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Protein and cancer: Is there a link?

A recent study finds that excessive protein intake may increase your cancer mortality. Read on to know how much protein you should have on a daily basis.

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Written By: Editorial Team | Updated : January 16, 2020 11:19 AM IST

High protein diets are the favourites of many nutritionists when it comes to their weight loss recommendations. recommendations for weight. Moreover, you have those popular diets loaded with high protein proportions: The Zone, Atkins or Paleo diets. Well, some of you might have tried these already. But do you know that excessive protein consumption may make you more vulnerable to cancer?

Well, a recent study published in the journal Cell Metabolism reveals that too much protein ups your risk of cancer death by 4 per cent. There are two other significant findings of the study: Extra protein increases your death risk by 74 per cent and it also elevates your chances of dying from diabetes by several times more.

How much protein should you have?

While you should be cautious about the demerits of consuming excessive protein, there is no denying that it is one of the three crucial macronutrients that your body needs. Starting from promoting growth and development and tissue repair, it helps build and preserve your muscle mass. Protein is also known to bolster your weight loss mission. So, it is essential to have sufficient protein in your diet. But the big question is, how much protein should you take? Well, there are quite a few ways of calculating your protein requirement.

1) Percentage of your total calorie intake per day

According to some recommendations, you should draw 10-30 per cent of your total calorie intake from protein. For example, if you consume 1500 calories every day, the energy that you get from protein should be 150 to 450 calories.

2) Weight and activity-based necessity

Most official recommendations say that you should have 0.8 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight every day. Simply multiply your body weight with 0.8 to get the numbers. For example, if your weight is 75kg, your daily protein requirement will be 60 grams. However, if you are very active, or an athlete, the figures change. In that case, the recommendation is 1.2 to 1.7 gram of protein per kg of weight.

3) Gender-based calculation

According to some recommendations, the figures for daily requirement should be based on your gender: 56 grams for men and 46 grams for women.