Run the test backwards and the triglyceride signal survives
Higher circulating branched-chain amino acids appeared to raise triglycerides and lower HDL, the cholesterol carrier people are told to keep high, independently of weight and diabetes.
What the study found
Blood fats are the one place BCAAs might still be a cause
Run the test in reverse and one signal survives. Higher circulating branched-chain amino acids appeared to raise triglycerides and lower HDL, the cholesterol carrier people are told to keep high, independently of weight and diabetes. The authors want tissue-level work first.
The caveat · Direction found, size never given
No point estimates or confidence intervals appear for either direction, so the size of this is unknown. Genetic proxies for circulating amounts are not a test of taking a supplement. Exposure and outcome samples overlap, which can pull the estimate towards the plain observed association.
What we don't know
Tested in one direction, high blood branched-chain amino acids look like a result of poor metabolic health; tested in reverse, like a cause of worse blood fats. No effect size was given for either, so how much each matters is open.