Protein Myths vs. Facts: What Every Mom Should Know

In our body, protein is the main building block. It is one of the most important nutrients which our body requires to form muscle, produce hormones, strengthen skin and bones, transport nutrients and promote immunity. Protein myths create confusion among parents, leading to misconceptions about how much and what type of protein children need. Some believe excessive protein accelerates growth, while others fear it harms kidneys. This blog aims to debunk common protein myths and facts with scientific evidence and help parents make informed dietary choices while understanding facts about eating protein for their children’s health.¹

Table of Contents:

• Common Protein Myths and Facts
• The Truth About Protein Absorption
• How Moms Can Offer Children Balanced Protein in their Diet:
• Conclusion

Common Protein Myths and Facts:

1) Protein Myth – Protein is all you need to gain height.

 Fact – During childhood and adolescence, nutritional status is directly linked to the growth and development. The major fact about eating protein is that it plays a very important role in height growth by helping in tissue growth.  However, it’s a myth that only protein is required to help the child grow taller. It is crucial to include a balanced diet that includes all the nutrients like carbohydrates, protein, fats and micronutrients along with exercise. Focussing only on protein while neglecting other nutrients can have adverse effects on overall health and growth.²

2) Myth – High dose of protein can affect kidney.

Fact – It is a very common protein myth that a high protein intake affects kidney function. High protein intake means intake of protein over and above the requirements, this can affect kidney health. In healthy children, the body is quite adapted to the process of using protein for various functions like growth, muscle building. etc., while excreting the excess protein. One of the facts about eating protein is that in the required amounts it does not affect normal kidney function in healthy children unless there is a pre–existing kidney condition. Also, Indians are known to have a low protein consumption of about 0.6/kg body weight/day while the recommendations are 0.8-1g/kg body weight/day³, so it is unlikely that protein consumption would go above the recommended limits.

3) Myth -Vegetarian diets do not provide adequate protein

 Fact – People generally believe that vegetarians struggle to meet their protein requirement through the diet. But this is a huge misconception; the fact is that Indian vegetarian diets naturally include a lot of protein rich food sources like lentils, pulses, milk and milk products (curd/ buttermilk/ yoghurt) and nuts. However, an important protein fact is that these foods contain incomplete protein, meaning they lack one or more essential amino acids. In order to make complete protein we can combine different plant-based foods for example eating rice or chapati with dal or pulse curry, khichdi (combination of dal and rice), etc. By planning meals properly and keeping good quality protein in mind helps to meet the daily requirement.⁴

4) Myth- Too much protein causes obesity

Fact – Too much protein means excess protein intake more than the requirement amounts. One of the protein facts is that it plays a major role in building muscle mass and promoting metabolism and thus indirectly prevents obesity. O Adequate protein intake gives satiety by influencing appetite-regulating hormones (glucagon-like peptide-1) and reduces cravings or hunger. Also, proteins require more energy to digest, as compared to fats and carbohydrates which increases calorie expenditure. This along with satiety from protein can help decrease energy intake; promoting a negative energy balance that can facilitate weight loss. Therefore, it’s a protein myth that it can cause obesity.⁵

5) Myth – Homemade food doesn’t provide enough protein

Fact –Protein rich foods such as dal, pulses, lentils, milk and milk products (curd/ buttermilk), lean meats (chicken/ fish/ egg) included in daily meals can help meet the protein requirements. We don’t always consume a well-balanced diet, hence to fill the gap, we may need additional protein sources in diet.

6) Myth – Protein is not easy to digest

 Fact –Another important protein fact is that our body is capable of digesting and absorbing proteins efficiently. After ingestion of protein rich food sources, our digestive system breaks it into smaller molecules called amino acids. Amino acids aid in muscle growth, tissue repair, build immunity, etc. Adding fiber rich foods and drinking adequate water helps to promote the protein absorption. So, protein is not easy to digest is a protein absorption myth.¹

The Truth About Protein Absorption:

There are many protein absorption myths. One of the facts about eating protein is that it is categorised as complete and incomplete protein based on the amino acids composition. Complete proteins are dairy products, lean meats (chicken, fish and egg), soya bean and quinoa as they contain all the nine essential amino acids while plant-based sources like cereals, dal, pulses and nuts are incomplete protein as they lack or more essential amino acids. Thus, clarifying protein absorption myth- for better absorption, it is important to have complete protein which can be met through protein complementation method^4,6 Additionally, soaking and germination of pulses reduces anti-nutritional factors and support protein absorption. Fermentation is another method to increase protein absorption (e.g. fermentation of milk to curd, yogurt.)⁷

How Moms Can Offer Children Balanced Protein in their Diet:

• Include a variety of protein rich foods into the diet like dal, pulses, lentils, milk and milk products (curd/ buttermilk), lean meats (chicken/ fish/ egg) to make sure that children meet the recommended requirement.
• Make protein fun by preparing kid friendly meals like egg sandwich, paneer wrap, lentil soup, paneer tikka, chicken kebab, tikki with curd dip or hummus, fruit yoghurt parfait etc.

Conclusion:

Making certain of the correct quality and quantity of protein in a child’s diet is important for the growth, development and overall health. Addressing these common protein myths and facts and protein absorption myths will help the parents make informed dietary choices providing them with adequate nutrition for a healthy life. However, if you are unable to meet the required nutritional needs, a nutritional drink like Complan that contains 34 vital nutrients including 63% more protein as compared to leading malt based drink, can be added to a balanced diet to help support all round growth.

Source:

¹LaPelusa, A., & Kaushik, R. (2022, November 14). Physiology, proteins. In StatPearls. StatPearls Publishing. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK555990/ . Accessed on March 4, 2025.

²Kim, K., Melough, M. M., Kim, D., Sakaki, J. R., Lee, J., Choi, K., & Chun, O. K. (2021). Nutritional Adequacy and Diet Quality Are Associated with Standardized Height-for-Age among U.S. Children. Nutrients, 13(5), 1689. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu13051689

³Shoba Suri, India’s protein deficiency and the need to address the problem, October 2020, Available at:https://www.researchgate.net/publication/347523282_India’s_protein_deficiency_and_the_need_to_address_the_problem. Accessed on 9^th April 2025.

⁴Cornell Cooperative Extension. (2015, June 15). Complete and incomplete proteins. Retrieved from https://s3.amazonaws.com/assets.cce.cornell.edu/attachments/26011/Complete_and_Incomplete_Proteins_6.15.pdf?1506955640 (Accessed on March 4, 2025).

⁵Magkos, F. (2020) The role of dietary protein in obesity. Rev Endocr Metab Disord 21, 329–340. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11154-020-09576-3

⁶Fürst, P. (2009). Basics in clinical nutrition: Proteins and amino acids. E-SPEN, The European E-Journal of Clinical Nutrition and Metabolism, 4(2), e69–e73. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11154-020-09576-3

⁷Dallas, D. C., Sanctuary, M. R., Qu, Y., Khajavi, S. H., Van Zandt, A. E., Dyandra, M., Frese, S. A., Barile, D., & German, J. B. (2017). Personalizing protein nourishment. Critical reviews in food science and nutrition, 57(15), 3313–3331. https://doi.org/10.1080/10408398.2015.1117412