Serum amino acid (AA) levels were determined for 18 cholecystectomy patients who had preserved and immediately utilized G-I function for absorption of 3,000 kcal/day elemental diet. Ten were given 132 gm AA/day; eight were given only 66 gm AA/day. Historical controls were 27 comparable patients who had received conventional hypocaloric intravenous (IV) regimens. Unfed patients' branched chain AAs (BCAAs) + TYR were depressed initially, then rebounded by day 3 or 4. Their glucogenic AAs were still depressed after 72 hours. Complete restoration of the basal pattern required five to ten days. Fully nourished patients maintained basal levels of all AAs on day 1. Every AA rose above basal, some with statistical significance as early as day 2. Moderately fed patients had BCAA depression, but for only 24 hours. LEU, ILE, VAL, TYR, MET, ASP, LYS, and ARG had already returned to basal levels on day 2, while the remaining AAs were much less depressed than in the unfed controls. All fed patients were discharged uneventfully 24-48 hours postcholecystectomy. The positive protein balance and elevated AA levels correlate with enhanced wound healing, host sepsis resistance, and shortened hospitalization.