Amino acid changes during transition to a vegan diet supplemented with fish in healthy humans
Purpose To explore whether changes in dietary protein sources can lower plasma branched chain amino acids (BCAAs) aromatic amino acids and sulfur amino acids (SAAs) that are often elevated in the obese, insulin resistant state and in type 2 diabetes.MethodsThirty six subjects (mean age 31 2 years) underwent a voluntary abstinence from meat, poultry, eggs, and dairy products for 6 weeks, while enriching the diet with fish, in fulfillment of a religious fast. Subjects were assessed 1 week before the fast (V1) 1 week after initiation of the fast (V2) and in the last week of the fast (V3) Thirty four subjects completed all three visits.ResultsFasting plasma BCAAs decreased at V2 and remained low at V3 (P 0.001 for all) Valine showed the greatest decline, by 20 and 19 at V2 and V3, respectively. Phenylalanine and tryptophan, but not tyrosine, also decreased at V2 and V3. The two proteinogenic SAAs, methionine and cysteine, remained stable, but the cysteine product, taurine, decreased from 92 7 mmol/L to 66 6 (V2; P 0.003) and 65 6 mmol/L (V3; P 0.003) A progressive decline in plasma glutamic acid, coupled with an increase in glutamine, was observed. Plasma total and LDL cholesterol decreased at V2 and V3 (P 0.001 for all).ConclusionChanging dietary protein sources to plant and fish based sources in an ad libitum setting lowers the plasma BCAAs that have been linked to diabetes risk. These findings point to habitual diet as a potentially modifiable determinant of fasting plasma BCAA concentrations.
European Journal of Nutrition