High protein diets have become popular for a good reason - they promote weight loss. You can eat all the steak , chicken, bacon, eggs and other protein foods while cutting back on carbs such as pasta, potatoes, fruit and vegetables. If these diets really work, why doesn't everyone use them? Probably, because low-carb diets don't work for all of us. You can hear from some dieters how great they feel after skipping carbs alltogether, while others tell you about dizziness, fatigue, insomnia and bad moods they have experienced trying to lose weight by losing carbohydrates.

Second, in order to eliminate excess acidity, calcium is released from bone leading to a range of side effects including bone loss and poor muscle coordination.

The metabolism of animal-based proteins leads to the production of phosphoric and sulfuric acids. Although food proteins differ greatly in their potential acid load and, therefore, in their ability to generate acids, a diet high in animal-source foods--and especially one low in fruits and vegetables--can cause chronic low-grade metabolic acidosis, even in healthy young men.

Whether and to what extent this occurs in bodybuilders is not known, but it's certainly conceivable that many bodybuilders suffer from chronic low-grade acidosis. Consuming 300-500 grams (g) of animal-source protein per day would raise levels of blood sulfuric acid (by breaking down sulfur-containing amino acids, such as cysteine and methionine) and phosphoric acid (by breaking down phosphorylated amino acids, such as phosphoserine and phosphothreonine). This could easily lead to low-grade acidosis. Diets that are low in carbohydrates, and especially those that are concurrently low in calories, also contribute to acute acidosis and negative nitrogen balance.