Written by Greg Arnold, DC, CSCS. A study of 4429 patients indicated that, compared with those with the lowest 25% intake of branched-chain amino acids, those with the highest 25% of intake had a 30% reduced risk of obesity.
In 2004, the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) found that over 66% of Americans are overweight or obese and 32% of Americans are obese. Among children in the U.S., the 2006 NHANES showed the prevalence of obesity has increased for children aged 2–5 years from 5.0% to 12.4%. Children aged 6–11 years saw an increase from 6.5% to 17.0%, and children aged 12–19 years saw an increase from 5.0% to 17.6% (1). The CDC defines overweight as having a Body Mass Index (BMI) between 25 and 29.9 kg/m2 and obese has having a BMI greater than 30 kg/m2 (2).
Obesity has been identified as a major risk factor for coronary heart disease and associated with higher risk of hypertension, dyslipidermia, diabetes, certain cancers, and other chronic disorders (3). Now a new study (4) has found that increasing intake of branched-chain amino acids may help maintain a healthy weight.
Branched-chain amino acids cannot be made by the body so they are labeled “essential amino acids” and include leucine, isoleucine, and valine (5). In the study, 4,429 patients ranging in age from 40-59 participating in the International Study of Macro-/Micronutrients and Blood Pressure (6) provided information on diet (specifically branched-chain amino acid intake) with 24-hour recall and country-specific food tables (7).
The researchers found that, compared with those with the lowest 25% intake of branched-chain amino acids (16.4% of total protein intake), those with the highest 25% of intake (18.1% of total protein) had a 30% reduced risk of obesity (which the researchers defined as BMI ≥ 25 and BMI ≥ 30 kg/m2).
The researchers suggested possible mechanisms of branched-chain amino acids on obesity to include leucine supplementation’s effect on increasing levels of the anti-hunger hormone leptin (8) as well as the ability of branched-chain amino acids to help control blood sugar and maintain a healthy weight (9). The researchers stated the average leucine intake per day was 6 grams and that leucine intake could be as high as 20 grams per day, which “apparently would not be harmful to health.”
For the researchers, “higher dietary branched-chain amino acid intake is associated with lower prevalence of overweight status/obesity among apparently healthy middle-aged adults from East Asian and Western countries.”
Source: Qin, Li‐Qiang, et al. “Higher branched-chain amino acid intake is associated with a lower prevalence of being overweight or obese in middle-aged East Asian and Western adults.” The Journal of nutrition 141.2 (2011): 249-254.
© 2011 American Society for Nutrition.
Posted February 18, 2011.
References:
- “Childhood Obesity” posted on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website.
- “Defining Overweight and Obesity” posted on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website.
- Campos P. The epidemiology of overweight and obesity: public health crisis or moral panic? Int J Epidemiol. 2006;35:55–60
- Qin L-O. Higher Branched-Chain Amino Acid Intake Is Associated with a Lower Prevalence of Being Overweight or Obese in Middle-Aged East Asian and Western Adults. J. Nutr. 2011 141: 2 249-254; first published online December 15, 2010. doi:10.3945/jn.110.128520
- “Branched-Chain Amino Acids” posted on the NOW Foods website.
- Dennis B. INTERMAP: the dietary data–process and quality control. J Hum Hypertens. 2003;17:609–22
- Raper N. An overview of USDA’s dietary intake data system. J Food Compost Anal. 2004;17:545–55
- Lynch CJ. Leucine in food mediates some of the postprandial rise in plasma leptin concentrations. Am J Physiol Endocrinol Metab. 2006;291:E621–30
- Mobbs CV. Impaired glucose signaling as a cause of obesity and the metabolic syndrome: the glucoadipostatic hypothesis. Physiol Behav. 2005;85:3–23.
