Doctors Think We Need To Cool It With Our Obsession With This 1 Nutrient

In the meantime, you're likely missing out on other key nutrients.

Even a quick walk through the aisles of your local market will confirm what you’ve probably already suspected — just about everyone wants more protein in their diet. While keto and paleo dieters are centered around it, others are seeking ways to get enough of it through powders, beverages, bars, pasta and snacks.

While many consumers are loading up on as much protein as they can get, experts say, we can jump off the “all protein, all the time” bandwagon and start looking for a more generally balanced diet.

Protein Does Lots Of Great Things

Dr. Zhaoping Li, chief of the division of clinical nutrition at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, said protein provides the building blocks of our organs and body, and that it’s essential to improve the immune system. “It’s also used to make neurotransmitters, can function as hormones or can provide fuel through glucogenic or ketogenic pathways.”

“Protein is essential for health because it’s a central component of all our tissues and bodily functions, such as enzyme secretion and immune function,” said Jorn Trommelen, an expert on nutrition and an assistant professor in the department of human biology at Maastricht University in the Netherlands. “Bodily proteins are continuously broken down to amino acids, which are recycled in new proteins. But there is a net loss of bodily protein in the absence of protein ingestion, so dietary protein is essential to maintain our tissue mass and function.”