The one-fifth of people consuming the most protein were 12% LESS likely to die during a 7.4 year follow-up compared to the one-fifth consuming the least according to the PURE study which followed 135,335 people, 35-70 years-old from 18 countries from 5 continents for a median follow-up of 7.4 years.

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The one-fifth of people consuming the most protein from meat were 61% more likely to die from cardiovascular disease over an average follow-up of 9.4 years compared to the one-fifth of people consuming the least according to a new study from researchers at Loma Linda University.

This was after adjusting for lifestyle factors.

“Associations between the ‘Meat’ and ‘Nuts & Seeds’ protein factors and cardiovascular outcomes were strong and could not be ascribed to other associated nutrients considered to be important for cardiovascular health,” the study concluded.

“Our results suggest that healthy choices can be advocated based on protein sources, specifically preferring diets low in meat intake and with a higher intake of plant proteins from nuts and seeds.”

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The one-fourth of people with the highest percent intake of protein (20% of calories) were 21% less likely to have mild cognitive impairment or dementia compare to the one-fourth of people with the lowest percent protein intake (16% of calories) according to a study from researchers at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, USA.

“A dietary pattern with relatively high caloric intake from carbohydrates and low caloric intake from fat and proteins may increase the risk of [mild cognitive impairment] or dementia in elderly persons,” the authors of the study concluded.

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People 50- to 65-years old who consumed a high-protein diet, defined as consuming 20% or more of calories from protein, were 1.73 times more likely to die over the next 18 years than people who consumed a low-protein diet, defined as consuming less than 10% of calories from protein, according to a study from researchers at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, California, USA.

“None of these associations was significantly affected by controlling for percent calories from total fat or for percent calories from total carbohydrates,” the paper notes.

“However, when the percent calories from animal protein was controlled for, the association between total protein and all-cause or cancer mortality was eliminated or significantly reduced, respectively, suggesting animal proteins are responsible for a significant portion of these relationships.”

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People 50- to 65-years old who consumed a moderate-protein diet, defined as consuming 10-19% or more of calories from protein, were 3.1 times more likely to die from cancer over the next 18 years than people who consumed a low-protein diet, defined as consuming less than 10% of calories from protein, according to a study from researchers at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, California, USA.

“None of these associations was significantly affected by controlling for percent calories from total fat or for percent calories from total carbohydrates,” the paper notes.

“However, when the percent calories from animal protein was controlled for, the association between total protein and all-cause or cancer mortality was eliminated or significantly reduced, respectively, suggesting animal proteins are responsible for a significant portion of these relationships.”

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People 50- to 65-years old who consumed a high-protein diet, defined as consuming 20% or more of calories from protein, were 4.3 times more likely to die from cancer over the next 18 years than people who consumed a low-protein diet, defined as consuming less than 10% of calories from protein, according to a study from researchers at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, California, USA.

“None of these associations was significantly affected by controlling for percent calories from total fat or for percent calories from total carbohydrates,” the paper notes.

“However, when the percent calories from animal protein was controlled for, the association between total protein and all-cause or cancer mortality was eliminated or significantly reduced, respectively, suggesting animal proteins are responsible for a significant portion of these relationships.”

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People 66-years and older who consumed a high-protein diet, defined as consuming 20% or more of calories from protein, were 28% less likely to die over the next 18 years than people who consumed a low-protein diet, defined as consuming less than 10% of calories from protein, according to a study from researchers at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, California, USA.

“[T]his was not affected by percent calories from fat, from carbohydrates, or from animal protein,” the paper notes.

In other words, a high-protein diet INCREASED the risk of dying prematurely in people 50-65 years-old, but REDUCED the risk of dying prematurely in those 66-years-old and older.

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People 66-years and older who consumed a moderate-protein diet, defined as consuming 10-19% or more of calories from protein, were 21% less likely to die over the next 18 years than people who consumed a low-protein diet, defined as consuming less than 10% of calories from protein, according to a study from researchers at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, California, USA.

“[T]his was not affected by percent calories from fat, from carbohydrates, or from animal protein,” the paper notes.

