Could Eating Less Protein Help You Age Better and Live Longer?

Protein is having a moment. Supermarket shelves are chock-full of protein-packed cookies and cereal, popcorn and Pop Tarts, and even coffee, soda, and water. Social-media influencers—and people at the highest levels of the U.S. government—are advocating for Americans to eat more of the nutrient. The Trump Administration issued new U.S. dietary guidelines in January 2026 that urge people to prioritize “protein at every meal.” But more protein might not always be the healthier choice, a new scientific review suggests. Instead, restricting protein could be better in some cases for health and longevity.The review, published July 31 in the journal Cell Press Blue, analyzed 350 studies of protein-restricted diets in animals and people. It found that mice, rats, flies, and fish that ate less protein consistently lived longer and healthier. In some small human studies, people who ate a protein-restricted diet for several weeks lost weight and fat mass, and saw improvements in their fasting blood sugar—even though people on these diets tended to eat more calories. While animals in these experiments were sometimes placed on diets that were very low in protein, the lower protein diet in the h...