How Much Protein Should You Eat? #davidsinclair #peterattia #protein

@interoai Does dietary protein help you live longer, or is it aging you faster? Two opposing camps have formed in the longevity community. The anti-protein camp is best represented by Harvard longevity scientist, David Sinclair. He advocates a mostly plant-based, low-protein diet based on research showing that high protein increases mTOR activation, accelerating the best known mechanism of aging. Dr. David Sinclair: “…mTOR…target of rapamycin, so MTOR is a longevity gene that makes a protein that senses amino acids. So, when you eat a big steak, mTOR activity actually is activated. And mTOR now says…ok, I’ve got lots of protein, I’m going to make muscle. I’m gonna burn energy, and that’s why when you eat a steak, you actually build up muscle more than if you don’t eat a lot of protein.” Drugs inhibiting mTOR, on the other hand, like rapamycin have proven to extend mouse lifespans by up to 20%. In the high-protein camp, we have Dr. Peter Attia, who argues that a more athletic physique, built on an omnivorous, high-protein diet makes us more robust to injury and disease, making additional mTOR activation irrelevant. It’s worth noting, somewhat ironically though, that Dr. Attia is a major proponent of rapamycin as an anti-aging therapy, while Dr. Sinclair is not. Dr. Peter Attia: “I don’t find the data for people below 50 having an increase in mortality with high protein being at all convincing. I think that is easily attributed to caloric excess as opposed to protein excess. It’s very important when people are still able to put on muscle, that they put on as much as possible. Once you’re in the over 50 category, you’re kind of clawing on for dear life, and trying to keep as much of that muscle as possible. So, I don’t really want people entering middle age with a muscle deficit.”