Older women who eat poultry face lower risks of cardiovascular disease (CVD), all-cause mortality and dementia-related mortality, according to new findings published in the Journal of the American Heart Association.
In this large prospective cohort study, researchers stated that higher plant protein intake and substitution of animal protein with plant protein were associated with lower risk of all‐cause mortality, CVD mortality, and dementia mortality. Poultry, however, actually had inverse associations with these outcomes – meaning consuming more poultry lowered risk of death from dementia, CVD, etc.
For example, according to the study:
- Processed red meat consumption was associated with higher risk of dementia mortality, while consumption of poultry or eggs was associated with lower risk of dementia mortality;
- Poultry consumption was associated with lower risk of all‐cause mortality among those younger than 65 years;
- Poultry consumption was associated with lower risk of CVD mortality among White women; and
- Consumption of unprocessed red meat, poultry, fish/shellfish, dairy products, or legumes or nuts was not associated with mortality.
The authors tracked data from more than 102,000 postmenopausal women who enrolled in the national Women’s Health Initiative study from 1993 to 1998 and were followed through February 2017. All participants were between the ages of 50 and 79 years old. More than 25,000 participants died over the course of the study, including nearly 7,000 who died from CVD, more than 7,500 who died from cancer and more than 2,500 who died from dementia.
“It is important to note that dietary proteins are not consumed in isolation, so the interpretation of these findings could be challenging and should be based on consideration of the overall diet including different cooking methods,” co-author Yangbo Sun, MD, PhD, an assistant professor of epidemiology at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center in Memphis, said a same statement.
The full study is available here.
