| > nothing conclusive It's true that conclusive lifelong human trials with appropriate controls are not available; but neither will they be, they're impractical. The mechanistic basis for the health benefits of protein restriction is established to be conserved across species; they key aspects are mTor suppression, reduced IGF-1 levels and a shift from anabolic hypertrophy to catabolic autophagy. This now famous study [1] showed that people in a large cohort who shifted to plant foods did manage to achieve lower mortality rates, perhaps challenging your assumption about the ability of the "regular person" to plan an effective diet that restricts protein. In contrast to your experience, I am obtaining all micronutrients on a plant-based, whole foods diet, at under 1.5kcal/day; I drink one pea protein shake, for a total of 1.4 * bw. I'm happy with this, it's a form of "dietary restriction with optimal nutrition", but I'm not looking to increase muscle mass, because anabolic hypertrophy is detrimental to my longevity goals. I do exercise regularly and strength continues to increase, albeit modestly; this is consistent with a recent human trial that showed dietary restriction can lead to loss of muscle mass, yet without loss of strength. [1] https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27479196/ |