JPH0368665B2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

The present invention relates to a food composition, and an object of the present invention is to provide a food composition that is particularly useful for enhancing muscle exercise functions such as sports and manual labor. Three types of amino acids, isoleucine, leucine, and valine, are called branched-chain amino acids (hereinafter abbreviated as BCAA) because of the similarity in their structure with branched chains, and they have common characteristics in their metabolism in living organisms. It has been known for a long time to have. That is,
BCAAs are metabolized in the muscles, unlike other amino acids, which are primarily metabolized in the liver. In the blood of patients with liver disease, the concentration of aromatic amino acids increases;
An unbalanced state occurs in which the concentration of BCAAs decreases. On the other hand, since the symptoms are improved when BCAA is administered, BCAA has been used as a nutritional composition for liver failure, especially as a composition for annular fluid (eg, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 56-68374). Such existing compositions are generally intended for use by sick people and not for healthy people. In general, athletes in athletics are required to maximize their muscular strength, but excessive weight gain is not desirable in order to make full use of motor function and technique, or to avoid wasting energy for purposes other than the purpose of athletics. It is said that Athletes in sports such as judo, wrestling, weightlifting, and boxing that are subject to weight restrictions are particularly exposed to severe conditions in this regard, and despite engaging in strenuous exercise, athletes who do not exceed the weight limit limit are often exposed to severe conditions. It is not uncommon for people to refrain from eating or fasting in order to keep it under control. In this case, if nutritional considerations are inappropriate, not only will the intended purpose not be achieved, but health may even be harmed. The above has focused on athletes as a typical example, but when ordinary citizens participate in sports to improve their health, there are essentially common problems, albeit to varying degrees. For the time being,
It can happen. The present invention aims to maintain muscle strength and maintain muscle strength under such conditions.
A food composition useful for measuring muscle strength, which supplies a relatively small amount of energy while sufficiently supplementing the necessary protein to combat metabolic depletion that accompanies intense muscle use, and which focuses on muscle strength. It provides energy and serves a purpose. A major feature of the present invention lies in the amino acid content in the target food composition. That is, the present inventors discovered that BCAA consisting of isoleucine, leucine, and valine
It is possible to improve muscle motor function by ingesting a high protein food composition containing a high concentration of one or more amino acids selected from the group of arginine and arginine. They made a new discovery and completed the present invention. The present invention has the following three features (a), (b), and (c), namely, (a)
The total content of one or more amino acids selected from the group consisting of isoleucine, leucine, and valine is 30% or more of the total amino acid content.
(b) Arginine content relative to total amino acid content
10% or more. (c) A food composition containing 30% or more protein. In particular, these amino acids have a weight ratio of isoleucine:leucine:valine:algin of 1.3 to 0.6:1:0.4.
The effect is particularly excellent when the ratio is adjusted to 0.8:1.4 to 0.6. This ratio was determined by examining the average abundance ratio of these amino acids in muscle and the metabolic rate in muscle, and was determined based on the insulin secretion promoting effect of arginine. Furthermore, in the present invention, the protein is contained at a high concentration to sufficiently compensate for the metabolic consumption of protein, which is the main component of muscle, and also to meet the need for increased growth as a result of exercise training. It is necessary to prepare the Specifically, it is preferable that the protein content be 30% or more. The raw materials used may be of any kind, including vegetable proteins such as soybean protein and wheat gluten, and animal proteins such as egg powder and casein. It also falls within the scope of the present invention to use proteins that have been completely or partially hydrolyzed by treatment with acids or enzymes. In addition to the above, the product according to the present invention may contain carbohydrates, fats and oils, minerals, vitamins, etc. as general nutritional ingredients depending on the usage mode. Carbohydrates include starch and starch-based raw materials such as rice flour, wheat flour, wheat starch, corn starch, sweet potato starch, and potato starch, processed products and partially decomposed products of these, and oligosaccharides and monosaccharides. use Oils and fats are indispensable not only as an energy source but also as a source of essential fatty acids. Even if the content is lowered to suppress energy supply, it should be contained at least 3%. Vegetable oils such as soybean oil, corn oil, rapeseed oil, cottonseed oil, sunflower oil, palm oil, and olive oil, as well as animal oils and fertilizers such as beef tallow, lard, milk fat, and fish oil, can be used, and these oils and fertilizers can be transesterified. It may also be processed by hydrogenation or the like. As minerals, salts such as sodium, potassium, calcium, magnesium, and iron are used. As vitamins, fat-soluble (A, D, E,
