Eating less protein may promote healthy ageing, review of studies suggests

A new review covering over 350 papers on protein restriction and ageing. The authors describe how protein restriction slows ageing by improving metabolism, changing how cells respond to nutrients, reducing cellular damage, and preserving healthy cell function. Previous studies have found that eating less protein can extend the lifespan of flies and rodents without reducing their calorie consumption. With Americans consuming more protein than ever and older adults encouraged to boost their intake, Lamming and his colleague set off to review decades of research on protein restriction and ageing. These mechanisms suggest that protein restriction slows ageing by improving metabolism, changing how cells respond to nutrients, reducing cellular damage, and preserving healthy cell function.