New tool calculates protein balance in meals

Pol Grootswagers, assistant professor of Nutrition and Aging, developed a tool with his team to involve the elderly in the protein transition. ‘The Alpha tool helps to create meals that are complete in terms of amino acid composition. This is how we guarantee the quality of plant-based meals.’

The tool shows per ingredient how much of each essential amino acid you consume by eating that specific meal and indicates as a percentage whether you meet the protein requirement. ‘This way you can quickly see where there are shortages and where you can possibly supplement protein sources,’ Grootswagers explains.

Muscle mass

‘The diet of the elderly requires special attention because muscle mass and bone density decrease with age. That effect increases if someone does not consume enough proteins,’ says Grootswagers. ‘A plant-based diet also involves two points of attention: the amino acid profile of plant proteins is often less complete than that of animal proteins and plant proteins are less well absorbed. To get elderly people to eat a plant-based diet in a healthy way, you have to take all these factors into account.’

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‘Some nutrition experts believe that we should let the elderly eat mainly animal proteins because of these risks, but given the environmental impact of animal protein production, this cannot be justified. Everyone must participate in the protein transition. Especially the elderly, because this population group is increasing due to the aging population. It is important that we can put together plant-based meals that meet protein requirements and are complete in terms of amino acid profile.’

Less is also more

Although the target group of the tool is elderly, the users are dieticians, researchers and, for example, chefs. ‘Until now, these people did not have access to data on digestibility and amino acid composition, while you do need this to make good meal combinations. Now that consumers are eating more and more plant-based foods, this knowledge is relevant.’

The Alpha tool uses data from the NEVO nutritional value table and the guidelines for protein requirements of the world food organization FAO. A user can enter all the ingredients of his recipe, including associated quantities. ‘Then the puzzling starts: for example, add a little more nuts, seeds or legumes to reach 100 percent. The tool also works the other way: if it turns out that the meal meets the amino acid requirement for more than 100 percent, you can gradually omit ingredients. Consuming less is also a sustainable choice.’

Culinarily responsible

Ultimately, the Alpha tool can also make recommendations with the help of AI. ‘That part is still under development. We still have to teach the algorithm what logical, culinaryly sound combinations are. The algorithm currently makes recommendations that ensure perfect protein quality, but that do not make sense from a culinary point of view.’

The Alpha tool was recently used in a scientific study to calculate hospital meals and is now being tested by research dieticians from the Department of Human Nutrition and Health and by dietitians who work with vulnerable elderly people and meal developers in hospitals.

Would you like to take a look at the tool yourself or test it out with your own meals? This can be done – in exchange for user feedback – by completing this form.

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