Consuming enough protein has a protective effect against frailty after 65 years, regardless of total energy intake.
Proteins protect against fragility in seniors, provided they consume enough. This is what French researchers from Inserm (1) who worked on the cohort of three cities, made up of people over 65 living at home.
More precisely, they selected 1345 subjects aged 74 years on average living in Bordeaux, drawn by lot or volunteers, recruited between 1999 and 2000. These people responded to a dietary survey at their home conducted by a dietitian. This survey focused on their diet over the past 24 hours. Thanks to this collection, the average daily protein intake and the total energy intake of the participants could be calculated.
All proteins protect equally
At the same time, the frailty of individuals was assessed by another questionnaire completed by themselves. It was based on five factors: an unintentional weight loss of more than three kilos over the past few months, reported fatigue when exerting effort, muscle weakness assessed on walking, climbing stairs or even walking. the ability to get up from a chair, the slowness of walking a distance of six meters and finally a weekly physical activity time of less than an hour.
In the end, 4% of people were considered fragile because they met at least three of the criteria taken into account.
More importantly, the researchers found that few people with frail consume enough protein. They were only 36% to ingest at least 1 gram of protein per kilo, a threshold slightly higher than the recommendations, against 58.6% of more robust people.
“A very significant link”, according to the members of the team, which allowed them to conclude that sufficient protein intake reduces the risk of fragility by nearly 60%, regardless of whether the proteins are of origin. animal (present in meats, eggs, dairy products, etc.) or vegetable (legumes, cereals, seeds, etc.).
Follow the recommendations of the French PNNS
Conversely, total energy intakes were not associated with the risk of frailty. A result that did not surprise Catherine Feart, works manager. On the Inserm website, she confides: “Proteins are muscle constituents and protect against sarcopenia, while total energy intake can be provided by lipids, carbohydrates or alcohol which do not have these functions. However, frailty in the elderly exposes them to the risk of falling, hospitalization or even institutionalization. In addition, it accelerates the decline in the event of shock or psychological or physical stress. “
“These results are therefore a strong incentive to consume enough protein,” she recalls. the National Health Nutrition Program (PNNS) recommends on this subject to eat every day meat, fish or eggs, in addition to vegetable proteins.
(1) Unit 1219 Inserm / University of Bordeaux, ISPED, Bordeaux
.