Active not recruitingNAINTERVENTIONAL

Metabolic Availability of Methionine From Mung Beans in Healthy Adults

This research wants to find out the quality of protein in mung beans, a plant-based food. Proteins are made of building blocks called amino acids, and some of these, like methionine, are 'essential' because our bodies can't make them. Mung beans naturally have lower amounts of methionine, and cooking can also affect them. The study will look at how well our bodies use methionine from mung beans when cooked in a stew, on their own, or mixed with rice or wheat. This research is important because understanding plant proteins helps guide food choices and offers healthier, more eco-friendly alternatives to animal protein.

At a glance

Status

Active not recruiting

Phase

Sponsor

The Hospital for Sick Children

Enrolment target

Start

01 Apr 2024

Estimated completion

30 Aug 2025

Healthy

What is this study about?

This study is checking how much good quality protein, specifically an important building block called methionine, our bodies can actually use from mung beans. Think of protein as a LEGO set, and amino acids are the individual LEGO bricks. Some bricks are essential, meaning you have to get them from your food, and if even one is missing, your body can't build or repair itself properly. Mung beans are a great food, but they naturally have less of one of these essential bricks, methionine. How they're cooked and what they're eaten with might change how much of this methionine your body can use.

The researchers want to see if combining mung beans with other foods like rice or wheat, or cooking them in different ways, helps your body get more usable protein. This is really important because in the past, a lot of protein research was done on animals, but that doesn't always apply to humans. Understanding plant proteins like mung beans is crucial for helping people make good food choices, especially if they want to eat more plant-based meals, which can be better for our health and the environment.

Ultimately, the goal is to close the gap between how much protein we need and how much food we actually need to eat to get it from plant sources. The results from this study will help provide better advice on how to include mung beans in your diet to get the most nutritional benefit.

Key takeaways

Tests how well healthy men use protein from mung beans.
Compares different ways of cooking and combining mung beans.
Aims to improve dietary advice for plant-based protein sources.
Involves eating specially prepared meals and giving breath samples.
Helps understand important healthy and eco-friendly food choices.
Only for healthy men aged 18-49 with stable weight.

Who may be eligible?

This study is looking for healthy men between the ages of 18 and 49 years old. You should not have any existing medical conditions that affect how your body handles protein or amino acids, such as diabetes. Your weight should have been stable over the last three months, meaning you haven't gained or lost more than 5 pounds, and you shouldn't be on any weight-loss diets. Also, you shouldn't be taking any medications that might affect how your body uses protein or amino acids, like steroids.

Could this study suit you?

Answer these quick questions to see if you may be eligible. This is a guide only — the research team makes the final call.

Are you a man?
Are you between 18 and 49 years old?
Are you generally healthy with no major medical conditions that affect how your body uses protein?
Has your weight been stable (no big changes) in the last 3 months?
Are you not currently on any medication that could affect how your body processes protein?
Are you okay with trying different cooked mung bean meals?

Answer every question to see your result.

What does participation involve?

If you decide to join this study, you will eat different meals over several study days. These meals will include mung beans prepared in various ways: cooked in a stew by themselves, or cooked in a stew and combined with either rice or wheat. You will have three different amounts of mung beans. To compare, you will also eat meals that contain protein similar to that found in eggs, which is considered a high-quality protein. The order in which you receive these different meals will be chosen randomly.

During each of your study visits, specifically after the 4th and 5th meals, the researchers will collect breath samples. After the 4th meal, they will collect samples every 15 minutes for one hour. After the 5th meal, breath collection will start again two and a half hours later and continue every 15 minutes until 30 minutes after your last meal. In total, you could provide up to 52 breath samples on each of your study days.

Potential risks and benefits

Taking part in this study helps us learn more about how our bodies use protein from plant-based foods, which could benefit many people's health and the environment in the future. As with any study involving food, there's a small chance of mild discomfort if you're not used to specific foods or if you have any unnoticed allergies to the ingredients; however, you will not be asked to eat foods you are allergic to. You can decide to leave the study at any time, for any reason, without it affecting your medical care.

Locations (1)

The Hospital for Sick Children
Verified postcode
Toronto, Canada

Common questions

What exactly are mung beans?

Mung beans are small, green beans, commonly used in many cuisines around the world, especially in Asian cooking. They are a type of pulse or legume.

What is an 'essential amino acid'?

Essential amino acids are like special building blocks for your body that you can only get from the food you eat. Your body can't make them itself.

Why is the study being done in humans instead of animals?

This study is done in humans because the way animals process food and nutrients can be very different from humans, so results from animal studies might not apply directly to us.

Will I know what meal I am eating each time?

You will be given different meals in a random order, but the researchers will certainly explain what you are eating and what the study involves.

What are breath samples used for in this study?

Breath samples help the researchers track how your body is processing and using the nutrients from the food you've eaten, similar to how a car's exhaust tells you about its engine.