Is a High Protein Diet Healthy?

(By: Kimberly A. Tessmer, RD LD)

The popular diet these days seems to be the high protein/low carb diet.  They promise quick weight loss but are they really safe to follow?

12 Good reasons to Avoid High Protein Diets

1. They do not represent or teach nutritionally balanced eating. Therefore when people go off of the diet they have not learned anything and go back to "bad" eating habits.  This encourages gaining weight back.

2. Most high protein foods are also high in cholesterol and saturated fat, which are now established as major culprits in increasing your cholesterol as well as the risk for heart attack and stroke.

3. These diets overload you with protein, which results in loss of calcium from your bones, which can lead to osteoporosis. Protein overload over a longer period of time also over-works your kidneys as they try to eliminate large amounts of urea, a by-product of protein metabolism.

4. These diets frequently forbid foods such as certain fruits and vegetables that are known to lower the risk of heart disease and many cancers.

5. They deprive you of carbohydrates, the nutrient group most readily converted to energy. Even moderately active people will notice this lack of energy during exercise.  Any diet that cuts out an entire food group should put up a red flag!

6. These diets deprive your brain of glucose (what carbohydrates are broken down into), which it needs for normal functioning. The result may be a slowdown in thinking and reaction time.

7. These diets deprive you of the enormous benefits of fiber, which is a form of carbohydrate (cellulose).  Fiber is found in many whole-grains, fruits and vegetables.

8. These diets may be deficient in essential vitamins. Indeed, some high protein diets even require you to take vitamin supplements for the sake of your health.

9. These diets can cause potentially dangerous changes in your body chemistry.

10. These diets run contrary to the latest World Cancer Research Fund Report,
entitled Food, Nutrition and the Prevention of Cancer. 

11. These diets deliver temporary weight loss. But a large part of it is water weight and lean muscle mass - not stored fat. (You lose water because your kidneys try to get rid of the excess waste products of protein and fat, called ketones, that your body makes.)  In addition, weight gain is usually rapid once you go off of the diet.

12. Finally, it's worth knowing that while your body burns up 23 calories for every 100 carbohydrate calories it 'digests', it only burns up 3 calories for every 100 fat calories it 'digests'.

Eating Fish for Good Health

(By: Kimberly A. Tessmer, RD LD)

Seafood can be a very nutritious protein source and contains little to no saturated or artery-clogging fat. The type of fat that is in seafood is the "good" fat or "healthy" type of fat.  

A "fatty" fish still has less fat than the "leanest" red meat. Better yet, the fat in fish is rich in omega-3 fatty acids, which can help to prevent heart attacks and can possible reduce your risk quite a bit.  As little as one serving of fish weekly can cut a middle-aged adult's chances of a fatal heart attack by as much as 50 percent.

Seafood is not just good for your heart either.  Eating fish rich in the polyunsaturated fatty acid, omega-3 helps:

• Raise levels of "good" cholesterol or HDL, which helps protects against heart disease.
  
• Reduce blood levels of triglycerides, the blood fats that raise the risk of both heart disease and diabetes. Omega-3 fatty acids instruct our genes to produce less of an enzyme that's essential for making fat, resulting in reduced levels of blood triglycerides.

• Reduce the tendency of blood to form artery-clogging clots. Omega-3 fatty acids act as natural anticoagulants, altering the ability of blood platelets to clump together. With fewer "sticky" platelets, clots are less likely to form.

• Help prevent heart arrhythmias that can lead to sudden cardiac death. The U.S. Physicians' Health Study found that during the course of 11 years, men who ate fish once a week were at least 40 percent less likely to die from sudden cardiac death.

• Slow the progression of existing coronary heart disease. In one 24-month study of people who have had a heart attack, those who ate fish at least twice a week were 29 percent less likely to have another.
  
• Inhibit hormone-like processes that tend to increase the risk for certain cancers.

Seafood reduces the risk of heart disease in several interrelated ways. The first is by substitution: Selecting fish or shellfish (instead of red meat, cheese or other fatty meats) as your protein source cuts your saturated fat intake. This helps decrease blood levels of harmful LDL cholesterol, and thus, your risk of heart disease.

Resist the urge to cook your seafood in butter or add butter afterwards.  This adds saturated fat to your otherwise helathy meal.  Bake, broil, or grill your seafood instead of frying.  Most "vegetable oils" used for commercial deep-fat frying contain partially hydrogenated and/or trans fatty acids, which can increase blood cholesterol levels.  If adding fat when cooking seafood at home use small amounts of canola or olive oil - or no added fat.