Leucine rich foods
Leucine (symbol Leu) is an essential amino acid that is used in the biosynthesis of proteins. It is essential in humans, meaning the body cannot synthesize it: it must be obtained from the diet.
Leucine is a branched-chain amino acid. It is the most important ketogenic amino acid in humans.
A high intake of leucine may cause or exacerbate symptoms of pellagra in people with low niacin status.
A tolerable upper intake level (UL) for leucine in healthy adult men is about 500 mg/kg/day. More about leucine here.
Below is a list of foods having the highest content of leucine in grams (g) per 100 grams of the food. The list also includes the number of kilocalories (kcal) and the leucine content in grams (g) per kcal, and the list is sorted with respect to the latter with the highest values at the top.
As you can see there are many foods having a high leucine content per kcal. So if you are lacking in leucine, you could easily correct the deficiency by eating some of these foods.
The list is made using ECstep’s Personal Nutrition Data Program and includes more than 100 of the leucine richest foods. Commercial brand products are not included in this list.
