There’s no such thing as an inherently high protein diet. What we commonly call high protein diets are simply diets containing more protein than those recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO), the Institute of Medicine (IOM), and other institutions. But institutions, of course, can and have been wrong. We have seen this, for example, with respect to trans fats, dietary cholesterol, and other important areas of nutrition. So what if so-called high protein diets are actually an optimal-protein and what if the diets recommended by the aforementioned institutions are actually suboptimal? A new study, recently published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, suggests this could be the case, particularly for those who are trying to lose weight.
The WHO and IOM recommend 0.8 grams of protein per kilogram of bodyweight for both men and women daily.1 For a 175 pound man, this equates to 64 grams of protein per day, and for a 125 pound woman, 45 grams of protein per day. The new study, however, published by researchers from the University of Missouri, suggests that 1.2 to 1.6 grams/day is the optimal range. Lead researcher Heather Leidy and her colleagues reviewed the scientific literature on protein consumption and concluded that moderately increased protein, consumed in a balanced way throughout the day, has significant benefits, including improvements in appetite, body weight management, and cardiometabolic risk factors.2
