First, let's get to the good news. Want to be healthier? Eat more onions, garlic, shallots, chives, and leeks. It turns out they are a great source of the type of amino acids we need to be healthy, without overwhelming our bodies with too much of a good thing. Meat, as it turns out, along with fish, eggs, and poultry, also has these types of sulfur amino acids or SAAs. But when we eat them from that source, we drown our bodies in SAAs, which can lead to all sorts of problems, from weight gain to insulin resistance, higher cholesterol, blood sugar and more. Not pretty.
Okay, but here I get way ahead of myself. The story is based on science, and the science is from a new study that tells us everything we need to know about amino acids, and perhaps more. How much protein you eat is part of the problem but where that protein comes from is the main event. The study is brand new, even if its conclusions sound familiar, and echo the science we've been learning about plant-based diets and heart disease.
We know that red meat consumption is linked to a higher risk of heart disease, cancer, type 2 diabetes and premature death from all causes. But the questionis why? The theories range from theeffect that meat has on your microbiome to its artery-clogging fat content,or even the chemicals added to our food before it hits the table. One thing is agreed on: People who eat diets high in meat tend to be heavier andlive shorter lives.
Now a newstudypurports to hint at the reason this is true. The authors found thateating a diet high inanimal protein increases the risk of developing a wide range of chronic diseases (again nothing new here) andthen recommended eating plant-basedprotein dietto reduce these risks. The reason is the type of amino acids in the meat, which are called sulfur amino acids, or SAAs, which in abundance appear to increase the risk of heart disease. People who eat meat are getting two and a half times the recommended amount, or the Estimated Average Requirement (EAR), of SAAs in their diet, which may be contributing to risk factors for cardiometabolic diseases.
The study is the first to investigate what affect diets high in sulfur amino acids have on overallhealth. SAAs are found in many foods, but are highest in eggs, fish, red meat and chicken. When consumed in moderate or recommended amounts, sulfur amino acidsplay a crucial rolein our bodies. They help metabolism, protect cells from damage, build proteins, regulate hormones and neurotransmitters, and help keep the liver functioning well.
But when there are too many SAAs, it can lead to heart disease, being overweight, higher levels of insulin and a shorter lifespan. The authors recommend that the best way to regulate SAAs is to get them from plant-based sources, which offer lower doses of SAAs and are linked to healthier, longer lifespan and lower risks of disease.
Eating too many foods high in sulfur amino acids can have many negative health effects. They arelinked to a higher riskofheart disease, stroke, diabetes, and non-alcohol fatty liver disease. And you're at even greater risk if you eat high levels of two particular types of sulfur amino acids,cysteineandmethionine, both of which are found in high-protein foods. They are considered the most toxic amino acids, even though thebody needs both.
The finding that low sulfur amino acid diets are typically more heavily reliant on plant-derived proteins suggests that sulfur amino acid reduction may, be partly responsible for health benefits associated with a plant-based diet and offera practical solutionfor reducing sulfur amino acid inthe diet.
Sulfur-rich foods include "allium vegetables" which include garlic, onions, leeks scallions, chives, and shallots. It also is abundant in cruciferous vegetables like cabbage, brussels sprouts and broccoli, bok choy, collard greens, radishes, and watercress as well as kale.
According to the research, animal studies suggest diets restricted in sulfur amino acids are associated with many health benefits including increased longevity and reductions in age-related diseases.
Rats fed a diet low in amino acid, and withmethionineas the sole sulfur amino acid source -- meaning closer to the type found in plant-based diets -- increased their maximum life span, and were healthier during their lifetime. This type of diet (where the SAAs come from plants) have been shown to delay aging in a number of animal and cell-based models.
Further, low SAA diets have been associated with reductions in body weight, adipose tissue (body fat)and oxidative stress (which leads to aging), higher metabolism, and positive changes in the levels of blood biomarkers, including insulin, glucose, leptin, and more. There is little dataon the health benefits of lowSAA diets in humans. The authors wrote that theirgoal was to investigate whether diets low inSAAs were associated with reducedrisk for cardiometabolic diseases.
Protein and Heart Health: A Little Protein Goes a Long Way
In general, it is recommended that adults only consume15mg of sulfur amino acids per kilogram of body weighta day. But evidence shows that mostolder adultshave diets thatexceed these recommendations.
The researchers looked at a sample size of 11,576 adults as part of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES III) over a period of six years. Researchers measured participants' diets, as well as cholesterol, insulin, andblood glucose levels, to see how they were affected by eating an abundance of SAAs.
The researchers found that the averagesubject they studied consumed 2.5 times the recommended levels of SAAs. After controlling for variables such as weight, race, and gender, they found that eating adiethigh in SAAs, especially cysteine and methionine, was associated with higher cholesterol, insulin resistance and elevatedblood glucoseall of which contributetocardiometabolic diseasessuch as heart attacks, strokes, diabetes, and liver disease.
The health risks were not solely about overall protein consumption, but the amount and proportion ofSAAseaten. Becauseanimal productscontain higher levels of SAAs, the researchers recommend that a diet of plant-based proteinsis the best way to reduce SAA consumption to healthier levels.
The authors' conclusion: Lower intake of sulfur amino acids may, in part, explain some of theobserved health benefitsof plant-based diets. Swapping animal-basedproteinsources for plant-based ones appears to be a good health move.
Nutrition is a major component of reducing overall risks ofchronic disease and premature death. Sulfur amino acids are more prevalent in meat than vegetables, so switching toplant-based protein sourceslike whole grains, beans, lentils, nuts and seeds, and eating recommended daily intakes ofsulfuramino acids, could make it less likely that you will develop heart disease or diabetes in future, the authors concluded.
See the article here:
Amino Acids May Be the Key to the Connection Between Meat and Heart Disease - The Beet
