Waseda University in Japan may have discovered a way to delay aging. GeroScience found that a balanced diet with modest protein levels improves metabolic health. It also slows aging.
The study examined how dietary protein affects young and middle-aged mice. Moderate-protein-fed animals exhibited decreased blood sugar and cholesterol levels. Protein intake for metabolic health has been unclear till recently.
The researchers investigated how protein levels impacted mice as they aged. Assistant Professor Yoshitaka Kondo's team examined how diets affected skeletal muscle weight, liver and plasma lipid profiles, and plasma amino acid profiles.
"Protein requirements change through the court of life, being higher in younger reproductive mice, reducing through middle age, and rising again in older mice as protein efficiency declines," Kondo said in a university announcement.
“Humans may follow the same pattern. Thus, increasing meal protein consumption may improve metabolic health. Ideal dietary macronutrient balance at each life stage may also prolong health."
These results' applicability to people and rodents is unclear. However, the study suggests that changing our dietary balance and intake over life may enhance metabolic health and lifespan. Just limit red meat.