F, K, etc.) and water-soluble (B ₁ , B ₂ , B ₆ , B ₁₂ ,
C, niacin, etc.) can be used. In order to improve the palatability of the product, seasonings and fragrances can be added as appropriate. The product can be in the form of a solution, suspension, powder, paste, molded product (tablet, granule, rod, plate), etc. Emulsifiers and excipients can be added depending on these forms. Agents can also be added. As mentioned above, the feeding form of the food composition of the present invention can be freely selected, and there is no need to limit it to, for example, an aqueous solution. The food composition of the present invention may be administered in relatively small amounts, for example, per day.
Ingesting around 300g is enough to meet your protein needs. The BCAA and arginine it contains are quickly absorbed and transferred into the blood, where they are transported to various organs in the body. Naturally, it is also supplied to and used by the muscles. Unlike other general amino acids, which are mainly metabolized in the liver, BCAA is metabolized in the muscles.
It is a source of energy for muscles. Furthermore, it is known to suppress the breakdown of muscle proteins, which tends to occur under stress, and promote synthesis.
As a member of the so-called urea cycle, arginine plays an important role in capturing ammonia produced when amino acids are metabolically decomposed and converting it into urea. Furthermore, arginine and
Leucine, a BCAA, stimulates the secretion of insulin and is also involved in regulating the flow of metabolism in muscles. The above facts are the rationale supporting that the purpose of the present invention can be effectively achieved. in short,
Muscle motor function is maintained and enhanced by ingesting the food composition provided by the present invention. The present invention will be explained in detail with reference to Examples below. Example 1 A food composition shown in Table 1 was prepared. Table 1 Food composition formulation L-isoleucine 4.5% L-leucine 4.0 L-valine 2.0 L-arginine 4.0 Egg white powder 58.0 Corn salad oil 3.5 Powdered cream 20.0 Powdered sugar 10.0 Instant coffee 2.0 This composition is in powder form and can be used as it is. Alternatively, it could be suspended in water or hot water to make a slurry, kneaded with water or hot water to form a rice cake, and molded into a stick, which had a desirable flavor and could be eaten. This composition contains 50% protein, with a combined protein and amino acid content of 64.5%.
The ratio of the total amount of BCAA to this is 34.3%, L-
The percentage of arginine is 13.1%. Example 2 Male SD rats, 6 weeks old (approximately 170 g in weight, preliminarily raised and accustomed to the experimental environment), were divided into 3 groups of 10 rats each, and the average weight of each group was approximately the same. I made it so that The rat is placed in a rotating cage (circumference: 1m) that allows free movement.
One animal per cage was housed in a cage with an attached cage. All cages were placed in an animal breeding room at a room temperature of 23±
The conditions were maintained at 1°C and humidity at 55±10%, and the lighting was set to be 12 hours dark and 12 hours bright, which were alternated periodically. Feed was provided using the paired feed method, and water was provided ad libitum. Table 2 shows the composition of the feed given to the three groups.

[Table] *Table 3 shows the total content of BCAA and arginine in each test feed in Table 2 according to Harper's composition.

[Table] After 5 days from the start of feeding the experimental feed, the number of times the rats turned the rotating cage was measured every day, and based on this, the spontaneous locomotor activity of each rat was calculated as the distance traveled per day (m). did. Measurements continued for 10 days. Table 5 shows the daily spontaneous mileage as a relative value when the BCAA and arginine-free group is set as 1.

【table】

【table】

[Table] The group that consumed the feed prepared according to the method of the present invention showed the highest amount of spontaneous running. In addition, the control group fed a diet with low protein, BCAA, and arginine content had significantly lower locomotor activity.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A food composition having the following three characteristics (a), (b), and (c): (a) one or more selected from the group consisting of isoleucine, leucine, and valine; The total content of amino acids is 30% or more of the content of all amino acids. (b) The content of arginine is 10% or more of the content of all amino acids. (c) Contains 30% or more protein.