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MINI REVIEW article

Front. Nutr.
Sec. Nutrition and Metabolism
Volume 11 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fnut.2024.1400719
This article is part of the Research Topic Dietary Protein for Human Health View all 11 articles

Determining Amino Acid Requirements

Provisionally accepted
Alyssa Paoletti Alyssa Paoletti 1Glenda Courtney-Martin Glenda Courtney-Martin 1Rajavel Elango Rajavel Elango 2*
  • 1 Sick Kids Research Institute, Hospital for Sick Children, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
  • 2 University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Amino acids form the building blocks of body protein. Dietary protein sources provide the amino acids needed, but protein sources vary widely in amio acid composition. To ensure humans can meet body demands for amino acids, amino acid intake recommendations are provided by the Dietary Reference Intakes (DRI) and by Food and Agriculture Organization/World Health Organization/United Nations University (FAO/WHO/UNU). Current amino acid intake recommendations, however, are based on data collected predominantly from young adult males. The development of the minimally invasive indicator amino acid oxidation(IAAO) method has permitted the evaluation of amino acid requirements in various vulnerable populations. The purpose of this review is to discuss recent amino acid requirement studies in school-age children, pregnant females and the elderly determined using the IAAO technique. These requirements will help to inform evidence-based recommendations that will help to guide dietary guidelines.

    Keywords: Amino Acids, requirements, Humans, IAAO, stable isotope

    Received: 14 Mar 2024; Accepted: 05 Jul 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Paoletti, Courtney-Martin and Elango. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Rajavel Elango, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada

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