Nowadays, everyone is obsessed with protein. While it used to be that adding protein powders to smoothies was something only bodybuilders did, now it’s seen as normal.
Every food you can buy now has a protein version in the supermarket, from popcorn to cereal bars. People are “proteinmaxxing” for health. A survey found that 70 percent of American adults try to eat more protein. In 2025, a high-protein diet was the most popular diet for the third year running.
But if you have a kidney health concern, that might not be the best route for you. The more protein waste the kidneys need to remove, the harder they have to work. That can be hard for organs already under stress.
If you have kidney concerns and feel like you’ve been missing out on the protein benefit hype, you might not need to worry. New research has found that a lower-protein diet may aid longevity. Researchers analyzed more than 300 studies and found that lowering protein can reduce age-related conditions, including cancer and blood sugar concerns. The studies the researchers looked at used subjects ranging from yeast and insects to mice and humans.
The researchers said that the problem lies with the sedentary lifestyle most people lead. Protein does aid muscle growth and exercise response. But most people aren’t active enough to see that benefit and are therefore eating more protein than they need. That has drawbacks.
Eating less protein was linked to better blood sugar control and less body fat — even when eating more calories. Lower levels of protein switched the body to autophagy mode, where the body clears out damaged proteins and cells, keeping the body younger.
“Recent recommendations have encouraged people to eat more protein, but they’ve also encouraged people to exercise more,” said the study’s author Dudley Lamming of the Univ. of Wisconsin-Madison. “We probably need to personalize protein recommendations based not just on age, but also on how physically active people are.”
The researchers said that sedentary adults shouldn’t be cutting their protein intake without talking to a doctor. But they shouldn’t be trying to add more. What they should be thinking about is adding more movement into their day to use the protein they are already eating.
