Ditch red meat for plant protein to live longer, say experts
Swapping meat and dairy for grains and pulses could reduce risk of heart disease by 12%
SWAPPING meat for cereals, beans and nuts can lead to a longer life, a study has found.
Those who ate the greatest amount of plant protein - as a share of overall calorie intake - had the lowest risk of dying young.
Every 3 per cent increase in calories from plant protein reduced the risk of premature death from all causes by 10 per cent.
It was also associated with a 12 per cent lower risk of death from heart disease.
Animal protein foods include all types of meat, fish, eggs and dairy products, such as milk and cheese.
Plant sources of protein include cereals, beans, nuts, legumes, soya and bread.
In contrast, raising the share of calorie intake from animal protein by 10 per cent led to a 2 per cent higher risk of all-cause death.
It also increased the chances of dying from a heart problem by 8 per cent.
The risk was greatest among those who were obese, had a history of smoking, drank heavily, and who did little exercise.
But the risk disappeared among the healthiest participants.
This may be because they tended to eat more fish and poultry, rather than red and processed meat, the researchers said.
Replacing processed red meat with plant protein was linked to a 34 per cent lower risk of death from all causes for every 3 per cent of calorie intake.
Substituting plant protein for eggs led to a 19 per cent reduction in death risk.
Lead scientist Dr Mingyang Song, from Massachusetts General Hospital, US, said: “Overall, our findings support the importance of the sources of dietary protein for long-term health outcomes.
“While previous studies have primarily focused on the overall amount of protein intake - which is important - from a broad dietary perspective, the particular foods that people consume to get protein are equally important.
“Our findings suggest that people should consider eating more plant proteins than animal proteins, and when they do choose among sources of animal protein, fish and chicken are probably better choices.”
The researchers analysed data on 131,342 people, with an average age of 49, whose progress was followed for up to 32 years.
Each participant filled out food questionnaires detailing his or her diet.
During the follow-up period more than 36,000 deaths were recorded.
Almost 9,000 of these were due to cardiovascular disease, 13,000 to cancer and about 14,000 to other causes.
The findings are reported in the journal Jama Internal Medicine.
The scientists concluded: “Substitution of plant protein for animal protein, especially from processed red meat, may confer substantial health benefit.
“Therefore, public health recommendations should focus on improvement of protein sources.”
Professor Tim Key, director of Oxford University’s Cancer Epidemiology Unit, said: “Overall, the study adds to the view that healthy diets should emphasise plant foods, including plant sources of protein, and that intakes of animal source foods - especially processed meat - should be low.”
Dr Gunter Kuhnle, Associate Professor in Nutrition and Health at the University of Reading, said: “The results themselves do not suggest that a change in current dietary guidelines is necessary.
“The overall results of the study show that an overall healthy lifestyle, including - but not limited to - a healthy diet is beneficial.”
Dr Ian Johnson, from the Institute of Food Research in Norwich, said: “This interesting and robust work seems to support the growing consensus that diets based largely on plant foods are better for long term health than diets containing large quantities of meat and dairy products, but it tells us little about mechanism.
“It is far from clear whether plant proteins are protective or animal proteins are detrimental to health, or whether these protein levels are simply markers for something else.”
A hearty fish diet
HEART attack victims recover faster if they eat fish oils, say researchers.
The omega-3 fatty acids in salmon, mackerel and tuna improve heart function, Harvard Medical School in the US found.
