By Dayne Hudson
This year, a study (1) came out suggesting that high protein diets kill mice and that a high carbohydrate diet is the way forward for a longer life span.
It was pretty big news, and certainly raised eyebrows in the fitness world and doctors alike.
As you know I've always been a fan of the high protein approach, writing about it on many occasion.
I must admit I was quite complexed when I saw the headlines on this day. I wondered how on earth that could be possible.
Now that we've done some digging, the truth is enough to make your jaw drop.
THE STUDY
900 mice were fed 25 different diets with various macronutrient ratios to see which diet allowed the mice to live the longest.
To quote one of the lead professors from Sydney's Anzac Research Institute, who was a big part of the team that conducted this research:
"If you're interested in a longer life span and late-life health, then a diet that is low in protein, high in carbohydrate and low in fat is preferable....you can eat as much of that as you like."
Remember this quote.
The quote that was read by the entire country and world when the study came out.
Now if this was all done honestly, and set up properly, we could probably take it more seriously.
Some people get more excited than others about what studies into rats actually mean for human beings - but as you'll learn, there's nothing worth getting excited about here at all; that is because it was set up so poorly.
THE TRUTH ABOUT THE FIGURES
People can manipulate data to suit what they're trying to say.
That's always been the case.
Unbelievably, there were 30 diets originally for the 900 mice.
5 diets were left out within 10-23 weeks of the research.
Why?
Because the mice either failed to thrive (death being the most extreme) or suffered anal prolapse (to put it bluntly, their asses fell out).
And what diets were these?
All LOW protein diets.
Yep.
ALL of them.
3/5 of them were high carbohydrate diets, while the other 2 were high fat.
So, they didn't use these 5 diets in their final results.
And it's gets even worse.
THE DODGY TABLE OF RESULTS
The figures were presented in a table that assesed longest life span (left) rather than median lifespan (right).
Surely measuring median lifespan would be a more accurate way of measuring lifespan - especially when there's a large group of mice within the boundaries of this particular diet group.
Take a look at the tables below, starting with the one on the left.
Here, all 30 diets have been taken into consideration, and not just the 25 that were cherry picked to tell a paticular story.
The RED is the high protein diet, the yellow is the MODERATE protein, and the blue is the LOW protein.
The table on the left is the way the authors want you to see their statistics, with the LOW protein diets allowing the mice to have the longest maximum life span, evident in numbers 1-3.
But then when we have a look at the table over on the RIGHT, after re-entering the data to examine the MEDIAN lifespan - take a look at what diet comes out on top?!
Yep. That's right.
The HIGH protein diet.
As I mentioned earlier, surely MEDIAN lifespan is a better way of exaxming this, especially considering there are 30 mice to each diet group.
And have a laugh at what diets are at the very END of the table for maximum life span, who regisered a mere 10-23 weeks only of existence?
The LOW protein diets.
So while the studies authors take home message was that a high carbohydrate diet could you help you live longer - the actual study showed the exact opposite.
Let me remind you of the quote above from one of the researchers.
"If you're interested in a longer life span and late-life health, then a diet that is low in protein, high in carbohydrate and low in fat is preferable....you can eat as much of that as you like."
Eat as much of that as you like?
Hmmm.
CONCLUSION
Sticking with a high protein diet to support your physical activity level, maintain or create ideal body composition and to improve your immune function is still recommended.
If anything, the study has backfired on the researchers behalf, with it revealing another positive attribute of a high protein diet.
After all, when we look at median life span, those mice lived the longest and none of them failed to thrive.
I've never heard of or seen any well controlled studies studies that directly examine a high protein intake on lifespan.
So until then keep the protein high, and question studies like this one that are obviously fuelling an agenda rather than good old fashioned science.
Even though, unfortunetly, that's what people are trying to pass this study off as.
"Stay Fit, Stay Flexed!"
REFERENCES
(1) Solon-Biet SM et al. The ratio of macronutrients, not caloric intake, dictates cardiometabolic health, aging, and longevity in ad libitum-fed mice. Cell Metab. 2014 Mar 4;19(3):418-30. doi: 10.1016/j.cmet.2014.02.009.
