High-protein diet plans may help individuals reduce weight and develop muscle, but a brand-new study in mice recommends a disadvantage: more plaque in the arteries.
Further, the new research shows that high-protein diet plans stimulate unsteady plaque—the type most susceptible to rupturing and triggering obstructed arteries. More plaque accumulation in the arteries, especially if it is unsteady, increases the risk of heart attack.
"There are clear weight-loss benefits to high-protein diet plans, which has increased their appeal recently," says elderly writer Babak Razani, an partner teacher of medication at the Washington College Institution of Medication in St. Louis. "But pet studies and some large epidemiological studies in individuals have connected high nutritional healthy protein to cardio problems. We decided to have a look at whether there's truly a causal link in between high nutritional healthy protein and poorer cardio health and wellness."
The new study shows up in the journal Nature Metabolic process.
HIGH-PROTEIN DIETS
The scientists examined mice fed a high-fat diet to intentionally cause atherosclerosis, or plaque accumulation in the arteries. Inning accordance with Razani, mice must consume a high-fat diet to develop arterial plaque. Therefore, some of the mice received a high-fat diet that was also high in healthy protein. And others were fed a high-fat, low-protein diet for contrast.
"A few scoops of healthy protein powder in a milkshake or a smoothie includes something such as 40 grams of protein—almost equivalent to the everyday suggested consumption," Razani says. "To see if healthy protein has an impact on cardio health and wellness, we tripled the quantity of healthy protein that the mice receive in the high-fat, high-protein diet—keeping the fat continuous. Healthy protein went from 15% to 46% of calories for these mice."
The mice on the high-fat, high-protein diet developed even worse atherosclerosis—about 30% more plaque in the arteries—than mice on the high-fat, normal-protein diet, although that the mice consuming more healthy protein didn't put on weight, unlike the mice on the high-fat, normal-protein diet.
UNSTABLE PLAQUES
"This study isn't the first to show a telltale increase in plaque with high-protein diet plans, but it offers a much deeper understanding of the impact of high healthy protein with the detailed evaluation of the plaques," Razani says. "In various other words, our study demonstrates how and why nutritional healthy protein leads to the development of unsteady plaques."
