Sentence Correction (SC) | Whether everyone, from children to senior citizens, benefits similarly

I am skeptical of theOA.
as well as is not a substitute forand .
Whereasand + NOUN in a list implies that the NOUN is essential to the meaning of the sentence, anas-well-as modifier is NONESSENTIAL.
If we remove theas-well-as modifier and other nonessential modifiers from the OA, we get:
Whether everyone benefits similarly from consuming added protein while weight training andjust how much protein is ideal are all open questions.
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