Summary In January 2013, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations released a new report on dietary protein quality, the result from an Expert Consultation that followed the International Symposium on Dietary Protein for Human Health, held in New Zealand during March 2011. The report, ‘Dietary protein quality evaluation in human nutrition’, is part of the call from the United Nations to promote sustainable diets and health, and was motivated mainly by advances in methods available to measure the quality of nutritional proteins with more accuracy. The main recommendation from the report concerns a new, advanced method of assessing nutritional protein quality. The FAO report recommends that the new method, known as Digestible Indispensable Amino Acid Score (DIAAS), replaces Protein Digestibility Corrected Amino Acid Score as the preferred method to describe protein quality and that it is adopted in Codex food labelling and claims guidelines. In addition, the report recommends that future research determines protein and amino acid needs that may be above the minimum requirements in certain circumstances. This article provides a summary of the report's findings, discusses its recommendations and implications, and outlines the next steps before the new protein quality method DIAAS can be fully adopted.

The results of twenty years of research indicate that the inclusion of collagen peptides in the diet can lead to various improvements in health. According to the current protein quality evaluation method PDCAAS (Protein Digestibility-corrected Amino Acid Score), collagen protein lacks one indispensable amino acid (tryptophan) and is therefore categorized as an incomplete protein source. Collagen protein displays a low indispensable amino acid profile, yet as a functional food, collagen is a source of physiologically active peptides and conditionally indispensable amino acids that have the potential to optimize health and address physiological needs posed by aging and exercise. The objective of this study was to determine the maximum level of dietary collagen peptides that can be incorporated in the Western pattern diet while maintaining its indispensable amino acid balance. Iterative PDCAAS calculations showed that a level as high as 36% of collagen peptides can be used as protein substitution in the daily diet while ensuring indispensable amino acid requirements are met. This study suggests that the effective amounts of functional collagen peptides (2.5 to 15 g per day) observed in the literature are below the maximum level of collagen that may be incorporated in the standard American diet.

The latest International Olympic Committee Consensus Statement on Sports Nutrition 2010 concluded that when athletes must compete in several events in a short time-period, strategies to enhance recovery of fluid and fuel are important. In fact, all athletes and recreational exercisers might benefit from effective rehydration strategies, as rapid rehydration is not limited only to optimal subsequent performance. Rehydration also regulates cell function in favour of the adaptive processes and improvements in body composition, which take place during recovery. The composition of a fluid consumed soon after exercise has an important impact on body water restoration and should be considered if rapid rehydration is a goal. Typically, guidelines recommend using sports drinks or foods and fluids that contain carbohydrate for replacement of glycogen stores and electrolyte sodium, which promotes greater fluid absorption and retention. However, more effective restoration of body water and plasma volume have been observed in some studies when more nutrients and food compounds are consumed. It suggests a role for other nutrients, such as protein, in the strategy to enhance rehydration. Emerging research looking into milk proteins, whey and casein, points to a role for protein in assisting post-exercise fluid retention. The most obvious mechanisms are enhanced sodium and water absorption from the gut, and increased plasma protein synthesis resulting in higher osmotic pressure exerted by plasma proteins. This article reviews current strategies to enhance post-exercise recovery of fluid balance, with a focus on protein.

The regulatory framework governing sports nutrition products in Europe is changing,

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