Plant protein may promote healthy aging in women

Key takeaways:

• Women who consumed a diet rich in plant protein were more likely to maintain physical function and good mental health.
• Those who consumed animal protein were more likely to have chronic conditions.

Middle-aged women who consumed higher amounts of protein, particularly from plants, were more likely to have healthier aging and develop fewer chronic diseases, a study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found.

“Getting the majority of your protein from plant sources at midlife, plus a small amount of animal protein, seems to be conducive to good health and good survival to older ages,” Andres V. Ardisson Korat, DSc, a scientist at the U.S. Department of Agriculture Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University, said in a press release.

According to Korat and colleagues, past studies have suggested that higher protein intake may help prevent muscle loss and improve physical performance in older adults.

“However, most of these studies had short follow-up times, and the associations of specific protein sources (animal or plant) were inconclusive for most outcomes,” the researchers wrote.

They conducted a study to investigate the role of protein consumption in healthy aging using data from 48,762 women from the Nurses’ Health Study. The participants were aged 30 to 55 years at baseline.

Korat and colleagues compared the diets of women who did not develop chronic conditions and had no impairment of mental health or physical function — defined as healthy aging — with the diets of those who did.

The researchers found that for every 3% energy increment of plant protein, the odds for healthy aging were:

• 1.38 (95% CI, 1.24-1.54) for plant protein;
• 1.14 (95% CI, 1.06-1.23) for dairy protein;
• 1.07 (95% CI, 1.02-1.11) for animal protein; and
• 1.05 (95% CI, 1.01-1.1) for total protein.

In addition, substituting dairy protein, animal protein, carbohydrates or fat with 3% of plant protein energy was linked to 22% to 58% higher odds of healthy aging, as well as higher odds of being free of chronic conditions, according to Korat and colleagues.

“Those who consumed greater amounts of animal protein tended to have more chronic disease and didn’t manage to obtain the improved physical function that we normally associate with eating protein,” Korat said.

Plant protein was also linked to 20% to 60% greater odds of having no physical limitations.

There were several study limitations, the researchers noted. For example, the population was primarily white women, which “limits the generalizability of our findings to other populations,” they wrote.

“Future research is warranted to verify these findings in other populations and to elucidate the mechanisms underlying the associations between protein intake and healthy aging,” they added.

Ultimately, “dietary protein intake, especially plant protein, in midlife plays an important role in the promotion of healthy aging and in maintaining positive health status at older ages,” Korat said.

References:

• Korat A, et al. Am J Clin Nutr. 2024;doi:10.1016/j.ajcnut.2023.11.010.
• Diets rich in plant protein may help women stay healthy as they age. https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1030804. Published Jan. 17, 2023. Accessed Jan. 11, 2023.