Short-term dietary reduction of branched-chain amino acids reduces meal-induced insulin secretion and modifies microbiome composition in type 2 diabetes: a randomized controlled crossover trial

Study answer

What this study found

Short-term BCAA reduction produced favorable postprandial metabolic and microbiome changes, but it did not improve whole-body insulin sensitivity during clamp testing. After the BCAA-reduced diet, meal-induced insulin and C-peptide responses were lower or improved versus the BCAA-containing diet, with incremental insulin release iAUC 29 ± 19 vs 21 ± 11 and incremental C-peptide release 2.8 ± 0.9 vs 2.5 ± 0.8 (both P < 0.05), while postprandial insulin sensitivity indices improved (OGIS 279 ± 94 vs 346 ± 91 mL·min-1·m-2, P < 0.01; PREDIM 2.6 ± 0.9 vs 3.3 ± 1.3 mg·kg-1·min-1, P < 0.01).…

Study & population

Adults with type 2 diabetes in good metabolic control were enrolled in a randomized, double-blind, crossover study in Düsseldorf, Germany.

Intervention

This randomized, double-blind crossover trial tested a 4-week isocaloric dietary reduction in branched-chain amino acids while keeping total protein intake constant at 1 g/kg body weight per day.

Key limitation

The study was very small (n = 12) and short in duration (4 weeks), which limits precision and long-term inference.

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Original abstract