Eating large amounts of vegetable protein in nuts has been shown to prevent premature death from cardiovascular disease and dementia in women over 50. This is the conclusion reached by experts who published the results of the study in the Journal of the American Heart Association.
Scientists analyzed data on more than 100 thousand postmenopausal women 50-79 years old who took part in the national study of the Women's Health Initiative in 1993-1998. Volunteers filled out diet questionnaires, noting how often they ate eggs, dairy, poultry, red meat, fish, shellfish, and plant proteins found in tofu, nuts, beans, and peas. During the follow-up period, which lasted until February 2017, 25,976 deaths were recorded (6,993 from cardiovascular diseases, another 7,516 from cancer, and 2,734 from dementia).
The researchers divided the subjects into five equal groups (quintiles) based on the level of consumption of the animal as well as plant protein. The average share of energy recovered from animal protein was 7.5 percent in the first quintile and 16 percent in the last. The share of energy from vegetable protein was 3.5 and 6.8 percent in the first and last quintiles, respectively.
As a result, it turned out that in women who most often consumed vegetable protein, the risk of death, regardless of cause, compared with participants from the first quintile, was reduced by nine percent, and the risk of death from cardiovascular diseases and dementia – by 12 and 21 percent, respectively. High consumption of processed red meat increased the risk of dying from dementia by 20 percent. High consumption of unprocessed meat, eggs and dairy products is associated with an increased risk of death from cardiovascular disease by 12, 24 and 11 percent.
Higher egg consumption increases cancer deaths by 10 percent. This reduces the risk of dying from dementia by 14 percent. Consuming poultry meat reduces this risk by 15 percent. However, it is not known exactly why eggs increase the risk of death. Scientists attribute this to the cooking method, as eggs are often fried along with bacon in the United States.
Replacing all red meat, eggs, or dairy products with nuts reduces the risk of all-cause death by 12 to 47 percent, depending on the type of protein replaced.
