Katz, other experts redefine protein quality metric

DERBY - The Director of the Yale-Griffin Prevention Research Center at Griffin Hospital recently contributed to a report that redefines protein quality based on current scientific evidence.

Dr. David L. Katz. M.D., M.P.H., along with True Health Initiative and leading experts, published
“The Public Health Case for Modernizing the Definition of Protein Quality” in Advances in
Nutrition on May 8. The researchers then adapted this new definition of protein quality into a metric that can be applied to national food regulatory and labeling systems. 
The paper outlines why our current definition of protein quality is obsolete, inaccurate, and harmful to both human and planetary health.

Consumers depend on accurate nutrition information to make food choices that benefit their health and longevity. The current definition of protein quality does not account for the net health effect of protein foods and can promote foods that are in direct opposition to the current Dietary Guidelines for Americans, human health and environmental sustainability. The True Health Initiative puts forth a new definition of protein quality that includes:

 The concentration of protein and individual amino acids in the food.

 Assessment of the evidence of health outcomes associated with consumption of the food.

 Assessment of potential environmental impacts of producing the food.

The application of this new metric has the potential to improve public health outcomes, cut healthcare costs and accelerate the transition to a more sustainable food system by increasing public perception of healthy, affordable and widely available protein sources.

The paper’s authors set forth to meet the urgent needs of public health. 

“There really is a perfect storm in modern culture driving misconceptions about protein. There is the idea that the more the better; there is the idea that you need to eat complete protein from animal foods like meat; and there is the idea that foods with the highest protein content are the highest quality food sources of protein. None of these is true,” Katz said. 
Katz is also the founder/director of the True Health Initiative.
What is true is that in the United States and in other developed economies, protein deficiency is not a prevailing health concern; far greater in the 21st century is the epidemic of costly, chronic illness that is directly preventable by changes in diet and lifestyle. 
Cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes and cancer have all been linked to unhealthy diets in general and excessive intake of red and processed meats in particular. 
In direct contrast, plant forward diets and diets that include: fish, nuts and seeds, have been linked to favorable health outcomes, reduced all-cause mortality and reduced cardiovascular mortality.

About The True Health Initiative

The True Health Initiative is a global coalition of world-renowned experts, converging to fight
fake facts or cherry picked data, challenging false narratives and working to create a world free of preventable disease while conjointly safeguarding planetary health. 
Studies have shown that nutrient content claims can increase consumers’ perception of a food’s overall healthfulness and are a desirable factor in food purchasing. 
Updating this metric to reflect the latest science gives consumers necessary, evidence-based information, enabling the public to make choices that improve health.


This is a press release from Griffin Hospital.