Different impacts of plant proteins and animal proteins on human health through altering gut microbiotaant proteins and animal proteins on human health through altering gut microbiota

Abstract

Dietary proteins exert a wide range of nutritional and biological functions. Apart from their nutritional roles as the source of amino acids for protein synthesis, they take part mainly in the regulation of food intake, blood pressure, bone metabolism, glucose and lipid metabolism, and immune functions. The interaction of dietary proteins with the gastrointestinal (GI) tract plays a chief role in determining the physiological properties of proteins. The enzymes protease and peptidase hydrolyze dietary protein to generate dipeptides, tripeptides, and amino acids in the lumen of the gastrointestinal tract. These products digested from dietary proteins are utilized in the small intestine by microbes. Moreover, the microbes also convert the macro and micronutrients from the diet into an enormous number of compounds that may have either beneficial or adverse effects on human health. The present review discusses the various impacts caused by both dietary plant and animal protein sources on microbiota in the GI tract.Keywords: Animal protein; Plant protein; Dietary proteins; Gut microbiota; Human health.