Remodeling of Lipid Metabolism by Dietary Restriction of Essential Amino Acids

All forms of life share the ability to sense envi-ronmental change and respond in real time byengaging adaptive homeostatic programs. Inhigher organisms, the composition of consumed meals presents a complex, constantly changing nutritional environment, and we are only beginning to understand the sensing and signaling systems that detect and coordinate the transcriptional, physiological, and behavioral respon-ses to meal components. Although it has long been axi-omatic that dietary composition plays a deterministic role in overall health, the growing prevalence of obesity and metabolic syndrome has prompted a refocus of attention on the significance of dietary macronutrients to health outcomes. Findings from earlier investigations of potential roles for dietary carbohydrates and fat in disease pro-gression or remediation (1–4) are now being reframed by experimental evidence linking dilution of dietary protein to compensatory increases in ingestive behavior (5,6). Recent