A Vegetarian’s Take on Inflammation and IAAs

Melanie Thomas, RN BSN (Author) and Tony Clark, CSO (Editor), August 26, 2024

Intro

More than 50% of all deaths are related to chronic inflammatory diseases, such as heart disease, stroke, cancer, and diabetes [1].   Systemic, long-lived inflammation can impair immune system functioning: leading to increased susceptibility to infection and to tumor development.   Original research regarding Adjusted Dietary Reference Intakes (ADRI) for Indispensable Amino Acids (IAAs) explores the link between the under-consumption of IAAs and chronic inflammatory disease.   

My name is Mel.  I am a nurse and a 32 years old vegetarian at the time of this article.  I am a case study for the IAA consumption habits of vegetarians.  The first installment of my personal story, which chronicles my daily IAA consumption experiences, can be found here.  In May of this year, I shared that I had a relatively low daily IAA consumption level compared to the average consumption of women my age.  I also shared that I have experienced and/or am currently experiencing various health symptoms which are known to be associated with low protein / IAA consumption and higher systemic inflammation.  Since then, my goal has been to significantly increase my daily IAA consumption.  This article is an update on my progress.  My personal experience is offered in the context of research which has failed to show significant differences in inflammatory biomarkers regarding vegetarian and non-vegetarian diets [2] [3].

My Story

At the beginning of recording my diet journey, from April 17, 2024 through April 20, 2024, I did not consume much fish*.  That changed during the month of June 2024, when I intentionally increased my protein and IAA intake primarily by eating more fish.   I consumed a variety of fish such as salmon, tilapia, and mahi mahi.  Oatmeal, flaxseeds, chia seeds, nuts, cream of wheat, granola and brown rice contributed the rest of the supply of vital IAAs in my diet.  

For the month of June, I noticed that I was able to remain consistent with calculating my daily protein intake.  I was able to maintain an average of 50-70 grams of protein per day, which is a big difference from the 28 grams of protein on average, that I had consumed in April.   And, as shown in Figure 1, I went from consuming less than the average amount of protein for my peer group (women ages 18 to 39 years old) at 28% 0f ADRI to consuming more than the average amount at 71% of ADRI**. 

During June, however, I noticed that the food options started to get boring.  More variety of protein sources would have made compliance more enjoyable and easier.  Although I stuck to my target amount of protein per day (which was 50- 70 grams per day), later during the month, I found myself choosing options that were easy and that did not require much thought or effort to make.   Those choices had the effect of reducing my average intake to the lower end of my target range for IAAs and protein by the end of the month.  Still, my average consumed IAAs per day increased from 142 mg (April) to 397 mg (June), for an increase of 180% over April’s IAAs per day.  Though I am still short of my target consumption, my June IAA results are significantly greater than my April results (see Figure 2).

Some of the challenges I faced with increasing my protein intake during June (2024), included the following:

• The food menu began to become less appealing towards the end of the month.  Although I swapped my oatmeal for cream of wheat and included a large amount of peanut butter in my smoothies in place of hemp seeds, when I made this change, I noticed significant amounts of bloating and feelings of prolonged fullness.

• Prior to intentionally increasing my protein intake, I would find myself lacking an appetite for several days throughout the month.  It was also common for me to eat my very first meal later in the afternoon. This pattern continued for the duration of the month of June and I noticed that after breakfast, which usually consisted of cream of wheat and a protein packed smoothie, that I ended up full until dinner time. 

• Throughout the month of June, I ate 2 meals and a smoothie for most days.  However, on some of the days, even though I felt full, I would make myself eat more protein to make sure I hit my target goal for grams of IAA/protein for the day.  Since I prefer to eat when I feel hungry and when my stomach feels light, the motivation to eat was a challenge during the times of day where I felt full already.

• I work out (weight train) about 3 times a week, so I increased my protein intake amount on those days.

• A challenge that I faced with traveling was keeping my diet plan that I ate at home, and tracking my protein intake.  I traveled for a few days during June (2024) and noticed that the traveling circumstances—I faced (early flights) and a lack of quality food options at the airport—presented challenges to accurately count my protein intake (when eating take out) and to make sure I was getting enough food in on the days I traveled by plane.  Once I landed however, I was able to go grocery shopping and cook my meals for the days I was settled into my destination.
  
