I don't think even the government has any idea exactly how much protein is need per day without the body metabolizing protein into glucose which we all see is detrimental. And it is because there is so much variable, but there is no reason whatsoever to double the RDA for protein even if you're weightlifting because the body never use all that protein in a day to form new muscle.
Of course, a lot of these guys take steroid and doesn't care about their health, so their logic is it's better to have more than you need.
For example, the protein RDA for a male my weight of 56kg is 45g. He should be eating a little bit more of protein on a keto diet, 45g on a high carb diet or other diet, assuming the Institute of Medicine is right. There is no reason whatsoever for him to consume more than this amount of protein unless he is very active or weight-lifting.
Let's plot out a random diet.
8oz of cream cheese -16g of protein and 800 calories
4 chicken eggs- 50.4 g of protein and 600 calories
4 tablespoon of peanut butter- 14g protein and 400 calories
Total 80.4g protein and 1800 calories.
This is just a wild-ass random diet. I don't know how much protein is need in order to satisfy the brain's glucose need, but it's safer to go overboard just a tad bit and put a little strain on the kidney instead of not having enough glucose for the brain.
If he just jumped in and eat a steak on top on this which I see many people do, just eat tons of meat, fish and poultry, he would probably go over the protein requirement and put great strain on the body long-term because he is obviously over-eating which goes back to my last point.
This is all assuming the RDA is correct and the person is rather sedentary.
Again, no absolutes because the body may just be switching in and out, using glucose or fat depending on how much protein and carbs you're consuming. This is just my theory.
I doubt you will ever consciously consume enough protein to put yourself into rabbit starvation, but depending on how much more protein than the RDA amount + however much it is your brain needs for glucose, you are probably out of ketosis at some point during the day and switching back to ketosis later. The thing is we don't know. There aren't a lot of studies on this and a person at home can't accurately know whether or not they are in ketosis.
The unknown is we don't know how much protein the body absolutely need and there are many variables, protein not being the exact amount that is labeled or getting lost somewhere in the process.
In the end, it's safer to eat just a bit more protein but all that meat, poultry and fish is going to strain you.
And to address my previous post saying that there is no such thing as a protein diet, we are arguing over semantic. I would only consider a diet high protein when it induces protein poisoning or straining you dangerously long-term.
Again, all a matter of degree. Unless a person has deliberately plot out their keto diet and thought about this, they're probably poisoning themselves with protein long-term, which was Blue's point.
Also edit: I meant I decrease my meat intake to only a few times per week.
Edited by Saber, 24 October 2009 - 04:17 AM.