A study conducted by scientists from California and France found that meat protein is associated with a sharp increase in the risk of heart disease, while protein from nuts and seeds is good for the heart. The research entitled "Patterns of Plant and Animal Protein Intake Are Strongly Associated with Cardiovascular Mortality: The Adventist Health Study-2 Cohort" was jointly completed by researchers from the School of Public Health of Loma Linda Medical University in California and the French Institute of Agriculture and Agronomy.

Image source: Loma Linda University Health

The study was recently published in the International Journal of Epidemiology. The researchers found that the risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) increased by 60% in people who consumed a lot of meat protein, while the risk of CVD in people who consumed a lot of nuts and seed protein decreased by 40%. This study contains data of 8 1000 participants, including Dr. Gary Fraser from Linda Medical University in Rome and Fran? Dr. ois Mariotti is the correspondent of this study.

"Although fat in the diet can affect the risk of cardiovascular disease, protein may also have an important impact and has been ignored for a long time." Fraser said. He added that he and his colleagues have long suspected that nuts and seeds in the diet have a protective effect on cardiovascular diseases, while red meat increases the risk of related diseases.

Fraser added that nutritionists have long attributed these effects to bad fat in red meat and good fat in nuts and seeds. But these new discoveries reveal more secrets. "These new evidences show that the whole picture of the facts may also include the biological effects of protein in these foods."

Fraser said there was another significant difference between their research and previous research. That is, the previous research aimed to explore the differences between animal protein and plant protein, but their research did not only classify these two categories, they chose to study meat protein and protein in nuts and seeds separately. "This study shows that it may not be enough to separate plant protein from animal protein, because even the same kind of protein has a huge difference in effect."

Fraser said that this study also raised other questions that need further study, such as which amino acids in meat protein caused the increased risk of CVD. Another question is whether protein from special sources will affect cardiovascular risk factors, such as blood lipid, blood pressure and overweight, which are related to CVD.