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Innov Aging
Innov Aging
innovateage
Innovation in Aging
2399-5300 Oxford University Press US 

10.1093/geroni/igaa057.2624
igaa057.2624
Abstracts
Session 6505 (Symposium)
AcademicSubjects/SOC02600
Role of Reduced Protein Intake in Metabolic and Healthspan Benefits of Plant-Based Diets
Mitchell James 1 MacArthur Michael 2 Mitchell Sarah 2 1 
ETH Zurich, Zurich, Massachusetts, Switzerland
2 
Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts, United States
2020 
16 12 2020 
16 12 2020 
4 Suppl 1 Program Abstracts from The GSA 2020 Annual Scientific Meeting “Turning 75: Why Age Matters”737 737
© The Author(s) 2020. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Gerontological Society of America.2020This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted reuse, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.Abstract
Plant-based nutrition consisting of vegetarian/vegan dietary patterns are positively associated with metabolic fitness and inversely associated with risk of cardiovascular disease, diabetes and all-cause mortality. The nutritional and molecular basis of such benefits remains unclear. Here we considered the potential contribution of protein quality (amino acid profiles) and quantity to plant-based nutritional benefits. To this end, we investigated whether individuals adhering to plant-based diets consume a different AA profile, and used isocaloric diets in controlled rodent studies with modulation of both AA composition and total protein amount using crystalline AA vs. naturally-sourced protein ingredients. We found surprisingly few differences between AA profiles of vegans vs. omnivores, but large effects of total protein independent of source in rodent studies, strongly suggesting a major effect of total protein rather than AA composition in health benefits of plant-based diets. Mechanistically, we discuss the role of reduced protein intake on glucose and lipid homeostasis.