There aren’t many men who would turn down a lifestyle of all the bacon and steaks he could want, but are high-protein diets healthy? Protein promises to help you lose weight and feel satisfied, but the problem is that high-protein, low-carb diets such as the Atkins diet, the Zone diet, and others are not good for your wellbeing. True, weight loss is important for wellness, but the pros of a high-protein diet are far outweighed by the cons.
The weight loss mechanism that lies behind high protein diets is water weight loss. When you stop eating carbohydrates, your body stops retaining so much water, and then begins a process called ketosis. This means that your body begins to burn more fat and you feel less hungry. However, the downside of this process is that it causes you to experience some pretty unpleasant side effects, including headaches, nausea, kidney trouble, health palpitations, and irritability. If this isn’t enough of a red flag, the American Heart Association categorically states that it does not recommend high-protein diets. This is because fatty meats and dairy – which form a large part of these diet plans – can elevate your cholesterol and, as a result, your risk of having a heart attack. Moreover, these diets lack fibre and nutrients that you need to get from vegetables, fruits, and grains.
Rather than losing weight and your health, why not try a much healthier weight loss strategy that includes some carbohydrates? Otherwise, you might put your body at risk to:
- Malnutrition
- Prostate cancer
- Increased cholesterol
- Heart attack
- Stroke
- Osteoporosis
- Type 2 diabetes
- Kidney disease
- Inflammation
While these outcomes do not occur if you’re on a high-protein diet for a short amount of time, they become extremely likely if you eat a high amount of protein on a long-term basis. In fact, researchers at HarvardUniversity have found that while eating red meat increases your risk of diabetes, processed meats such as bacon and hot dogs increase that risk even more. Therefore, it’s far better to follow a more healthy diet for the rest of your life, and the Mediterranean diet is a top contender.
The benefits of the Mediterranean Diet go beyond nutrition; they also help you with your weight loss or weight management. This is because the healthy fats from nuts, olives, olive oil, avocado, and fish help you to feel satisfied, which means you’re less likely to snack on unhealthy, fattening foods. Unlike high protein diets – which can get pretty boring – the Mediterranean diet provides variety. Plus, it contains many of the foods that you love and don’t want to give up, including pasta, whole grain bread, and fruits and vegetables.
Of course, you’re still allowed to consume protein sources of meat as part of the Mediterranean diet, but you’re meant to stick with healthy proteins such as fish and leaner cuts of meat. The reason why fish is such an important part of the Mediterranean diet is that fish such as salmon and tuna are high in omega-3 fatty acids, making them extremely beneficial to heart health and men’s prostate wellness. Omega-3 fatty acids can also help protect you against prostate cancer, arthritis, and heart disease. Eat skinless chicken (as the skin is high in saturated fat) and opt for white meat, which is lower in fat than dark meat. Moreover, it’s vital that you include plant-based proteins in your diet, as some of the best protein for prostate health comes from foods like beans, lentils, quinoa, and fermented soy products. Eating foods like fibre-rich beans can help you feel fuller longer and help lower cholesterol.
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