Personalized Dietary Advice to Increase Protein Intake in Older Adults Does Not Affect the Gut Microbiota, Appetite or Central Processing of Food Stimuli in Community-Dwelling Older Adults: A Six-Month Randomized Controlled Trial

Kristina S. Fluitman, Madelief Wijdeveld*, Mark Davids, Charlotte C. van Ruiten, Ilse Reinders, Hanneke A.H. Wijnhoven, Bart J.F. Keijser, Marjolein Visser, Max Nieuwdorp, Richard G. IJzerman

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to JournalArticleAcademicpeer-review

Abstract

Expert groups argue to raise the recommended daily allowance for protein in older adults from 0.8 to 1.2 g/kg/day to prevent undernutrition. However, protein is thought to increase satiety, possibly through effects on gut microbiota and central appetite regulation. If true, raising daily protein intake may work counterproductively. In a randomized controlled trial, we evaluated the effects of dietary advice aimed at increasing protein intake to 1.2 g/kg adjusted body weight/day (g/kg aBW/day) on appetite and gut microbiota in 90 community-dwelling older adults with habitual protein intake <1.0 g/kg aBW/day (Nintervention = 47, Ncontrol = 43). Food intake was determined by 24-h dietary recalls and gut microbiota by 16S rRNA sequencing. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scans were performed in a subgroup of 48 participants to evaluate central nervous system responses to food-related stimuli. Both groups had mean baseline protein intake of 0.8 ± 0.2 g/kg aBW/day. At 6 months’ follow-up this increased to 1.2 ± 0.2 g/kg aBW/day for the intervention group and 0.9 ± 0.2 g/kg aBW/day for the control group. Microbiota composition was not affected, nor were appetite or brain activity in response to food-related stimuli. Increasing protein intake in older adults to 1.2 g/kg aBW/day does not negatively impact the gut microbiota or suppress appetite.

Original languageEnglish
Article number332
Pages (from-to)1-17
Number of pages17
JournalNutrients
Volume15
Issue number2
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2 Jan 2023

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
This study was supported by the European Union Horizon 2020 PROMISS project ‘PRevention Of Malnutrition In Senior Subjects in the EU’ (grant agreement no. 678732). The content only reflects the author’s view and the Commission is not responsible for any use that may be made of the information it contains. MN is supported by a ZONMW VICI grant 2020 (09150182010020).

Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 by the authors.

Keywords

  • appetite
  • fMRI
  • gut microbiota
  • older adults
  • protein

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