Would you rather feel full for a long time, or quickly and effectively get building blocks to your destination? The texture of your protein drink can play a major role in this, according to research by PhD student Julia Roelofs. She studied how quickly different portions of pea protein are processed by the stomach and intestines.
‘With this study we wanted to find out what influence heating and texture have on the digestion speed and absorption of pea proteins,’ explains PhD student Julia Roelofs (Human Nutrition & Health). ‘Because the protein transition requires us to consume more vegetable proteins – which are often of lower quality than animal proteins – it is important to know how to digest them as efficiently as possible.’
Liquid or gel
Roelofs served the twelve study participants the same portion of pea protein three times, each time prepared in a slightly different way. ‘They were given the same drink of pea protein dissolved in water twice, but once we had heated the drink beforehand. The third drink had the structure of a gel. We used the same amount of pea protein as with the liquid drinks, but less water. In addition to the gel, subjects were also given a glass of water to drink, so that they consumed exactly the same ingredients and quantities in all three experiments.’
After drinking the drink or gel, the subjects went into the MRI scanner for an hour and a half. ‘To study what exactly happens in the stomach and how quickly the substance leaves the stomach. They then stayed for more than three hours to take blood samples, so that we could see if and when the amino acids from the drinks entered the blood from the stomach, via the intestines.’
Slower due to texture
‘The speed at which the portions were processed by the stomach was no different when participants had drunk the heated drink.’ The absorption of the protein was also no different. ‘We saw the same amino acids, in the same concentrations, in the blood at similar times.’
The different texture did produce differences in digestion speed and absorption. ‘The water that the test subjects drank in addition to the gel left the stomach very quickly, but the gel itself was digested more slowly. We also later saw the amino acids in the blood.’ That makes sense,’ says Roelofs, ‘because the amino acids in the gel stay longer in the stomach and then reach the intestines and even later in the blood.’
At the end of the experiment, the total intake for all drinks was the same. ‘In the end there were comparable concentrations of amino acids in the blood.’
Manipulate
‘We now know that we can influence how quickly proteins are absorbed by changing the texture of a product,’ says Roelofs. ‘That is useful, for example, for people who need to consume a lot of protein. For elderly people who have difficulty eating enough and therefore also having enough protein, or for top athletes, for example. It is better to give them a drink than a gel, because then they have amino acids available as building blocks more quickly.’
Also read:
2023-12-20 07:30:00
#Protein #gel #form #digests #slowly #Resource #online
