Meat can help seniors lose 100 pounds.

Meat eaters may look like they have an advantage reaching 100 in a new study, but the story is more complicated than "steak beats salad."The Conversation reports that...

According to a new study, meat eaters appear to have a shot at 100, but the story is more complicated than "steak beats salad."The Conversation reports that researchers monitored more than 5,000 Chinese adults aged 80 and older as part of the long-running China Longitudinal Study of Healthy Longevity.In 2018, participants who gave up meat were less likely to become centenarians than those who gave up meat.At first glance, this seems to undermine years of research linking vegetarian and other plant-based diets to lower risks of heart disease, stroke, obesity and type 2 diabetes.However, these earlier findings largely came from younger or middle-aged adults, rather than people in their 80s and 90s.

In very old age, the body's priorities change: energy needs decrease, while muscle mass, bone density, and appetite tend to decline, increasing the risk of frailty and malnutrition.A key detail of this new study, published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, is that only underweight people who didn't eat meat had a lower chance of reaching 100.Among healthy-weight older adults, avoiding meat was not associated with ability to eat meat.survival was shorter.This pattern also disappeared in people who gave up meat but still ate fish, eggs or dairy - foods rich in protein, calcium, vitamin D and vitamin B12, which are important for maintaining muscles and bones.

Because this is an observational study, it cannot be proven that cutting meat causes premature death;It only shows the relationship moderated by body weight and malnutrition.Study co-author Kaiyu Wang tells New Scientist that the results cannot be replicated in other parts of the world with different diets.But the results are consistent with the so-called "obesity paradox," where a little weight gain later in life is often associated with a good life, according to the discussion.

In general, experts say a plant-based diet is not unhealthy, but the nutrition needs to be age-appropriate: As people age, it may be important to prevent weight loss and muscle deterioration.A plant-based diet can continue to support healthy aging, but may require more careful planning (and sometimes supplementation) once you're long past retirement.