A new study led by a team of researchers at Tufts University found that women who had diets rich in mostly plant-based protein had fewer chronic diseases and were more likely to be healthier overall as they aged. The findings, published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, were based on analysis of self-reported data from more than 48,000 women who participated in the Nurses’ Health Study.
 
When ruling out for all other factors, the women in the study who had higher amounts of protein in their diets sourced from fruits, vegetables, bread, beans, legumes, and pasta were less likely to have heart disease, cancer, diabetes, or declines in cognitive/mental health over a follow-up period which began in 1984 and ended in 2016. At the start of the study, women were between the ages of 38 and 59 and were deemed to be in good physical and mental helath.
 
“Consuming protein in midlife was linked to promoting good health in older adulthood,” said Andres Ardisson Korat, lead author of the study and scientist at the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Healthy Aging. “We also found that the source of protein matters. Getting the majority of your protein from plant sources at midlife, plus a small amount of animal protein, seems to be conducive to good health and good survival to older ages.”
 
In the study, researchers analyzed surveys collected every four years on how frequently people at certain foods to analyze how dietary protein correlated with healthy aging, based on rates of 11 chronic diseases or declines in physical function/mental health. Women who ate more plant-based protein, which, in 1984, was defined as protein obtained from bread, vegetables, fruits, pizza, cereal, baked items, mashed potatoes, nuts, beans, peanut butter, and pasta, were 46% more likely to be healthy into their later years. Those who consumed the highest amounts of beef, chicken, milk, fish, and cheese, however, were 6% less likely to stay healthy as they aged.
 
“Those who consumed greater amounts of animal protein tended to have more chronic disease and didn’t manage to obtain the improved physical function that we normally associate with eating protein,” Korat said.