Hello good doctors -
Not trolling, just FYI…I’m sure you gents are already all over this, but in case not, here’s an article descibing a study linking high protein diets with increased risk of heart disease.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/…ime=1527598725
I have no idea whether this study is reputable or not. It seems that life itself is hazardous to your health.
I think I would like to ban MSM opinion pieces on medicine/health/training on this board. Let’s stick to studies or publications by scientists, researchers, or doctors.
I certaily did find it squirrely that there was no link to the study described in the article. Wasn’t sure if you had heard of it or were familiar with it…and how the article likely misrepresented it.
I saw a different MSM article yesterday (not an “opinion” piece) based on the same study and was wondering what BBM’s evaluation of it was. Immediately I wondered what the variables between the two populations (i.e. high vs. not-high protein consumption) could be that the study didn’t control for. Also “marginal” associations don’t seem very compelling. But I’m no expert and would definitely be interested in what you have to say. Thanks!
http://circheartfailure.ahajournals.org/content/11/6/e004531 Abstract
Background: Animal and plant protein intakes have indicated opposite associations with cardiovascular mortality risk. Whether dietary proteins are associated with risk of heart failure (HF) is unclear. Thus, we examined the associations of proteins from different food sources with risk of HF.
Methods and Results: The study included 2441 men aged 42 to 60 years at the baseline examinations in 1984 to 1989 in the Kuopio Ischaemic Heart Disease Risk Factor Study. Protein intakes at baseline were assessed with 4-day dietary records. Data on incident HF cases were obtained from national registers. HF risk according to protein intake was estimated by Cox proportional hazard ratios. During the mean follow-up of 22.2 years, 334 incident HF cases occurred. Higher intake of total protein indicated a trend toward increased risk of HF (multivariable-adjusted hazard ratio in the highest versus lowest quartile=1.33; 95% confidence interval: 0.95–1.85; P-trend=0.05). The associations between specific types and sources of protein with incident HF were consistent with this overall finding although not all associations reached statistical significance. For example, the hazard ratio in the highest versus lowest quartile was 1.43 (95% confidence interval: 1.00–2.03; P-trend=0.07) for total animal protein and 1.17 (95% confidence interval: 0.72–1.91; P-trend=0.35) for total plant protein.
Conclusions: In middle-aged men, higher protein intake was marginally associated with increased risk of HF.
Actual paper is here:
http://circheartfailure.ahajournals.org/content/11/6/e004531
the paper’s actual conclusion is: “In middle-aged men, higher protein intake was marginally associated with increased risk of HF”
not really exciting enough for a newspaper article, hence the embellishment in the press.
My first-glance impression of this study is that men in their study who had higher protein intake also had higher BMI, were more likely to smoke, and had more diabetes. These are likely the major contributors to HF. I don’t know enough stats to decide whether/how they controlled well enough for these factors.
in any case, I don’t think this study is relevant for people who have a generally healthy lifestyle, are engaged in regular strength training and conditioning, and get supplemental protein from whey or other powdered supplements. Yes, if you’re getting 200g of protein daily from bacon, your heart will probably suffer. So don’t do that.
Imagine a scenario where you’re tasted with figuring out why makes the sun come up in the morning without any knowledge of physics or astronomy. You see that the rooster crows most mornings prior to the sun coming up. Rooster crows, sun comes up, rooster crows, sun comes up…is the rooster causing the sun to come up or is there maybe more to the story ?