Moderately High Protein Diet Improves Telomere Preservation in Women

Written by Chrystal Moulton, Science Writer. After adjusting for confounders, researchers observed a significant association between protein intake and changes in telomere length (P=0.006).

woman cookingTelomeres are the protective end caps of chromosomes that play an essential role in genetic stability. Telomere shortening is apparent with aging and age related diseases1-3. Antioxidant and anti-inflammatory diets such as low-fat diets have been linked to longer telomeres4,5. Other studies suggest that diets high in protein are also linked to longer telomeres6,7. However, research on telomere preservation is ongoing and can be contradictory as some see positive impacts on antioxidant rich diets on telomere preservation and others do not4,8,9. In the current trial, researchers used data from the OBEKIT study to investigate the effects of a low-fat versus moderately high protein diet on telomere length in overweight and obese adults9.

The OBEKIT study was assessed the weight loss effects of low fat versus moderate high protein diet on telomere length in obese and overweight adults. Participants were 18-65 years old with a BMI of 25-35kg/m2 and no chronic conditions. For this analysis, researchers utilized data from 164 participants with both telomere and dietary data specific to the intervention. Participants were required to follow their randomly assigned dietary intervention for 4 months. Compliance with the assigned diet was monitored using a 3-day food record on week 1, 8, and 16. Anthropometric measurements and blood samples were taken at baseline and week 16. Samples were used to assess lipid profile and telomere length.

After 16 weeks, researchers observed significant improvement in all anthropometric measurements in both dietary interventions (P<0.001). Both groups also demonstrated significant improvement in LDL-C, triglycerides, cholesterol, oxidized LDL-C, glucose, and insulin sensitivity [HOMA-IR] (P<0.001). In the moderately high protein group, researchers observed an increase in telomere length compared to the low-fat group (P = 0.016) in multiple adjusted models. Furthermore, researchers found that in both crude and adjusted models, women in the moderately high protein diet intervention had positive changes in their telomere length compared to those in the low-fat diet group (P=0.024 and P=0.001, respectively). Additionally, after adjusting for confounders, researchers observed a significant association between protein intake and changes in telomere length (P=0.006). Specifically, animal protein was positively associated with an increase in telomere length in women (P=0.011). Researchers also observed that a 5g/day increase in protein as associated with a 3.56% increase in telomere length in women. No significant effects were observed in men in either animal or vegetable protein sources. No significant effects were observed for vegetable protein sources in women.

Results from this analysis demonstrated the positive effects of moderately high protein diet versus low fat diet in telomere length in women. This research suggests that moderately high protein diet specifically with animal sourced protein has a significantly positive effect on telomere length in women. Additional studies will be needed to verify these findings.

Source: De la Fuente, Blanca, Fermín I. Milagro, Marta Cuervo, José A. Martínez, José I. Riezu-Boj, Guillermo Zalba, Amelia Marti Del Moral, and Sonia García-Calzón. “Beneficial Effects of a Moderately High-Protein Diet on Telomere Length in Subjects with Overweight or Obesity.” Nutrients 17, no. 2 (2025): 319.

© 2025 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/
licenses/by/4.0/).

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Posted April 8, 2025.

Chrystal Moulton BA, PMP, is a 2008 graduate of the University of Illinois at Chicago. She graduated with a bachelor’s in psychology with a focus on premedical studies and is a licensed project manager. She currently resides in Indianapolis, IN.

References:

  1. Marti del Moral A, Zalba Goñi G. Telomere Length: Measurement and Application as a Biological Indicator–Links with Anthropometry in Lifestyle Intervention. Biomarkers in Nutrition. Springer; 2022:535-560.
  2. Alonso-Pedrero L, Ojeda-Rodríguez A, Zalba G, et al. Association between ideal cardiovascular health and telomere length in participants older than 55 years old from the SUN cohort. Revista espanola de cardiologia (English ed). Apr 2022;75(4):308-315. doi:10.1016/j.rec.2021.04.002
  3. Ibraheem Shelash Al-Hawary S, Ali Alzahrani A, Ghaleb Maabreh H, et al. The association of metabolic syndrome with telomere length as a marker of cellular aging: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Front Genet. 2024;15:1390198. doi:10.3389/fgene.2024.1390198
  4. Freitas-Simoes TM, Ros E, Sala-Vila A. Nutrients, foods, dietary patterns and telomere length: Update of epidemiological studies and randomized trials. Metabolism. Apr 2016;65(4):406-15. doi:10.1016/j.metabol.2015.11.004
  5. García-Calzón S, Martínez-González MA, Razquin C, et al. Mediterranean diet and telomere length in high cardiovascular risk subjects from the PREDIMED-NAVARRA study. Clinical nutrition (Edinburgh, Scotland). Dec 2016;35(6):1399-1405. doi:10.1016/j.clnu.2016.03.013
  6. Leidy HJ, Clifton PM, Astrup A, et al. The role of protein in weight loss and maintenance. Am J Clin Nutr. Jun 2015;101(6):1320s-1329s. doi:10.3945/ajcn.114.084038
  7. Song M, Fung TT, Hu FB, et al. Association of Animal and Plant Protein Intake With All-Cause and Cause-Specific Mortality. JAMA Intern Med. Oct 1 2016;176(10):1453-1463. doi:10.1001/jamainternmed.2016.4182
  8. Koemel NA, Laouali N, Senior AM, et al. The Relationship between Dietary Macronutrient Composition and Telomere Length Among US Adults. Adv Biol (Weinh). Apr 2024;8(4):e2300619. doi:10.1002/adbi.202300619
  9. De la Fuente B, Milagro FI, Cuervo M, et al. Beneficial Effects of a Moderately High-Protein Diet on Telomere Length in Subjects with Overweight or Obesity. Nutrients. Jan 17 2025;17(2)doi:10.3390/nu17020319

 

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