I've noticed something a little odd the last two weekends: I have been really thirsty. At first I wondered if there was something different with the water in our city since there is a water cooler at work and I get most of my day's water from that source during the week. Or I thought maybe it's just more humid at work. But then I happened to think during the week when I'm working I go for simple carbs and don't eat as much protein. My plan a couple weeks ago was to start a high protein diet, but the only days I've been able to stick to it were on the weekends because I have more time to prepare my food and I'm not reaching for carbs just to "get through the day". So I looked it up and sure enough, a side effect of a high protein diet is dehydration. Researchers from University of Connecticut tested the hydration levels of athletes on diets containing low, medium, and high levels of protein. It was reported in an article by Web MD, that "although all the athletes drank about the same amount of fluids, their hydration level went down significantly as their protein intake went up."
I researched this a bit more and found several articles saying high protein diets, especially from animal sources, may cause kidney damage. However, most of the research was inconclusive. So I guess for now, I just need to drink extra water, maybe try to find protein sources not from animals, and proceed with caution.
No comments:
Post a Comment