The effect of dietary protein on the mineral status of vervet monkeys with special reference to the impact of milk solids on calcium excretion

: This study assessed the impact of Westernised and traditional African diets on mineral metabolism in general and calcium status in particular in vervet monkeys. Twelve adult male vervet monkeys (Cercopithecus aethiops), with an average weight of 5 ± 0.58 kg each, were divided into two groups of six individuals each and fed traditional diets containing largely maize + legumes (17.4%) or Westernised diets containing milk solids (17.2%) as the source of high crude protein for 8 weeks. Blood was taken at 2-week intervals, the animals were weighed, while urine and stool samples were collected over 24 hours. The monkeys on the milk solids diet had diarrhoea for 6 weeks post-dietary intervention, and produced significantly greater quantities (P < 0.02) of stool. These animals also produced significantly more urine (P < 0.02). There was no difference in the degree of calciuresis of the two groups, but the monkeys on maize + legume proteins absorbed significantly more calcium during weeks two and six (P < 0.04). Furthermore, both groups of monkeys showed a significant decline in plasma calcium levels over the experimental period (P < 0.001). The diets had no effect on phosphate levels in the plasma or urine. However, both groups of animals absorbed less phosphate (P < 0.09). There was an increasing loss of urinary magnesium (P = 0.03) in both groups, with the milk solids group showing lower plasma levels of this element (P = 0.09). However, the milk solids group lost less magnesium through the stool (P < 0.03). In addition, the animals on milk solids showed significant natriuresis (P < 0.05), while plasma sodium levels in both groups declined over time (P < 0.03). Both diets induced a state of urinary potassium loss (P = 0.0003) and decrease in plasma potassium (P < 0.0002). Urinary pH and plasma urea were unaffected by the diets, but the monkeys on maize + legumes excreted significantly less (P < 0.001) urinary urea. This study indicates that the milk solids diet compromised mineral homeostasis by interfering with gut and renal functioning, while the traditional African diet did not induce these effects.