Update Provided on Continuing Beef Nutrition Research
SAN ANTONIO, Texas (Feb. 6, 2015) — Purdue University professor Wayne Campbell provided updates about ongoing research looking at protein’s role in the diet during the 2015 Cattle Industry Convention & NCBA Trade Show. Campbell shared his remarks with the beef checkoff’s Nutrition and Health Subcommittee meeting Feb. 6. Campbell, who works in the Department of Nutrition Science and serves as director of the Indiana Clinical Research Center, said the focus for most of the work conducted by his research team is on interactions among nutrition, exercise, physiology and aging.
“Our goal is nutrition and fitness research to help us be healthier as we get old,” he stated. Some of the research conducted by Campbell and his associates has been funded with beef checkoff dollars during the last 15 years.
He emphasized that research takes time. He has been a researcher for 25 years and has published 120 papers in research journals or other publications. About 40% of his work during the past two decades has focused on protein.
Campbell said one of the fundamental research questions they are interested in is: How much protein and what types of protein-rich foods should older adults consume? He added, “You’d really think we would have figured this out a long time ago.” The answer has still not been determined — and agreed upon — by the scientific community.
One study that Campbell’s team is involved with is currently focused on examining the effects of dietary protein quantity and different sources of protein on weight-loss-induced changes in body composition and health of middle-aged and older adults.
Campbell noted it is important to not lose muscle as you age, and said, “We need to continue to move toward protein recommendations based on function and health outcomes.”
He shared that some studies looking at protein intake indicate that individuals eating more than the recommended daily allowance for protein (eating 1.2 grams vs. 0.8 grams) showed less change in fat-free mass (i.e., muscle), indicating that the increased protein consumption was beneficial.
Additionally, he shared that including red meats as part of a healthy diet may have several positive impacts. It increases satiety or fullness; it may help lower blood pressure; and initial studies suggest sleep quality is improved with protein, particularly red meat, consumption.
Campbell was one of the 14 people on the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee that has been meeting during the past 18 months to develop recommendations for the 2015 Dietary Guidelines to be announced later this year.
Because the committee’s report has not yet been released, Campbell would not speak publically about the committee process, but did say, “The Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee has no role in policymaking, we issue a report with recommendations, and the USDA and Department of Health and Human Services jointly set and publish the Dietary Guidelines for Americans.
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