Diet tips: Benefits of plant protein for women's healthy ageing

Ageing is a natural, gradual, and continuous process that starts in adulthood and is associated with many metabolic and physiological changes. Proteins are the building blocks that grow and repair your body and they are needed not only for muscle but also for hair, skin, internal organs, and immunity. Nutritious plant-based protein sources include legumes, whole grains, nuts, and seeds, Soya and its products like Tofu, soya milk etc.

Deepti Khatuja, chief clinical nutritionist, Fortis Memorial Research Institute, Gurugram, lists down the factors on how eating more plant protein may help women with healthy ageing.

• As per a Harvard-based Nurses' Health Study, women who ate more protein, especially from plant-based sources such as beans and grains, had better health as they aged. Women with higher intake of plant-based proteins had a 46 percent higher likelihood of healthy aging, compared to a 6 percent decrease in those consuming more animal protein.

• Also, protein and Calcium are important nutrients in bone health and generally considered to be lower in vegan diets, but studies have shown that a diet rich in fruit and vegetables has a positive effect on the calcium economy and markers of bone metabolism in men and women.

• Dietary fibres help in weight management preventing obesity which is the prime cause of major degenerative diseases like diabetes, CVDs and also for certain cancers.

• Plant proteins were strongly linked to better heart health, lower LDL cholesterol, and improved mental health in later years, unlike animal proteins. Protein source matters, with plant proteins being more beneficial for long-term health compared to animal proteins. This is because plants contain a higher proportion of nutrients micronutrients (vitamins and minerals) which are very important for immunity and healthy wellbeing.

• These healthy nutrients include -dietary fibre, micronutrients (Magnesium, folic acid, Vitamins C and E, iron) and beneficial compounds called polyphenols and phytochemicals (biologically active compounds that possess potent antioxidant and anti-proliferative activity and show additive and synergistic effects) that protect against cancers that are present in plants, rather than exclusively protein.

• For heart disease in particular, higher plant protein consumption came with lower levels of LDL cholesterol (Bad cholesterol), blood pressure, and insulin sensitivity, while higher animal protein intake was tied to higher levels, along with increased insulin-like growth factor, which has been detected in multiple cancers.

• The high potassium and magnesium content of fruit and vegetables provides alkaline ash, which inhibits bone resorption. Higher intakes of potassium are associated with greater BMD of the femoral neck and lumbar spine of premenopausal women. In addition to a high intake of fruit and vegetables, soy isoflavones are suggested to have a beneficial effect on bone health in postmenopausal women.

• Although vegetarian diets can be lower in some important nutrients like vitamin D, vitamin B-12, one should also consume some fish and animal protein (of nonveg) for their iron and vitamin B12 content.