Comparison of daily diets containing 400 kcal (1.67 MJ) of either protein or glucose, and their effects on the response to subsequent total fasting in obese subjects.

Eleven obese subjects (body mass index, 41.3 kg/m2) were examined to determine their metabolic and acid-base responses during two hypoenergetic diets, and the diets' influence on subsequent responses to prolonged total fasting. Subjects were first treated for 2 wk with 400-kcal/d (1.67-MJ/d) diets of either protein (13.2 g nitrogen, 23 mmol potassium) or glucose with 16 mmol potassium chloride and a multivitamin supplement. Mild acidosis developed during the protein diet as well as greater excretions of urinary ammonium and urea N, a greater degree of ketosis, and significantly better N balance (-42.7 vs -80.4 g, p less than 0.05) than during the glucose diet. The subsequent fast was associated with greater negative N balance after protein (-129 vs 83 g), mainly as urea N, but despite similar ketosis there was a greater acidosis after glucose and greater ammonium N excretion and cumulative K losses. These data support the concept of a labile N pool, depleted during a glucose diet and resulting in a decreased loss with the subsequent fast. We suggest a role for K depletion in augmenting fasting ammonium excretion.