False and inaccurate. First, de-amination of proteins isn't a harmful process. It's a normal thing for a liver to do ... When there is NO OTHER SOURCE OF ENERGY AVAILABLE proteins from the diet or most usually, proteins from the body, such as worn-out and dead cells, will be de-aminated. That is, the amine part of the amino acid molecule gets removed, so what's left is ketone or other acetyl group, which enter the Krebs cycle to be used as energy/fuel by the body. The amine molecule which has been removed is converted to urea, which is eliminated via the kidneys. Healthy kidneys excrete urea and other by-products of metabolism .. creatinine, etc. To say that making the kidneys do their job is harmful, is like saying that aerobic exercise is harmful because it forces the heart to pump harder, the blood vessels must dilate, and the alveoli in the lungs must filter more oxygen in and more carbon dioxide out.

Persons following a ketogenic diet, such as Atkins, or such as medical ketogenic diet used for small children with epilepsy have plenty of fuel available in the form of ketones made from body fat, and from dietary fat. So de-amination of proteins in the liver would never occur on a significant scale.

I won't bother to address the rest of the statements, as they are also erroneous.

BTW, I got my info. from my first year A&P Text, "Principles of Anatomy and Physiology", Anagnostakos and Tortora. ISBN - 0-06-388770-3.

Doreen