From Lab to Life: Eat Less Protein?

“The global protein supplements industry generated approximately $29.8 to $30.3 billion in revenue last year. Within that, the broader protein powder sector itself was valued around $19 to $20 billion. This huge market is expanding at an estimated constant annual growth rate of 8% to 10% and will reach roughly $44 to $66 billion over the next decade.” I.e., the protein industry is doubling every 7 years or so.

But wait! Is there science behind this? SHOULD we eat more protein – especially, we seniors?

Writing in TIME magazine, August 2, Dominique Mosbergen asks, “could eating less protein help you age better and live longer?”

A review article in the journal Cell Press Blue, by Dudley Lamming,  ** analyzed 350 studies. “It found that mice, rats, flies, and fish that ate less protein consistently lived longer and healthier. In some small human studies, people who ate a protein-restricted diet lost weight and fat mass, and improved their blood sugar count, despite eating more calories.”

* B.A. Knopf, D. W. Lamming, “The hallmarks of protein and amino acid restriction in aging and longevity.” Cell Press Blue, July 31.

There is a claim that higher protein diets lower the risk of sarcopenia (loss of muscle mass) – a real danger for seniors. Lamming notes, however, that “people eating higher protein diets tend to have higher rates of cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and even, in some studies, mortality.”

I also doubt that simply eating more protein prevents muscle mass decline. It is the exercise of those muscles that forestalls sarcopenia, not the stuff you feed it.

Lamming explains the theory behind lower protein diets: “limiting protein consumption might prompt the body’s cells to shift from a ‘growth and proliferation’ state (where new cells and their components are made) to ‘recycling and repair’ mode, of existing cells.”

It is kind of like keeping an old car running – investing in maintenance (as I do, for my 11 year old Toyota Auris). And it continues to run great, with 230,000 kms. (140,000 miles).