Protein intake and cardiovascular diseases: an umbrella review of systematic reviews for the evidence-based guideline on protein intake of the German Nutrition Society.
Level 3 - non-randomized controlled study
Umbrella review of systematic reviews of prospective observational cohort studies
PubMed 40802072 · doi:10.1007/s00394-025-03746-2
What was done
An umbrella review systematically searched PubMed, Embase, and Cochrane Database (January 2012 to April 2024) for systematic reviews of prospective studies, with or without meta-analysis, evaluating associations between dietary intake of total, animal, and plant protein and incidence of coronary heart disease, stroke, and total cardiovascular disease.
What was found
Ten systematic reviews based on prospective cohort studies were included, six of which contained meta-analyses. Total, animal, and plant protein intakes were not associated with risk of coronary heart disease or stroke, though no quantitative risk estimates or confidence intervals were reported in the abstract. Certainty of evidence for the absence of an association was rated probable for coronary heart disease across all protein types, possible for stroke and total cardiovascular disease with total and plant protein, and insufficient for animal protein intake with stroke and total cardiovascular disease.
Why it matters
This synthesis suggests that dietary protein quantity and source (animal versus plant) do not play a major role in the development of cardiovascular disease.
Limits
All included systematic reviews relied entirely on observational prospective cohort designs rather than randomized trials. The abstract omits numerical effect sizes, confidence intervals, and total participant counts. Evidence certainty remained insufficient to assess animal protein intake in relation to stroke and total cardiovascular disease risk.
Cited by
- contradicts Diets with high protein intake, particularly from animal sources, promote atherosclerosis and induce systemic inflammation.