Ingestion of Insect Protein Isolate Enhances Blood Amino Acid Concentrations Similar to Soy Protein in A Human Trial

Abstract

Background: Increased amino acid availability stimulates muscle protein synthesis (MPS), which is critical for maintaining or increasing muscle mass when combined with training. Previous research suggests that whey protein is superior to soy protein in regard to stimulating MPS and muscle mass. Nevertheless, with respect to a future lack of dietary protein and an increasing need for using eco-friendly protein sources it is of great interest to investigate the quality of alternative protein sources, like insect protein. Objective: Our aim was to compare the postprandial amino acid (AA) availability and AA profile in the blood after ingestion of protein isolate from the lesser mealworm, whey isolate, and soy isolate. Design: Six healthy young men participated in a randomized cross-over study and received three different protein supplementations (25 g of crude protein from whey, soy, insect or placebo (water)) on four separate days. Blood samples were collected at pre, 0 min, 20 min, 40 min, 60 min, 90 min, and 120 min. Physical activity and dietary intake were standardized before each trial, and participants were instructed to be fasting from the night before. AA concentrations in blood samples were determined using 1H NMR spectroscopy. Results: A significant rise in blood concentration of essential amino acids (EAA), branched-chain amino acids (BCAA) and leucine was detected over the 120 min period for all protein supplements. Nevertheless, the change in AA profile was significantly greater after ingestion of whey than soy and insect protein (p < 0.05). Area under the curve (AUC) analysis and AA profile revealed comparable AA concentrations for soy and insect protein, whereas whey promoted a ~97% and ~140% greater AUC value than soy and insect protein, respectively. A tendency towards higher AA concentrations beyond the 120 min period was observed for insect protein. Conclusion: We report that ingestion of whey, soy, and insect protein isolate increases blood concentrations of EAA, BCAA, and leucine over a 120 min period (whey > insect = soy). Insect protein induced blood AA concentrations similar to soy protein. However, a tendency towards higher blood AA concentrations at the end of the 120 min period post ingestion was observed for insect protein, which indicates that it can be considered a “slow” digestible protein source.

Dampened Muscle mTORC1 Response Following Ingestion of High-Quality Plant-Based Protein and Insect Protein Compared to Whey

“…In addition to plant-based proteins, insect-based protein mixtures might be another promising strategy to meet the rapidly growing protein demand. Insect protein has been reported to induce a similar postprandial increase in essential AA (EAA) as soy, but inferior to whey [ 32 ]. Similar to vegan proteins, the effects of insect protein isolates on mTORC1 activity remain unexplored.…”

Enzymatic Hydrolysis of a Collagen Hydrolysate Enhances Postprandial Absorption Rate—A Randomized Controlled Trial

“…In nutrition science, metabolomics provides a characterization of the wide-ranging scale of metabolites (the metabolome) and enables a comprehensive comparison of the metabolic responses after different dietary interventions [17]. 1 H NMR spectroscopy is able to detect any mobile proton-containing metabolites with a low-molecular weight [17], and 1 H NMR-based metabolomics spectroscopy has recently been shown to be a valuable tool for the characterization of postprandial blood plasma AA profiles [18,19]. Thus, 1 H NMR-based metabolomics applied to blood plasma samples provides a framework for elucidating the effect of an enzymatic hydrolysis on the bioavailability and absorption of collagen.…”

Determinants of amino acid bioavailability from ingested protein in relation to gut health

“…It must be mentioned that the term ‘amino acid availability’ is sometimes used on the basis of the plasma amino acid area under the curve (AUC) after a test meal, but it is confusing because it does not reflect amino acid absorption alone [ 5 , 6 ]. Indeed, other phenomena such as the speed of digestion and the efficiency of amino acid uptake in tissues considerably influences the incremental plasma amino acid postprandially.…”