High-protein diet is difficult to sustain and can damage the liver and kidneys

Most people have the eating habit of "can't live without meat", so the "high-protein diet" that claims to help people lose weight by eating only high-protein foods often makes many people eager to try it. Recently, American actor Matthew McConaughey lost 14 kilograms for a new movie and also claimed to take a high-protein diet. However, nutritionists remind you that protein will produce a large amount of ammonia, which will increase the burden on liver and kidney metabolism and is not suitable for long-term use.

Nutritionists remind us that consuming large amounts of protein will produce a large amount of ammonia, which will increase the burden on liver and kidney metabolism, and it is not suitable to use a high-protein diet for long-term weight loss. (Photography by Huang Zhiwen)

According to media reports, Matthew McConaughey played an AIDS patient in a new movie and lost 14 kilograms in one go. His weight loss diet was to eat only 140 grams of high-protein, low-carbohydrate food every day, plus a lot of exercise and drinking tea. However, he admitted in an interview that it took some time for his body to adapt to this physiological mechanism.

Cai Shuling, head of the nutrition department of Tamsui Mackay Memorial Hospital, said that the purpose of daily diet is to provide the human body with sufficient calories. Carbohydrates provide about 50% of the calories, protein about 12 to 20%, and the rest are nutrients such as fat.

The recommended protein intake for most people is about 1 gram per kilogram of body weight, and 1 gram of protein can produce about 4 calories. Nutritionist Tsai Shu-ling said that the 140 grams of protein that Matthew McConaughey consumed is about the amount required for a person weighing 140 kilograms, which is indeed too high.

So can a high-protein diet help you lose weight? Nutritionist Cai Shuling said that if we look at it from the perspective of total calories, replacing carbohydrates that originally provided the main calories with protein, and protein will increase the body's metabolic rate, so the weight loss seems to be faster in the short term.

However, protein produces a large amount of ammonia. High protein will bring about excessive ammonia, which is a heavy burden on the detoxification metabolism of the liver and kidneys. Therefore, from a long-term health perspective, nutritionists do not recommend this type of weight loss method.