Two Half-Truths Don't Make One Truth: High Protein Intake Does Not Improve Mortality in the Critically Ill.

We found the recent systematic review and meta-analysis (SRMA) by van Ruijven et al. [1] intriguing. It included 14 randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and 15 non-randomized studies of intervention (NRSIs), involving 7190 critically ill patients, comparing daily average protein intake ≥ versus <1.2 g/kg/day. There was no effect on morbidity (infections, duration of mechanical ventilation) or acute mortality, but based on results from two RCTs and two NRSIs, the authors firmly concluded that high protein intake reduced 60-day mortality.