  

I also noticed that there was some stress and pressure that came with trying to maintain a diet that included such a significant increase in protein.  I felt stress to count the number of grams of protein in everything that I ate, when normally I just eat without keeping track of anything.  Keeping track of and constantly thinking about maintaining a daily “goal” of IAAs and protein, especially with respect to thinking about different food related factors outside the norm of just choosing what to eat based on my mood, my goal of making healthier food choices, and my desire, was something that added additional daily mental stress.  I believe that if I prepared a more varied target diet, this might have mitigated some the added stress. Also, I believe that generally losing some dietary freedom led to the additional stress for the month of June (2024).

An unexpected positive that I noticed, as the month went on, is that I felt fuller each day and I could eat less, which meant fewer calories overall on the days which I ate 2 meals a day.  That was an unexpected positive side effect—consuming more protein/IAAs reduced my appetite.  For those who are concerned that, or wondering if, an increase in protein consumption leads to weight gain, that was not my experience.  My weight was the same in June and April.  My large increase in daily IAAs did not affect my weight.  This is consistent with recent research that finds that IAAs are positively correlated with lean body mass [4] [5] [6].

I previously noted that prior to increasing my protein intake, I experienced the following symptoms, all of which can be associated with chronic systemic inflammation:

• With respect to edema, I noticed swelling while wearing rings, which would feel tighter on my fingers upon awaking, and swollen feet, which would occur on occasion at the end of some days when I had walked a lot.  The swelling in my fingers remained the same, though the swelling in my feet, post my increase in IAAs, was less apparent. 

• My mood was pleasant throughout the month of June compared to the month of April where I experienced more irritability. 

• I still felt low energy upon awakening in the morning for the month of June, just like I had in April. However, I did travel in June and felt relatively more energized throughout the day for June versus in April.

• I noticed that I experienced similar amounts of acne on my face for the month of April and for the month of June.  But, I noticed fewer white heads occurring on my face in June.  So, overall, there was a small, but noticeable improvement in my skin.

• The sweet cravings were the same for the month of April and June. The deep hunger pains, which I had experienced prior to increasing my protein intake, were much less intense. I still experienced hunger when I awakened, but not deep hunger pains.

• My immune system response (in the form of the frequency and duration of allergy symptoms like throat itching and nasal congestion) remained the same for the months of April and June.

• In June I noticed that my sleeping improved slightly. Though, when I would awaken in the middle of the night to use the restroom, I still had trouble getting back to sleep quickly.

Though it has only been a short while, the positive effects, of increasing my protein and IAAs consumption, on my overall health are worth the changes in my diet.  As summarized above, there has been a noticeable improvement in some of my symptoms.  However, the changes did not come without challenges.  Now, I am working on finding a way to get in an adequate amount of IAAs each day; in a way that feels more natural and that requires less thought and counting of grams of IAAs/protein. 

Finally, I am encouraged by the initial improvement in some of my chronic inflammation related symptoms.  I will keep you posted on my progress.

Footnotes

* Fish is an upper-righthand quadrant protein food that comprises a relatively higher amount of protein and a higher quality IAA profile per serving.

** ARDI are presented for educational purposes only, for the consideration by healthy adults (> 18 years old and older) who are not experiencing metabolic disorders involving impaired nitrogen utilization, kidney issues or other issues which may be exacerbated by the increased consumption of protein.  Please consult your doctor or nutritionist to discuss your specific situation.

References

[1] Furman D, et al., Chronic inflammation in the etiology of disease across the life span. NATURE MEDICINE, Vol. 25, 2019 Dec., pages 1822-1832, www.nature.com/naturemedicine.

[2] Menzel J, et al., Associations of a vegan diet with inflammatory biomarkers.  Nature Research, SCIENTIFIC REPORTS, 2020, 10:1933, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7005174/pdf/41598_2020_Article_58875.pdf.

[3] Menzel J, et al., Systematic review and meta-analysis of the associations of vegan and vegetarian diets with inflammatory biomarkers.  Nature Research, SCIENTIFIC REPORTS, 2020, 10:21736, www.nature.com/scientificreports/.

[4] Rose AJ, Amino Acid Nutrition and Metabolism in Health and Disease.  MDPI Nutrients,  2019, 11:3623, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6893825/pdf/nutrients-11-02623.pdf.

[5] Ribeiro RV, et. al. ,Of Older Mice and Men: Branched-Chain Amino Acids and Body Composition. Nutrients. 2019 Aug 13;11(8):1882. doi: 10.3390/nu11081882. PMID: 31412601; PMCID: PMC6723310.

[6] Le Couteur DG, et al., Branched chain amino acids, aging and age-related health. Ageing Res Rev. 2020 Dec;64:101198. doi: 10.1016/j.arr.2020.101198. Epub 2020 Oct 24. PMID: 33132154.