Impacts of Essential Protein, Amino Acids in Treating Obesity View PDF

^*Himaja Potla
Medicine, Dr. VRK Women’s Medical College, Dr. VRK Women’s Medical College, Dr. VRK Women’s Medical College, Telangana, India

^*Corresponding Author:

Himaja Potla
Medicine, Dr. VRK Women’s Medical College, Dr. VRK Women’s Medical College, Dr. VRK Women’s Medical College, Telangana, India

Published on: 2024-05-20

Abstract

For years, dietary proteins have been used to treat obesity. Losing body fat is beneficial, but losing fat free mass - especially muscle - may be detrimental. Anabolic dietary compounds like proteins might counter fat free mass loss while allowing fat mass loss because protein breakdown predominates over synthesis. When rats are fed a low protein diet, varying the protein quantity decreases muscle anabolic response and increases hyperphagia; but if humans are fed a high protein diet, it promotes lean mass maintenance and satiation. Aside from protein quantity, protein source is also an important metabolic regulator: whey protein and plantbased diets have favorable effects on obesity risk, body composition, metabolic parameters, and fat free mass preservation. It has also been shown that specific amino acids like branched chain amino acids (BCAA), methionine, tryptophan, and its metabolites, and glutamate can positively influence parameters and complications of obesity, especially in rodent models, although there are fewer human studies proving this.

Keywords

Amino acids, Proteins quality and quantity, Obesity, Branched chain amino acids, Methionine, Tryptophan

Introduction

In both developed and developing countries, obesity has become a major public health problem because it is highly prevalent and has serious complications, such as diabetes mellitus, cardiovascular diseases, respiratory failure, and cancer [1, 2]. An important challenge is finding treatment and/or preventive approaches that target weight loss, its maintenance, and thus the reduction of obesity prevalence.

As a result of obesity, body composition changes reflect changes in fat mass and fat free mass, resulting in altered energy expenditure and food intake and appetite [3]. It is noteworthy that obesity is also associated with various degrees of metabolic impairments, particularly in relation to carbohydrate and lipid metabolism, but it is also worth noting that protein metabolism is also impaired. Muscle quantity and quality are modulated by protein turnover rate, which involves protein synthesis and protein breakdown [4]. Protein metabolism is tightly regulated by hormones, nutrients, and physical exercise on a daily basis. Protein metabolism is strongly regulated after meal intake by amino acids from dietary proteins and insulin secretion. A specific population’s protein nutritional requirements are influenced by changes in protein metabolism and whole-body nitrogen balance [5]. In obese subjects, protein metabolism is regulated differently, with a lesser inhibition of proteolysis and a normal or lower response to insulin and amino acids. Obesity is associated with reduced protein synthesis and decreased response to nutrients and exercise at skeletal muscle levels during the fasted state [6, 7]. There is a possibility that these variations in protein metabolism observed in obesity are explained not only by metabolic disorders that accompany obesity, such as insulin resistance or inflammation, but also by changes in body composition during weight fluctuations. For patients with obesity, it is of major importance to consider specific dietary approaches that are based on protein and amino acid intakes in order to lose or maintain weight. These changes affect body composition, energy expenditure, protein intake and appetite, as well as protein metabolism.