(P13-040-24) Trends in Dietary Amino Acid Intake and Its Food Sources Among Koreans Adults: Data From the 2010–2022 Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey

Objectives: Recently, the impact of dietary protein intake on health has been the focus of increasing attention, but studies on amino acids (AA), which are components of proteins, are limited. Thus, this study aimed to estimate amino acid intake and its food sources among Korean adults over the past 13 years.

Methods: Based on the 2010-2022 Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES) data, 66,164 adults aged 19 years or older who participated in a 24-hour dietary recall were included in this study. Amino acid intake was estimated by linking the expanded amino acid database to the dietary recall data. Amino acids were divided into 10 essential (EAA), 3 branched-chain (BCAA), and 9 non-essential amino acids (NEAA) and estimated as the g/day. Contribution rate of 17 food groups to EAA, BCAA, and NEAA were calculated.

Results: The mean daily intake of total amino acids was 62.1 g including 28.7 g of EAA (11.7 g of BCAA) and 33.4 g of NEAA. The highest intake of EAA was leucine (5.2 g), followed by arginine (4.1 g), valine (3.7 g), lysine (3.6 g), and phenylalanine (3.0 g). Major NEAA were glutamic acid (11.0 g), aspartic acid (6.0 g), proline (4.2 g), and alanine (3.8 g). During the past 13 years, protein intake was continuously decreased from 73.8 g in 2010-2012 to 69.5 g in 2022 (p for trend < 0.0001), but there was no significant change in total and essential amino acid intakes. However, among EAA, intakes of BCAA, phenylalanine, tryptophan, and arginine showed decreasing trends (p for trend < 0.05 for all), whereas lysine and threonine intakes increased (p for trend < 0.05 for all). On the other hand, NEAA intake gradually increased from 33.0 g in 2010-2012 to 34.6 g in 2022 (p for trend=0.0408). Among NEAA, intakes of cysteine, glutamic acid, glycine, and serine increased, while alanine, proline, and taurine consumption showed decreasing trends. Major food groups contributing to EAA, BCAA, and NEAA were grains, meat, and seafood, and the contribution rate of meat to AA continued to increase.

Conclusions: In recent 13 years, intakes of several individual AA were changed in Korean adults, which might be related to dietary changes. Further studies are required to investigate the association between dietary amino acids and chronic diseases.

Funding Sources: This work was supported by the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) grant funded by the Korea government (MSIT).