn’t get enough carbs to fulfill this function it will use fat stores as a back up plan.

But this, and the protein eaten as calories, has an unfortunate side effect – both produce something called ketones when they are burned as energy.  Fine in a balanced diet but when you start producing too much ketones then you get problems.

Ketones: What it means

Ketones are actually highly acidic, toxic substances that are produced naturally and usually easily dealt with by the liver and kidneys.  But a high protein diet side effects can mean that you will produce too much ketones for your body to safely dispose of.  This leads to an increased build up of your toxins.  In the mean time your body tries to dispose of the ketones vis the kidney and liver functions – passing them out in an increased urine flow – meaning you are passing more water than usual and losing water weight because of that.

So elongated periods of high protein, low carb diets will lead to a false positive in weight loss and a build up of toxins in your body.

How do you know if you have a build up of ketones?

One simple method is having someone check your breath.  Ketones will be present in your breath and will have it giving a very unpleasant ‘meaty’ smell.  You will also notice a reduction in muscle mass as the body starts using protein to burn energy rather than build muscle as you would expect it to.

Other high protein diet side effects include kidney and liver damage as so many toxins are struggled to be dealt with by your body, high blood fat levels – rather than being on the body the fat gets used inside the blood stream as a replacement for carbohydrates – leading to a higher likelihood of heart disease and a risk of other diseases from not getting the required balanced meals.

That is not to say high protein diets don’t work.  What you need to do, as ever, is avoid the hype and look at the science.  The science here is that in moderation it can allow the body to burn fat to fuel itself – but it is better done as part of a balanced diet which won’t flood your blood with fat and toxins, and won’t leave you missing important other nutrients.

Did you know that Small Belly Guide has a forum? Why not CHECK IT OUT NOW!



Of course there is always our FREE weight loss newsletter to check out too!