According to a new mouse study, protein-rich diets may affect the gut microbiome and its byproducts.
This may also affect weight and body composition.
Gut Microbiome
The gut microbiome consists of a complex microorganism community within the digestive system. It affects nearly all health aspects, from digestion to metabolic processes to immune function to body weight.
Diet plays a crucial role when it comes to shaping the diversity and composition of microorganisms in the gut. With this, it has become gravely important to know how food options could affect the ecosystem of the gut.
Several western cultures have been opting for diets that are rich in protein. These are potentially fostered by growing research that supports such kinds of diet for managing weight.
Protein-Rich Diet and Gut Microbiome
Now, researchers from the University of Illinois, Chicago have examined how protein diets could affect the diversity of the gut microbiome as well as body composition. The abstract of the study was shared during the ASM Microbe 2024, which is the annual meeting of the American Society for Microbiology.
The study examined how a protein that the gut bacteria fermented within the colon could result in beneficial metabolites as well as harmful ones.
The researchers found that transitioning to various protein-rich diets from a carbohydrate-rich one resulted in notable weight loss, lesser body fat, and rapid changes in the composition of the gut microbiome.
Biology doctoral candidate Samson Adejumo from the University of Illinois, Chicago, shared that while the study has not yet gone through peer review, the researchers are still getting ready for publication.
The experimental study went on for four weeks and covered a total of 16 mice. For the first two weeks, the mouse subjects had a carbohydrate diet.
The mice were then switched to have four unique protein diet groups until the end of the study. This groups covered a standard protein diet, 10% branded-chain amino acid diet, 10% aromatic amino acid, and 5% branded-chain amino acid diet and 5% aromatic amino acid.
Each diet had the same volume and contain equal protein amounts.
The researchers then gathered fecal samples daily and examined these samples in order to observe the alteration of the mice's gut bacteria over the course of the study.
Findings revealed that the mice's gut microbiota had a different response to each diet type. This showed notable changes from the carbohydrate-rich diet to the varying protein diets.
With machine learning, the researchers were able to have a 97% accuracy in predicting the protein diet the mice followed by just examining their gut bacteria.
Adejumo explained that a mix of 5% aromatic amino acids and 5% branched-chain amino acid led to the lowest weight. Moreover, as for the diet with 10% aromatic amino acid, the lowest fat mass percentage was observed, though the highest weight increase was also seen.
Further study is necessary to see if such protein diets were responsible for all the body composition and gut bacteria changes among the mice. However, the researchers were able to identify predictable patterns that suggest that gut microbiome changes and protein diets could have a link.
Adejumo said that aromatic amino acids have an important role in maintaining the normal biological functions of the body. On the other hand, branched-chain amino acids play a crucial role in muscle function maintenance and in protein production for muscle development.
He noted further that gut microbiome changes show the bioavailability of crucial ingredients for the gut microbiome. While the gut microbiome could make use of diet ingredients, it would positively impact body composition.
Registered dietitian Alyssa Simpson, RDN, CGN, CLT, a certified gastrointestinal nutritionist and the owner of Phoenix-based Nutrition Resolution, said that gut microbiota changes may significantly alter weight loss and body composition. She also notes that while further study is necessary, diets that are rich in particular proteins, especially plant-based ones, could improve body composition and gut health.
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