A new study has found that having a high-protein diet at middle age is just as dangerous as smoking 20 cigarettes a day.
Research from the University of Southern California shows that middle-age people under the age of 65 who had high levels of animal protein in their diet had a greater risk of death from cancer compared to those with a low-protein diet, according to the Irish Times.
The study included 6,318 adults over the age of 50 and found that those who ate a lot of protein were 74 percent more susceptible to dying early from any cause than those who ate less protein, the Irish Times reported. Those who ate more protein were also more likely to die of diabetes.
The researchers said that protein in meat, eggs and cheese is the cause of these health problems, and recommended those between 50 and 65 to cut back on these products, according to IOL. They recommended these middle age people should instead get protein from fish, lentils and beans.
The researchers stated that a "high-protein" diet consists of at least 20 percent of daily calories from protein, the Irish Times reported. They recommended a middle-age person should only consume about 0.8g of protein per kilogram of body weight, per day.
Valter Longo, professor at the University of Southern California, said protein consumption plays an important role in determining someone's likelihood of having cancer, IOL reported.
"Almost everyone is going to have a cancer cell or pre-cancer cell in them at some point," Dr. Longo said. "The question is: 'Does it progress?' Turns out one of the major factors in determining it is protein intake."
Dr. Longo, who is also the author of the study, talked about the benefits of protein in fish and vegetables, and recommended a diet with a lot of different carbohydrates and little protein, the Irish Times reported.
"I follow a fish and vegetable based diet which is high in complex carbohydrates," Dr. Longo said. "This is a diet that has been found in the most long-lived populations of the world."
