"High-protein diet 'as bad for health as smoking'."

[HerGraciousMajTheBeardedPotato]

Link.

I note that they only mention "high-protein", and not any other aspect of diet.

Interested to hear other low-carbers' views.

Just a sensational title. The caveats and explanations at the bottom from other scientists dispute it or offer other explanations.

If I had to guess I would think that a cheap high protein diet consisting of red meat/sausages is much less likely to be healthy than salmon etc.

Someone alerted me about this today. I assume it was this. Am interested to see what others think.

I'd like to know a bit more about the science behind it. How did they control for other lifestyle factors? What about other aspects of the diet? Was this a retrospective study, depending on people's recall of their diets over their lifetimes?

They're talking about animal protein, with red meat being 'the worst'. They say that high intake of vegetable protein is not associated with any increased mortality.

(Going from memory - unable to re-read the article right now.)

lots of low carb diet advice includes not overdoing the protein - limiting to around 1-1.5g protein per kg weight or something like that. this is probably to do with gluconeogenesis rather than the health aspects suggested by the research. i'm not sure that citing atkins as a high protein diet is necessarily accurate

for low carb diet the focus should be on increasing the proportion of fat intake

it's also not clear to me whether they are differentiating between processed and fresh meat, because there are already lots of studies linking processed meat to increased cancer risk, and many low carb advocates suggest keeping the processed meat to a minimum

this is the original article. i'm not sure whether it's open access - i have access through work

What kind of protein and how is it cooked?

Surely eating eggs and poached salmon isn't the same as grilled/charred steak every day in this respect.

This link has been suggested before. They are also careful to note it's animal protein in particular. There are many other good reasons to cut meat intake - from a sustainability perspective as well as health.

We don't need to eat meat every day. I don't think there's a problem with the reporting of this research (in the articles I've read - the guardian is pretty lighthearted about it). And I am convinced that the high-protein weight loss diets can't be good. But then, I don't eat much meat anyway, so I would say that!

This is interesting:

"Previous studies in the U.S. have found that a low carbohydrate diet is associated with an increase in overall mortality and showed that when such a diet is from animal-based products, the risk of overall as well as cancer mortality is increased even further (Fung et al., 2010 and Lagiou et al., 2007). Our study indicates that high levels of animal proteins, promoting increases in IGF-1 and possibly insulin, is one of the major promoters of mortality for people age 50–65 in the 18 years following the survey assessing protein intake."

so insulin is cited as a possible factor in the increase in mortality risk, which would chime with my post above about gluconeogenesis

I was wondering how the risks compare to the risks associated with being obese? I think the best way for me to avoid being obese is by eating a high protein/high fat/low carb diet. Surely eating high protein doesn't have as much risk as being obese?

with any research that says 'increases the risk by x%' you have to watch how you interpret that. from the telegraph article:

"people who eat a diet rich in animal protein are four times more likely to die of cancer than someone with a low protein diet"

well that might mean that the risk goes from 1 in 1000000000000 to 4 in 1000000000000, which may be a risk you're prepared to take

(not saying that those are the actual numbers, just demonstrating)

And 'low carb diet' is not necessarily the same thing as 'high protein diet'.

I'm doing the Atkins diet and you are recommended not to eat too much protein because the diet doesn't even work if you do this.

I tend to eat a diet that is mainly chicken, fish, some beef and fruit salad and vegetables but not many potatoes. I eat nuts and seeds, real butter, olive oil, homemade icecream and good quality dark chocolate as treats. I avoid manufactured food and carbs. I feel really good when I eat like this but if I have some bread or cakes then they have to be amazing

Sorry my point was that I don't think a diet high in protein is good but neither are a lot of carbs.

Here's Zoe Harcombe's take on the study It makes for interesting reading!

Very intrtesting. Thanks. Bears out my suspicion that tis study is not relevant to low carbers.

Well yes - and remember, low carb isn't high protein, it's high fat. The proportions of protein are the same as in the 'recommended' diet. Instead of eating carbs:protein:fat, we eat fat:protein:carbs.

I reckon a lot of it is down to your Blood Type; author Dr. Peter D'Adamo. Because O types are good with meat (not pork though) no one is good with pork or pork products.

So A types like me are ill on high protein diets like Atkins and 0 types do well on it.

Sorry i'm no good at links but D' Adamo has the stats to prove that heavy meat eating A types die younger than others. E.g. Bob Crow.

That's interesting. I'm blood type A and I feel quite sick afore being on Atkins for at about 2 months. I don't think it suits me which is a shame.

Ppeatfruit - which plan are you following? Maybe I should try that instead.

It's interesting. I was fine with Atkins at first but now it's like my body cannot take any more of it.

What i follow is the Paul Mckenna way Of Eating (which is revolutionary because it focuses on HOW we eat) I got to my target small vanity size 10 and I'm maintaining.

But I also follow the Blood Type (as above) for my health. Food combining makes sense to me too (not eating heavy protein with carbs at the same meal).

I know it's traditional but IMO and E (living on hamburgers etc) makes people fat and ill

I am very good at staying focused and do not give up easily but I have developed a multitude of health problems - eczema, my face swelled up and my IBS has been so bad I've had to take to my bed. And the whole reason I did this in the first place was so that I could have more energy and just lose a few pounds.