Ortolá R, et al. - Since animal and vegetable-based proteins vary in their impact on many health outcomes, researchers examined data from 1,951 adults aged ≥ 60 years who were recruited in the Seniors-ENRICA cohort in 2008−2010 (wave 0) and followed-up in 2012 (wave 1), 2015 (wave 2) and 2017 (wave 3) to investigate the relationship between alterations in animal and vegetable protein consumption and unhealthy aging in elderly adults. Those with a > 2% increase exhibited less deficit accumulation over 3.2 years, 6 years, and 8.2 years of follow-up in comparison with individuals with a > 2% decrease in energy consumption from vegetable protein from wave 0 to wave 1. For animal protein, no correlations were observed. Over 8.2 years, while replacing 1% of energy from vegetable protein for an equivalent amount of carbohydrate or fat, animal protein, dairy protein or meat protein, less deficit accumulation was noted. Thus, increasing dietary consumption of vegetable protein may help to stave off unhealthy aging when replacing carbohydrates, fats, or animal protein—especially from meat and dairy.