I cannot find it right now, but I am quite sure that in last few weeks there was a post on HN with roughly the same statement, but for high protein diet.
No, the evidence for high protein is the opposite - shortening life by increasing cancer risk:
"study cohort aged 50–65 reporting high protein intake had a 75% increase in overall mortality and a 4-fold increase in cancer death risk during the following 18 years"
Levine ME, Suarez JA, Brandhorst S, et al.: "Low protein intake is associated with a major reduction in IGF-1, cancer, and overall mortality in the 65 and younger but not older population" Cell Metab. 2014;19(3):407-417. https://www.naturalmedicinejournal.com/journal/2014-05/high-...
In my opinion it is likely that the higher mortality is not entirely caused by protein intake itself (although there is some evidence that high-protein enviroments are mutagenic in yeasts), but is due to either the increased cancer risk from processed meat (nitrosamines) and/or red meat intake.
From your link, "the subjects consumed 1,823 calories on average per day, of which the majority came from carbohydrates (51%), followed by fat (33%) and protein (16%), with most of it (11%) derived from animal protein. The percent of calorie intake from protein was used to categorize subjects into a high-protein group (20% or more of calories from protein), a moderate-protein group (10–19% of calories from protein), and a low-protein group (less than 10% of calories from protein)."
Strange, that doesn't seem like a high protein diet to me. Athletes, particularly resistance trained athletes, regularly consume 30% or more of their calories in protein.
Further, from your link, "These associations [of protein -> higher mortality] were either abolished or attenuated if the proteins were plant-derived." So protein itself is not the problem, despite the study's authors repeatedly asserting this.
The study suggests plant proteins attenuated that effect. Plant proteins tend to also be accompanied by fiber, while animal protein sources do not contain fiber. In other words, aside from plant protein powder supplements (which still contain some fiber) or tofu, I cannot think of any source of plant proteins that are not accompanied by fiber.
I wonder if that contributes to lower cancer risk, especially colorectal.
"study cohort aged 50–65 reporting high protein intake had a 75% increase in overall mortality and a 4-fold increase in cancer death risk during the following 18 years"
Levine ME, Suarez JA, Brandhorst S, et al.: "Low protein intake is associated with a major reduction in IGF-1, cancer, and overall mortality in the 65 and younger but not older population" Cell Metab. 2014;19(3):407-417. https://www.naturalmedicinejournal.com/journal/2014-05/high-...
In my opinion it is likely that the higher mortality is not entirely caused by protein intake itself (although there is some evidence that high-protein enviroments are mutagenic in yeasts), but is due to either the increased cancer risk from processed meat (nitrosamines) and/or red meat intake.