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Relations of Variety and Quantity of Dietary Proteins Intake from Different Sources with Mortality Risk: A Nationwide Population-Based Cohort

  • Original Research
  • Published:
The journal of nutrition, health & aging

Abstract

Objectives

The relations of variety and quantity of dietary proteins intake from different sources with mortality risk were still controversial. We aimed to examine the associations of variety and quantity of different sourced proteins with all-cause mortality risk in adults and older adults.

Materials and Methods

17,310 participants (mean age was 44.0 [SD: 15.9] years and 51.0% were females) with utilizable data from the China Health and Nutrition Survey were included. Dietary intake was collected using three consecutive 24-h dietary recalls combined with a household food inventory. The variety score of protein sources was defined as the number of proteins consumed at the appropriate level, accounting for both types and quantity of proteins. The primary outcome was all-cause mortality.

Results

Over a median follow-up of 9.0 years, 1324 (7.6%) death cases were reported. There were reversed J-shaped relationships of percentages energy from total protein, and protein from legume with all-cause mortality; U-shaped relationships of proteins from unprocessed red meat, processed red meat, poultry and whole grain with all-cause mortality; L-shaped relationships of proteins from egg and fish with all-cause mortality; and a reversed L-shaped relationship of protein from refined grain with all-cause mortality (all P values for nonlinearity< 0.001). Moreover, there was a significant inverse association between the variety score of protein sources with overall mortality risk (per score increment, HR, 0.69; 95%CI, 0.66–0.72).

Conclusions

Greater variety of proteins with appropriate quantity from different food sources was associated with significantly lower risk of mortality in Chinese adults and older adults.

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Availability of data and materials: The datasets used and analyzed in the current study are available in the CHNS official website (http://www.cpc.unc.edu/projects/china).

Availability of data and materials: The datasets used and analyzed in the current study are available in the CHNS official website (http://www.cpc.unc.edu/projects/china), the computing code and other materials that support the findings of this study will be available from the corresponding authors on request.

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Acknowledgements

This research uses data from China Health and Nutrition Survey (CHNS). We thank the National Institute for Nutrition and Health, China Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Carolina Population Center (P2C HD050924, T32 HD007168), the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the NIH (R01-HD30880, DK056350, R24 HD050924, and R01-HD38700) and the NIH Fogarty International Center (D43 TW009077, D43 TW007709) for financial support for the CHNS data collection and analysis files from 1989 to 2015 and future surveys, and the China-Japan Friendship Hospital, Ministry of Health for support for CHNS 2009, Chinese National Human Genome Center at Shanghai since 2009, and Beijing Municipal Center for Disease Prevention and Control since 2011.

Funding

Source of Funding: The study was supported by the National Key R&amp;D program of China [2020YFC2005000], the National Key Research and Development Program [2022YFC2009600, 2022YFC2009605], the National Natural Science Foundation of China [81973133, 81730019], Outstanding Youths Development Scheme of Nanfang Hospital, Southern Medical University [2017J009].

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  1. Authors contributed equally to the work

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Nephrology, Nanfang Hospital, Southern Medical University; National Clinical Research Center for Kidney Disease; State Key Laboratory of Organ Failure Research; Guangdong Provincial Institute of Nephrology; Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Renal Failure Research, Guangzhou, 510515, China

    C. Zhou, S. Yang, Y. Zhang, Q. Wu, Z. Ye, M. Liu, P. He, Y. Zhang, Jing Nie & Xianhui Qin

  2. Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Anhui Medical University, Hefei, Anhui, China

    R. Li & C. Liu

  3. Institute of Biomedicine, Anhui Medical University, Hefei, China

    R. Li & C. Liu

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  1. C. Zhou
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Contributions

Authors’ contributions: Chun Zhou, Xianhui Qin, and Jing Nie designed the research; Chun Zhou, Mengyi Liu, Chengzhang Liu and Xianhui Qin conducted the research; Chun Zhou, Chengzhang Liu performed the data management and statistical analyses; Chun Zhou Xianhui Qin, and Jing Nie wrote the draft; All authors revised and approved the final manuscript.

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Jing Nie or Xianhui Qin.

Ethics declarations

Ethics approval and consent to participate: The study was approved by the institutional review boards of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the National Institute of Nutrition and Food Safety, and Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention. Each participant provided the written informed consent.

Consent for publication: Not applicable.

Conflicts of Interest: None.

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Relations of Variety and Quantity of Dietary Proteins Intake from Different Sources with Mortality Risk: A Nationwide Population-Based Cohort

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Zhou, C., Yang, S., Zhang, Y. et al. Relations of Variety and Quantity of Dietary Proteins Intake from Different Sources with Mortality Risk: A Nationwide Population-Based Cohort. J Nutr Health Aging 26, 1078–1086 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12603-022-1870-0

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