There is no previous study that investigated the association between dietary intake of total and individual
branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs) and odds of
sarcopenia. The present study aimed to examine the association between dietary intake of BCAAs and
sarcopenia and its components among Iranian adults. The data for this cross-sectional study was collected in 2011 among 300 older people (150 men and 150 female) with aged ≥ 55 years. We used a Block-format 117-item food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) to evaluate usual dietary intakes. BCAAs intake was calculated by summing up the amount of
valine,
leucine and
isoleucine intake from all food items in the FFQ. The European
Sarcopenia Working Group (EWGSOP) definition was used to determine
sarcopenia and its components. Mean age of study participants was 66.8 years and 51% were female. Average intake of BCAAs was 12.8 ± 5.1 g/day. Prevalence of
sarcopenia and its components was not significantly different across tertile categories of total and individual BCAAs intake. We found no significant association between total BCAAs intake and odds of
sarcopenia (OR for comparison of extreme tertiles 0.48, 95% CI 0.19-1.19, P-trend = 0.10) and its components (For muscle mass 0.83, 95% CI 0.39-1.77, P-trend = 0.63; for hand grip strength 0.81, 95% CI 0.37-1.75, P-trend: 0.59; for gait speed 1.22, 95% CI 0.58-2.57, P-trend = 0.56). After adjusting for potential confounders, this non-significant relationship did not alter. In addition, we did not find any significant association between individual BCAAs intake and odds of
sarcopenia or its components. We found no significant association between dietary intakes of BCAAs and
sarcopenia in crude model (OR 0.60; 95% CI 0.29-1.26). After controlling for several potential confounders, the result remained insignificant (OR 0.48; 95% CI 0.19-1.19). In this cross-sectional study, no significant association was observed between dietary intakes of total and individual BCAAs and odds of
sarcopenia and its components.