LORCA, Spain – A long-term high-protein diet may be linked to metabolic and other clinical problems such as loss of bone mass and renal dysfunction.

The study, done at the University of Murcia in Spain, has concluded a high-protein diet may have negative health implications for individuals with existing kidney dysfunction. There is little evidence, however, that this is true for healthy individuals.

The study was published in the May edition of Advances in Nutrition.

It is commonly believed that high-protein meals have a greater satisfaction than high-carbohydrate or high-fat meals do. The impact of high-protein diets on the satisfaction level involves multiple metabolic pathways because protein consumption can induce complex signals with peptide hormones that are released from the gastrointestinal tract.

Protein diets also stimulate metabolic hormones that communicate information about energy status to the brain. Long-term protein-rich diets seem to decrease food intake, body weight, and body overall obesity in many well-documented studies.

The study provides an extensive overview of the efficacy of a high-protein diet in weight loss and maintenance, as well as the potential consequences in human health of long-term high-protein diets.

http://advances.nutrition.org/content/6/3/260.abstract