Is Lean Pork Healthy for Older Adults?

February 1, 2026 12

Protein sources from both lean red meat and legumes can equally improve the key indicators of healthy aging.

Incorporating lean pork or legumes in the plant-forward diet pattern (one that emphasizes vegetables, fruits, whole grains, nuts, and seeds)—provided similar health advantages that help improve metabolic health and prevent age-related cognitive decline in elder people.

The findings come from new research on diet for healthy aging in older adults (aged 65+), published in Current Developments in Nutrition.(1^✔ ✔Trusted Source
Effects of Minimally Processed Red Meat within a Plant-Forward Diet on Biomarkers of Physical and Cognitive Aging: A Randomized Controlled Crossover Feeding Trial

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The study shows that proteins from minimally processed red meat (lean pork) can be just as effective as protein from pulses or legumes in supporting cognitive and physical health.

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Lean Pork and Legumes are the Protein Powerhouses for Healthy Aging

“Maintaining strength, mobility, and metabolic health is central to aging well and diet is a modifiable lever,” said Moul Dey, PhD, professor in the School of Health and Human Sciences at South Dakota State University and the study’s corresponding author.

“In this controlled feeding trial, older adults saw weight loss while preserving grip strength and chair-rise performance, and we observed favorable shifts in several metabolic and neuroactive markers linked to aging,” she adds.

Importantly, the researchers suggest that familiar foods like minimally processed lean pork can fit within a plant-forward dietary pattern while still supporting markers associated with healthy aging.

High-Quality Protein Intake Helps Maintain Grip Strength and Mobility in Seniors

In the study, 36 older adults completed both diet phases. Researchers tracked metabolic markers, body composition, and functional measures of strength and mobility. They also explored blood biomarkers related to nutrition and neurotransmitter pathways.

Across both plant-forward dietary patterns, the study found:

Weight loss with preserved function: Participants lost weight over the intervention while maintaining grip strength and chair-rise performance, two measures associated with independence in daily life.
Differences worth noting: Compared with baseline, researchers observed a significant increase in an estimate of insulin sensitivity after the pork-containing phase. Separately, when comparing the end of each diet phase, HDL (“good”) cholesterol was higher after the pork phase than after the lentil phase.
Biomarkers linked to brain health: Neuroactive metabolites and bioactive amino acids shifted in directions the researchers characterized as mostly favorable after both interventions.

The study did not add an exercise training program as part of the intervention, offering insight into the potential of diet quality and protein patterns alone to support healthy-aging markers in a real-world, older-adult population.

The Plant-Forward Diet Pattern Acts as a Balanced Approach for Healthy Aging

Aging is often discussed in terms of big outcomes, heart disease, diabetes, and cognitive decline, but day-to-day quality of life is also driven by maintainable inputs: food routines, protein choices, and diet quality.

This research adds controlled-feeding evidence to a growing body of work suggesting that plant-forward eating patterns can be flexible and that minimally processed animal proteins, like pork, can have a place alongside plant proteins, depending on preferences and cultural eating habits.

“This is the kind of dietary direction and evidence people are looking for in January; actionable, realistic, and grounded in whole foods,” said Kristen Hicks-Roof PhD, RDN, LDN, FAND, FNAP, Director of Human Nutrition at the National Pork Board.

“Healthy aging isn’t just about living longer, it’s about staying strong, independent, and sharp. This study shows that a plant-forward plate can include minimally processed pork as a high-quality protein option, while still supporting meaningful markers of health in older adults.”

Reference:

Effects of Minimally Processed Red Meat within a Plant-Forward Diet on Biomarkers of Physical and Cognitive Aging: A Randomized Controlled Crossover Feeding Trial – (https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12805104/)

Source-Eurekalert