According to new research, if you’ve jumped on the high protein bandwagon, you may be raising your risk for a heart attack.
A team of researchers from Washington University School of Medicine has found that high protein diets might affect heart health by facilitating the buildup of arterial plaque.
The study on high-protein diets
The scientists conducted the study on two groups of mice. One group was fed a diet that was high in fat and protein and other was fed a diet high in fat but low in protein.
“To see if protein has an effect on cardiovascular health, we tripled the amount of protein that the mice received in the high fat, high protein diet,” explains lead research Dr. Babak Razani. “We kept the fat constant, but the protein went from 15% to 46% of calories.”
The mice on the high fat, high protein diet didn’t just develop atherosclerosis, but also it was significantly worse than the mice on the high fat, low protein diet.
Surprisingly, the mice on the high fat, high protein diet didn’t gain any weight. But they did develop 30% more plaque in their arteries than the group fed the high fat, low protein diet.
The plaque that the mice developed was classified as “unstable” plaque. It’s thinner and more likely to break off the arterial wall, which raises the risk for blockages and a heart attack.
Dead macrophages
Even worse, the mice on the high fat, high protein diet had lots of dead macrophages, which are white blood cells that identify the presence of arterial plaque and remove them.
“In the mice on the high protein diet, their plaques were a macrophage graveyard,” says Dr. Razani. “Many dead cells in the core of the plaque make it extremely unstable and prone to rupture. As blood flows past the plaque, that force—especially in the context of high blood pressure—puts a lot of stress on it. This situation is a recipe for a heart attack.”
