LONDON: Middle-aged people who eat protein-rich food are four times more likely to die of cancer than someone who only eats a little, according to a new study. The researchers said eating a lot of protein increased the risk of cancer almost as much as smoking 20 cigarettes a day.
They reached their findings, published in the journal Cell: Metabolism, after tracking thousands of people over 20 years.
“We provide convincing evidence that a high-protein diet — particularly if the proteins are derived from animals — is nearly as bad as smoking for your health,” one of the academics behind the work, Dr Valter Longo, of theUniversity of Southern California, told Daily Telegraph.
A high-protein diet was defined as one in which 20 per cent of the calories came from protein. They recommended eating 0.8g of protein per kilogram of body weight a day during middle age.
However, the researchers said protein had benefits during later life.
Dr Eileen Crimmins, a co-author of the study, said: “We also propose that at older ages, it may be important to avoid a low-protein diet to allow the maintenance of healthy weight and protection from frailty.”
However Dr Gunter Kuhnle, a food nutrition scientist at the University of Reading, criticized the study for making a link to smoking.
“While this study raises some interesting perspectives on links between protein intake and mortality … It is wrong, and potentially even dangerous, to compare the effects of smoking with the effect of meat and cheese,” he said.
“The smoker thinks: ‘Why bother quitting smoking if my cheese and ham sandwich is just as bad for me?'”
And Professor Tim Key, of Cancer Research UK, said: “Further research is needed to establish whether there is any link between eating a high protein diet and an increased risk of middle aged people dying from cancer.”