A 48‐Hour Vegan Diet Challenge in Healthy Women and Men Induces a BRANCH‐Chain Amino Acid Related, Health Associated, Metabolic Signature

Scope Research is limited on diet challenges to improve health. A short‐term, vegan protein diet regimen nutritionally balanced in macronutrient composition compared to an omnivorous diet is hypothesized to improve metabolic measurements of blood sugar regulation, blood lipids, and amino acid metabolism. Methods and results This randomized, cross‐over, controlled vegan versus animal diet challenge is conducted on 21 (11 female,10 male) healthy participants. Fasting plasma is measured during a 3 d diet intervention for clinical biochemistry and metabonomics. Intervention diet plans meet individual caloric needs. Meals are provided and supervised. Diet compliance is monitored. Conclusions The vegan diet lowers triglycerides, insulin and homeostatic model assessment (HOMA‐IR), bile acids, elevated magnesium levels, and changed branched‐chain amino acids (BCAAs) metabolism (p