Research presented at the Future Physiology 2020 conference demonstrated that animal proteins are more effective than plant proteins in supporting skeletal mass with advancing age. There has been a massive increase in the number of active vegans and vegetarians in the last several decades. Benefits of a vegan lifestyle have advertised longevity benefits, in addition to environmental support.
Moving away from factory-farmed meat does yield potent environmental impact as the resulting greenhouse gases produced through these farms (ie: methane) can be reduced. However, the study investigated how plant-based diets compared to diets that included animal proteins in maintaining muscular development in elderly populations.
Oliver Witard, of King's College London, demonstrated that soy and wheat proteins needed larger doses than animal protein in order to achieve a comparable response for building muscles.
Thus, it is important that when transitioning from an animal-based protein diet to a plant-based diet, there must be an adjustment to total protein intake, or there will likely be a detrimental consequence to muscle health during aging. He recommends that a more balanced and less extreme approach to changing dietary behavior, meaning eating both animal and plant-based proteins, is best.
Witard, and his colleagues, conducted controlled laboratory studies in human volunteers that involve the ingestion of plant compared with animal-based protein sources. To test muscle changes, researchers used several techniques including stable isotope methodology, blood sampling, and skeletal muscle biopsies to see how quickly the muscles were building up from amino acids. The researchers in this field will be conducting further research on other promising plant proteins such as oat, quinoa and maize.
Oliver Witard said, "This research challenges the broad viewpoint that plant proteins don't help build muscles as much as animal protein by highlighting the potential of alternative plant-based protein sources to maintain the size and quality of aging muscles."