Should We Increase Our Protein Intake After Age 65?

Oddities of aging affect how our body processes protein as we advance in years

Researchers believe that a person’s protein needs change with age and that vegetable protein causes fewer health issues. oneinchpunch/Shutterstock

A study that purported to show that diets high in meat, eggs, and dairy could be as harmful to health as smoking supposedly suggested that “[p]eople under 65 who eat a lot of meat, eggs, and dairy are four times as likely to die from cancer or diabetes.”

But another way of looking at the data of the actual study suggests those eating a lot of animal protein had 73 times the risk. Even those in the moderate protein group, who got 10 to 19 percent of calories from protein, had about 23 times the risk of dying of diabetes compared to those consuming the recommended amount of protein, which comes out to be about 6 to 10 percent of calories from protein, around 50 grams a day. That said, the study also found those getting their proteins from plants had no higher risk.

And the risk changed depending on age. For those under 65, eating less animal protein was associated with a major reduction in cancer and overall mortality in middle age. But for those over 65, there was a lower chance of cancer and mortality if they ate more protein.

When it comes to diabetes deaths, eating less animal protein is associated with a longer life at all ages.