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Originally Posted by tryreading  Says above the only known danger from high protein diets is kidney disease. They forgot about heart disease, I guess, because you also get that from the high protein foods. And heart disease is what we should worry about, not lack of protein. Over a million heart attacks a year in this country, hundreds of thousands a year die from heart disease. You can read about that in the paper every day. Don't ever see any articles about hundreds of thousands dying from protein difficiency, though.
Human breast milk is about 7% protein, from what I've read. So, if we need 10% to 35% of our calories in protein, like your post says, human babies shouldn't live very long if they depend on their mother's milk for food. |
Breast milk actually changes in protein content, the protein content becomes higher as the baby grows to meet the baby's needs because the baby's need for more protein grows as the baby does. You don't read in the paper about anyone dying from a protein surplus either. Heart disease is more likely to be caused by a surplus of fat, or at least the wrong kind of fat, or a lack of exercise.
WHFoods: Newborns and Infants
DRI recommendations for protein and calories are not dramatically high for infants and young children. During the first year of life, protein recommendations range between 9-14 grams per day. Between the ages of 1-8 years, they range from 13-19 grams. The protein content of human milk varies greatly, but averages approximately 1/3rd gram per ounce. An nursing infant who consumes 15-30 ounces of milk will average 5-10 grams of protein and fall right in line with the DRI recommendations. While excess protein intake is unlikely when it comes to breastfeeding, formula feeding is another matter. Infant formulas often contain as much as 1 gram of protein per ounce, and an infant consuming 30 ounces of formula may be getting as much as 30 grams of protein. This amount of protein is 2-3 times the DRI recommendation, and may be too much from the perspective of optimal health.