In other words, a moderate- to high-protein diet INCREASED the risk of dying prematurely in people 50-65 years-old, but REDUCED the risk of dying prematurely in those 66-years-old and older.

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People 66-years and older who consumed a high-protein diet, defined as consuming 20% or more of calories from protein, were 60% less likely to die from cancer over the next 18 years than people who consumed a low-protein diet, defined as consuming less than 10% of calories from protein, according to a study from researchers at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, California, USA.

In other words, a moderate- to high-protein diet INCREASED the risk of dying prematurely from cancer in people 50-65 years-old, but REDUCED the risk of dying prematurely from cancer in those 66-years-old and older.

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Type 2 diabetics with renal disease who were assigned to eat a moderate protein diet containing at least 25% protein lost an average of 21.3 lbs after one year versus 14.5 lbs for those assigned to eat a standard protein diet containing 15% protein, however, the difference was not statistically significant.

People in the moderate protein diet ate an average of 19 grams more protein per day than those on the standard protein diet.

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Here is a 7-minute video of obesity researcher, George Bray, MD, talking about the results of their new study in which they overfed subjects roughly an extra 1,000 calories per day of either a low-protein diet (5% protein), a normal-protein diet (15% protein), or a high-protein diet (25% protein), and the effect that this had on body weight and body fat.

All groups gained weight. The normal- and high-protein groups gained the most weight (13-14 lbs vs 7 lbs for the low-protein group), and all groups gained roughly the same amount of body fat.

In other words, overeating caused weight gain regardless of weather they were overeating a high-protein diet or a low-protein diet.

Even though the low-protein group gained weight, they lost a small amount of lean body mass (muscle).

Dr. Bray notes that this shows that not eating enough protein -- a diet containing only 5% protein -- will not prevent loss of lean body mass. He notes that this finding was unexpected.

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When people were overfed 40% more calories than necessary with a low-protein diet containing only 5% protein, they gained an average of 7.1 pounds after two months according to a new study from researchers at the Pennington Biomedical Research Center at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana USA.

This compares to a weight gain of 13.3 lbs on a 15% normal-protein diet, and a weight gain of 13.5 lbs on a 25% high-protein diet. Read the entire article | Email this article

When people were overfed 40% more calories than necessary with a high-protein diet containing 25% protein, they gained an average of 13.5 pounds after two months according to a new study from researchers at the Pennington Biomedical Research Center at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana USA.

This compares to a weight gain of 7.1 lbs on a 5% low-protein diet, and a weight gain of 13.3 lbs on a 15% medium-protein diet. Read the entire article | Email this article

When people were overfed 40% more calories than necessary with a medium-protein diet containing 15% protein, they gained an average of 13.3 pounds after two months according to a new study from researchers at the Pennington Biomedical Research Center at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana USA.

This compares to a weight gain of 7.1 lbs on a 5% low-protein diet, and a weight gain of 13.5 lbs on a 25% high-protein diet. Read the entire article | Email this article

Solid protein is better at suppressing appetite than liquid protein according to a new study from researchers at Maastricht University in Maastricht, The Netherlands.

Appetite was suppressed more when people were given solid protein as steamed chicken breast plus 750 ml water compared to when they were given liquified protein given as steamed chicken breast blended in 500 ml water plus 250 ml water.

The hunger suppression was 79 for solid protein versus 52 for liquid protein after 20 minutes, and 61 for solid protein versus 44 for liquid protein after nearly two hours. Read the entire article | Email this article

Children who consume more animal protein, especially dairy protein, at the age of 1-year and 5- to 6-years-old have higher levels of body fat at the age of 7 than those who consume less according to a new study from researchers at the Research Institute of Child Nutrition at the University of Bonn in Dortmund, Germany. Read the entire article | Email this article

How long have you heard that protein and carbohydrates provide 4 calories per gram of food, and fat provides 9 calories per gram? Probably forever. But these numbers are bogus according to a recent paper by Dr. Geoffrey Livesey. Read the entire article | Email this article