Dietary intake of branched chain amino acids in relation to metabolic health status in adolescents with overweight and obesity.

Introduction: The link between dietary branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs) intake and metabolic health, particularly in adolescents, is not well established. In this investigation, the metabolic health of adolescents with overweight and obesity in Iran was studied in relation to their intake of dietary BCAAs.

Methods: This cross-sectional study included 203 adolescents from the general population who had either overweight or obesity. The consumption of BCAAs and other nutrients were calculated using a valid food frequency questionnaire. Blood pressure and anthropometric measurements were taken. Serum insulin, glucose, and lipid profile were determined from blood samples taken while the subjects were fasting. Subjects were categorized considering having metabolically healthy overweight/obesity (MHO) and metabolically unhealthy overweight/obesity (MHO) using two distinct approaches (International Diabetes Federation (IDF) criteria and IDF/Homeostasis Model Assessment Insulin Resistance (HOMA-IR) criteria).

Results: Considering IDF criteria, increased consumption of dietary BCAAs was associated with significantly decreased odds of MUO (OR=0.38; 95% CI: 0.18-0.77) in crude model; but in the fully-adjusted model, the association became insignificant (OR=0.49; 95% CI: 0.22-1.09). Based on IDF/HOMA-IR criteria, this association was completely significant in crude model (OR=0.33; 95% CI: 0.15-0.69), and slightly significant in fully-adjusted model (OR=0.43; 95% CI: 0.18-1.00). Participants with overweight, as opposed to obesity, had considerably lower odds of MUO. Valine, one of the BCAAs, was negatively linked with odds of MUO in maximally-adjusted model (OR=0.43; 95% CI: 0.20-0.96).

Conclusions: Among BCAAs, increased consumption of valine via food could reduce the odds of MUO in Iranian adolescents with overweight/obesity.