All kind of diets pop up and drop out every few years. They promise – and in the short run deliver – fantastic weight loss and other health benefits. Although often, people quickly realize they’re useless in the long haul.

Some diets however sticks around and often gather almost mystical cult environments around them.

One diet in particular has been extremely popular since the 70s. A new research study from University of California, however, has some shocking news – this kind of diet can be as harmful as smoking 20 cigarettes a day!

Middle-aged people who follow high-protein diets like the Atkins diet might benefit greatly by the weight loss they achieve, but a recent study points out that it might actually prove harmful in the long run.

The researchers define a ‘high-protein diet’ as the type of diet that derives at least 20 percent of daily calories from protein alone. They tracked the diet habits of thousands of adults over a period of 20 years and found out something very significant.

People who consume a high protein diet rich in animal protein like meat, are four times more likely to develop cancer than individuals who consumed a low-protein diet.

The study revealed that middle-aged people with a high protein diet were 74 percent more likely to die during the course of the study owing to one of the different causes, especially diabetes, compared to their counterparts.

Shocking, isn’t it? We often hear that it is good to cut down on salt, sugar and fats as they can result in different complications. Even the risk of developing cancer by consuming red meat is something commonly mentioned. But we’ve never been warned against eating too many proteins. This is the first time that an intake of protein-rich food has been linked to cancer.

Interestingly, this trend seems to reverse in individuals over the age of 65. For elderly people, a high protein diet is necessary to maintain a healthy body weight to prevent weakness and fragility.

The verdict is that a low protein diet is useful for middle-aged people to cut down on their risk of developing cancer. For example, a person weighing about 126 pounds can consume 45-50 grams of protein per day. Chicken, fish, pulses, vegetables and nuts are considered as healthy sources of protein while meat and dairy products may be too high in protein.

There is one fundamental issue that everyone faces if they want to lose weight. Once you understand that issue, shedding pounds is easy breezy. Here is what you need to do…