A new study suggests that eating meat and cheese during middle age activate the body's natural growth hormone and cellular growth factor, thus resulting to one's early death.
Researchers from the University of Southern California found that a low-protein diet in middle age could prevent cancer and acquiring other diseases. They also found that high-protein diet in old age is best in maintaining a healthy physique.
They analyzed the diet of over 6,800 middle-aged and older adults in the United States. Their findings revealed that middle-aged individuals who got more than 20 percent of their calories from animal protein are 300 times at risk of dying from cancer and diabetes, and 100 percent at risk from acquiring other diseases in the next 18 years.
Additionally, even middle-aged individuals who take in moderate amounts of protein are 200 percent at risk of death from cancer and other diseases.
Researchers explained that this may be partly brought by the activation of natural growth hormone and cellular growth factor called IGF-1.
On the contrary, high-protein diet proves beneficial to older adults. They found that older adults who consume high amounts of animal protein had a 60 percent decreased risk of death from cancer and a 28 percent decreased risk of death from any cause, compared to people who didn't take much meat and dairy products.
"The majority of Americans are eating about twice as much protein as they should, and it seems that the best change would be to lower the daily intake of all proteins but especially animal-derived proteins," in middle-aged individuals, said Dr. Valter Longo, senior author of the study in the university news release. "But don't get extreme in cutting out protein; you can go from protected to malnourished very quickly."
The findings provide "convincing evidence that a high-protein diet -- particularly if the proteins are derived from animals -- is nearly as bad as smoking for your health," Longo added.
Further details of this study can be read in the March 4 issue of Cell Metabolism.
