Older adults should meet their amino acid requirements to prevent development of sarcopenia. Dietary protein quality is of importance, as determined by amino acid composition and digestibility of the consumed protein. There is a need to investigate the impact of ageing on amino acid digestibility and thus quality in vivo. The dual tracer method is an indirect, minimal-invasive method to determine amino acid digestibility in humans. It is expected that amino acid digestibility decreases with age and that the effect between age groups is greater for poorly digestible protein sources. In this randomized, cross-over study, the researchers will determine the difference in amino acid digestibility of milk, sorghum and black beans between older (65-80 years) and younger (20-35 years) adults using the dual tracer method. Secondary objectives concern the difference in amino acid kinetics between older and younger adults and the association between gut health plasma markers and amino acid digestibility.
The main goal of this study is to determine the difference in amino acid digestibility of milk, sorghum and black beans between older (65-80 years) and younger (20-35 years) adults using the dual tracer method.