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Sulfur amino acid intake tied to cardiometabolic disorder risk
A decrease in sulfur amino acid intake reduced the risk for cardiometabolic diseases, according to a study published in EClinicalMedicine.
“These new findings, together with previous preclinical data, highlight the importance of dietary sulfur amino acid in the development of major chronic diseases and suggest that optimal intake levels of sulfur amino acid for maintenance of long-term health are close to the minimum requirement values (Recommended Daily Allowance and Estimated Average Requirement) and well below those currently consumed by most adults,” Zhen Dong, DrPH, a member of the department of public health sciences at Penn State Cancer Institute at the time of the study and now a consultant for IQVIA in Shanghai, and colleagues wrote.
Researchers analyzed data from 11,576 participants from the Third National Examination and Nutritional Health Survey conducted from 1988 to 1994. Participants were free from MI, congestive HF or reported dietary changes due to a heart disease diagnosis.
The primary outcome was a composite cardiometabolic risk score based on estimated glomerular filtration rate, BP and blood levels of HDL, total cholesterol, triglycerides, glucose, insulin, C-reactive protein, glycated hemoglobin, blood urea nitrogen and uric acid.
The average sulfur amino acid intake was more than 2.5-fold higher than the estimated average requirement of 15 mg/kg per day after accounting for body weight. Intake of sulfur amino acid was more than four times higher in participants in the highest quartile than the estimated average requirement.
After multivariable adjustment, a higher intake of methionine, sulfur amino acid and cysteine was linked with significant increases in composite cardiometabolic disease risk scores, independent of protein intake (P for trend < .01). This association was also observed in several individual risk factors including glucose, serum cholesterol, blood urea nitrogen, uric acid, glycated hemoglobin and insulin (P for trend < .01 for all).
“It is of interest to note that sulfur amino acid is naturally higher in most meats than in vegetables based on both the overall content of protein and the methionine and cysteine content of those proteins,” Dong and colleagues wrote. “This is consistent with our present findings of increasing meat-to-vegetable protein ratios with increasing sulfur amino acid consumption. This suggests that a likely effective approach to reduce dietary sulfur amino acid content may include increasing the intake of plant-based foods. In particular, by moderating the intake of legumes products and diluting total protein intake by ingestion of ample amounts of fruits and other foods, it would appear possible to maintain the 15 to 29 mg/kg per day sulfur amino acid intake value observed in the lowest quintile of the current study.” – by Darlene Dobkowski
Disclosures: The authors report no relevant financial disclosures.