Thread by @nick_krontiris

In this one, the authors report the development and validation of the Essential Amino Acid-9 (EAA-9) score, an innovative, nutrient-based protein quality scoring framework, which allows for personalization of essential amino acid needs based on age or metabolic conditions.

- Currently, recognition of essential amino acid requirements is embedded within a generalized measure of protein quality known as PDCAAS (Protein Digestibility-Corrected Amino Acid Score).

- Calculating PDCAAS includes the FAO/WHO/UNU amino acid score (AAS), which is based on the limiting amino acid in a food, that is, the single amino acid with the lowest concentration compared to the reference standard.

- That “limiting” AAS is then multiplied by a bioavailability factor to obtain the PDCAAS which ranks proteins from 0.0 (poor quality) to 1.0 (high quality).

- However, PDCAAS has multiple limitations: it only allows for direct protein quality comparison between two proteins, and it is not scalable, transparent, or additive.

- Here, the authors propose that shifting the protein quality evaluation paradigm from a generalized perspective to a precision nutrition focus treating amino acids as unique, metabolically active nutrients will be valuable for multiple areas of science and public health.

- In summary, the proposed EAA-9 score represents the ability of a food to meet EAA RDAs and addresses the limitations of PDCAAS.

- The EAA-9 score can be used to compare protein quality for single ingredients, multi-ingredient foods, and meals.

- Most notably, it can be used additively over multiple meals, tracking progress toward meeting EAA recommendations.

When the EAA-9 score for foods consumed in a day reaches 100%, all EAA requirements have been met.

Perspective: Developing a Nutrient-Based Framework for Protein Quality (open access)

doi.org/10.1016/j.tjnu…

#nutrition #diet #protein