Abstract P089: Total, Plant and Animal Protein Intake and Blood Pressure: A Meta-analysis of Observational and Intervention Studies
Background: Dietary protein may beneficially influence blood pressure (BP), but evidence is not conclusive. Objective: To quantify the association of total protein, plant protein, and animal protein intake with BP and incident hypertension by means of meta-analysis. Methods: A systematic literature search for eligible studies was conducted until January 2012, using MEDLINE and manual search. Of >3,000 titles evaluated, 29 met the inclusion criteria. Dose-response meta-analyses were performed using STATA 11.0. We included 8 cross-sectional studies (total of 48,985 participants), 4 prospective studies (11,761 participants), and 17 randomized controlled trials (1,449 subjects). Results: Total protein intake was significantly inversely associated with systolic BP ([[Unable to Display Character: ‑]]0.20 mmHg per SD, 95%-CI: [[Unable to Display Character: ‑]]0.39 to [[Unable to Display Character: ‑]]0.01) in cross-sectional studies, but no relation was found with incident hypertension in prospective studies (HR of 0.99 per SD, 95%-CI: 0.96 to 1.02). Trials showed an overall reduction of [[Unable to Display Character: ‑]]2.1 mmHg in systolic BP (95%-CI:[[Unable to Display Character: ‑]]2.9 to [[Unable to Display Character: ‑]]1.4) for a weighed difference in protein intake of 41 g/d, compared to carbohydrates. Plant protein, but not animal protein, was weakly inversely associated with BP in cross-sectional studies. Plant protein and animal protein showed similar associations in prospective studies (non-significant HR of 0.96 and 0.98 per SD, respectively) and randomized trials (-2.0 vs -2.2 mmHg, P<0.05, respectively). Conclusion: Dietary protein may have a beneficial effect on BP if consumed instead of carbohydrates. No clear difference was observed between plant and animal protein, but data on protein from different sources and BP is scarce and more research is needed to draw conclusions.