This one thing reduced the risk of mortality from cardiovascular disease and overall mortality.

The following research included 237 036 men 57% and 179 068 women with the average age of 62 years (Huang J, et al., 2020).

The researchers compared the risk of mortality between animal source protein and plant-based protein adjusting for other risk factors.

They found that greater dietary plant protein intake was associated with reduced overall mortality in both sexes.

A replacement of only 3% energy from animal protein with plant protein was inversely associated with overall mortality.

It reduced cardiovascular disease mortality with 11% in men and 12% in women.

The lower overall mortality was mainly due to substitution of plant protein for egg protein which resulted in a 24% lower risk in men and 21% lower risk in women. A substitution of plant protein for red meat protein showed a 13% lower risk in men and 15% lower risk in women.

Reference:

Huang J, Liao LM, Weinstein SJ, Sinha R, Graubard BI, Albanes D. Association Between Plant and Animal Protein Intake and Overall and Cause-Specific Mortality. JAMA Intern Med. 2020 Sep 1;180(9):1173- 1184.