Contrary to what some diet experts want you to believe, it’s the LOW-protein (LP) diets that protect against fat gain, prevent insulin resistance (a precursor of diabetes), and slow down the aging process [1]. High-protein (HP) diets do just the opposite [2]. The paradoxical exception to this rule is that the fittest and healthiest people of all also have the highest protein intake of all — athletes.

Interestingly, it is not protein restriction per se but the restriction of three amino acids that convey the health benefits — the branched-chain amino acids (BCAA) [3]. Again, paradoxically, those three BCAAs are athletes’ top protein supplements.

Which is why I’ll answer three questions based on my research:

1.Why are athletes, but not sedentary people, healthy on an HP diet?

2.What is it about protein restriction that promotes health and longevity?

3.What are YOU supposed to eat? (for a healthy, long lifespan)

Before we answer them, I’d like to very briefly

●Recap the basics of proteins and amino acids

●Caution you about mice

The basics of proteins and amino acids

Amino acids are the building blocks of proteins. Proteins are very large molecules that show up in almost every metabolic reaction. They also provide structure, from the body’s cellular to its organismal level. Different proteins have different sequences of amino acids. These sequences are encoded in our genes.

When a gene is activated to string amino acids together into a specific protein, that process is called translation. There are 20 different amino acids, which the body uses to translate genetic instructions into proteins.

Of those 20, nine are essential. We need to get them from our food. The three BCAAs are part of those nine. The remaining 11 we need not worry about; the body can produce them without our help.