{"id":802072,"date":"2026-08-04T04:50:26","date_gmt":"2026-08-04T04:50:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/802072\/"},"modified":"2026-08-04T04:50:26","modified_gmt":"2026-08-04T04:50:26","slug":"less-protein-not-more-may-lead-to-healthier-aging","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/802072\/","title":{"rendered":"Less Protein, Not More, May Lead to Healthier Aging"},"content":{"rendered":"

Do you remember where you were when our long \u201cwar\u201d with protein finally ended? Probably not.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In January of this year, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced the official end of hostilities between the United States government and the macronutrient, which has found its way into everything from waffles to water, with new federal dietary guidelines that recommended increasing protein intake to 0.5-0.7 grams per pound of body weight\u2014nearly double the previous recommendations.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Of course, this announcement left many experts<\/a> somewhat confused. For starters, American men were already consuming that much protein (around 100 grams per day) despite lower federal recommendations. Also, it\u2019s not entirely clear that more protein is actually good for us. In fact, even the benefits of boosting our protein intake as we age are coming under scrutiny in a new review published<\/a> in the journal Cell Press Blue.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s absolutely crystal clear that there are benefits of protein to muscle growth and exercise response of active individuals,\u201d study author Dudley Lamming said in a statement<\/a>. \u201cBut because most people are relatively sedentary, many people are likely consuming more protein than they actually need, which probably has negative health consequences.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more: \u201cConfessions of a Reluctant Protein-Maxxer<\/a>\u201d<\/p>\n

Lamming and his colleague Bailey Knopf, both from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, combed through more than 350 studies involving the effects of a protein-restrictive diet on a variety of organisms. They found that decreasing protein intake is associated with improved metabolism, less cellular damage, and healthier aging, and identified the molecular mechanisms that may be responsible.<\/p>\n

One key factor, a hormone produced by the liver called fibroblast growth factor 21 (FGF21), ramps up when protein intake declines. FGF21 can boost the body\u2019s energy expenditure, stabilize blood sugar levels, and reduce inflammation. In mice, at least, more FGF21 translates to a longer lifespan.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The study also found that consuming certain essential amino acids (those your body can\u2019t produce on its own) can also exacerbate common maladies related to aging. Specifically, growth-promoting methionine, isoleucine, and valine can lead to more inflammation, obesity, and age-related diseases, the researchers say. \u200b\u200b\u201cThese studies show that the amount of protein sedentary people are eating today may have negative health consequences, at least at the population level,\u201d Lamming explained.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But what about the individual level?\u00a0<\/p>\n

That, it turns out, is a very important question. More exercise and metabolic activity could very well mean you need more protein, not less. \u201cRecent recommendations have encouraged people to eat more protein, but they\u2019ve also encouraged people to exercise more,\u201d Lamming added. \u201cWe probably need to personalize protein recommendations based not just on age, but also on how physically active people are.\u201d<\/p>\n

In other words, the \u201cwar on protein\u201d continues to rage on inside all of us. \"\"<\/p>\n

Enjoying Nautilus<\/a>? Subscribe to our free newsletter<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Lead image: JMarques \/ Adobe Stock<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Do you remember where you were when our long \u201cwar\u201d with protein finally ended? Probably not.\u00a0 In January…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":802073,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[61],"tags":[97,269],"class_list":["post-802072","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nutrition","tag-health","tag-nutrition"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/802072","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=802072"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/802072\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/802073"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=802072"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=802072"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=802072"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}