Protein Quality – Why It's Important
There’s a lot of information about changing diets to be plant-based, to be better for both your health and the planet. You may feel confused about what a healthy, balanced diet (that is sustainably produced) looks like. Beef + Lamb New Zealand’s latest booklets take a deep dive into the most recent, scientific evidence around dietary protein quality, and provide a New Zealand context as to why animal-based proteins have an important place on our plates.
It goes without saying eating a diverse diet, that includes plenty of fruit, vegetables, whole-grains and legumes is good for our health. In fact, the Ministry of Health’s Eating and Activity Guidelines for New Zealand Adults last year, increased their recommended 5+ a day fruit and vegetables intake to 7+ a day (approximately 5 veges and two fruits). However, if we look at the benefits of another part of a balanced diet - protein - the plant-based messaging we constantly hear usually ignores the nutritional evidence of what animal-sourced proteins provide for our health. These new protein booklets provide facts and aim to help you make an informed decision about what to eat.
According to the last Adult National Nutrition Survey (2008/9), as a nation we are generally eating enough protein. However, there are certain life stages, lifestyles and illnesses that have higher protein requirements. Older adults (70+), in particular need more protein to prevent loss of muscle mass and strength, a condition known as sarcopenia.
Although older adults require more protein, a 2020 New Zealand study of 574 older adults suggests a third of Kiwi older adults may not be eating enough protein foods. Recent evidence suggests spreading protein intake across the day may be beneficial for this age group, yet most of this study’s participants were having very little protein for breakfast. Eggs are one simple protein-dense way of incorporating extra protein into the first meal of the day (click here for an example of protein distribution across a day).
We highlight protein density in the new booklets, and the importance of it in animal foods and for older adults has been evidenced in Ireland recently. Just this month the Food Safety Authority of Ireland have made recommendations for their food based dietary guidelines for older adults to be updated. One of the key recommendations was ‘High quality proteins are needed to stimulate muscle protein: Healthy older adults should eat a more protein-dense diet – foods such as meat poultry, fish, dairy and eggs.’
Coupled with discussions about feeding a future global population adequately, there’s also growing international concern about issues such as climate change, biodiversity loss and water use. The impact of food production on the environment is front of mind for many as they think about their food choices, including whether they should keep red meat on the plate. In these booklets, we touch on this topic as we share five sustainability facts to provide some New Zealand context. However, more information on this topic can be found at makingmeatbetter.nz
Our consumer leaflet Why keep animal protein on the plate? along with the more in-depth health professional and educator fact sheet titled Protein Quality – The Nutritional Advantage of Animal-sourced foods, was a project of University of Auckland’s Dietetic student, Daniel Bhang. The resources were reviewed externally by Dr. Andrea Braakhuis (University of Auckland), Sarah Hanrahan (New Zealand Nutrition Foundation) and by the Beef + Lamb New Zealand nutrition team. The resources aim to answer questions such as:
Who may need more protein and why?
Are all proteins the same?
Do we need to switch to completely plant-sourced foods to save the planet?
Why eat red meat?