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Intake of total, animal and plant protein and subsequent changes in weight or waist circumference in European men and women: the Diogenes project

Abstract

Background:

As protein is considered to increase thermogenesis and satiety more than other macronutrients, it may have beneficial effects on prevention of weight gain and weight maintenance.

Objective:

The objective of this study is to assess the association between the amount and type of dietary protein, and subsequent changes in weight and waist circumference (WC).

Methods:

89 432 men and women from five countries participating in European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) were followed for a mean of 6.5 years. Associations between the intake of protein or subgroups of protein (from animal and plant sources) and changes in weight (g per year) or WC (cm per year) were investigated using gender and centre-specific multiple regression analyses. Adjustments were made for other baseline dietary factors, baseline anthropometrics, demographic and lifestyle factors and follow-up time. We used random effect meta-analyses to obtain pooled estimates across centres.

Results:

Higher intake of total protein, and protein from animal sources was associated with subsequent weight gain for both genders, strongest among women, and the association was mainly attributable to protein from red and processed meat and poultry rather than from fish and dairy sources. There was no overall association between intake of plant protein and subsequent changes in weight. No clear overall associations between intakes of total protein or any of the subgroups and changes in WC were present. The associations showed some heterogeneity between centres, but pooling of estimates was still considered justified.

Conclusion:

A high intake of protein was not found associated with lower weight or waist gain in this observational study. In contrast, protein from food items of animal origin, especially meat and poultry, seemed to be positively associated with long-term weight gain. There were no clear associations for waist changes.

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Acknowledgements

The diet, obesity and genes (Diogenes) project is a pan European study within the EU Sixth Framework Programme for Research and Technological Development (2005–2009) (FOOD-CT-2005-513946, http://www.diogenes-eu.org/). This integrated programme was set up to target the issue of obesity problem from a dietary perspective, seeking new insights and new routes to prevention. We thank the EPIC study investigators. Further this work is part of the project Hepatic and Adipose Tissue and Functions in the Metabolic Syndrome (HEPADIP, http://www.hepadip.org), which is supported by the European Commission as an Integrated Project under the Sixth Framework Programme (Contract LSHM-CT-2005-018734) and the research program of the Danish Obesity Research Centre (DanORC, http://www.danorc.dk), which is supported by the Danish Council for Strategic Research (Contract 2101-06-0005).

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Correspondence to J Halkjær.

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The authors declare no conflict of interest.

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Author contributions

Dr JH had full access to all of the data in this study and takes responsibility for the integrity of the data and the accuracy of the data analysis. The conception of the study emerged from the building of the core objectives of the Diogenes study, in which TIAS was involved. NJW, AT, DP, KO, HB, EJMF and TIAS designed the study, contributed for acquiring data and providing funding, helped with the interpretation of the results and gave critical comments on the manuscript. All authors helpfully contributed to the study and draft versions and accepted the final version of the manuscript.

Financial disclosures

None of the authors have any financial disclosures, with the exception of TIAS (listed on http://www.ipm.regionh.dk/person/tias/Disclosures.html)

Role of the sponsors

None of the study sponsors had a role in study design, in data collection, analysis or interpretation, in writing the report or in the decision to submit for publication.

Disclaimer

The views expressed are those of the authors and should not be construed to represent the positions of any of the sponsors of the study.

Supplementary Information accompanies the paper on International Journal of Obesity website

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Halkjær, J., Olsen, A., Overvad, K. et al. Intake of total, animal and plant protein and subsequent changes in weight or waist circumference in European men and women: the Diogenes project. Int J Obes 35, 1104–1113 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1038/ijo.2010.254

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