After reading about leucine as the primary amino acid responsible for activating the mTOR signaling pathway, I became all too curious to not only see what foods were high in leucine, but also what the leucine content is in my usual foods.

First, I went to nutritiondata.com and searched for foods high in leucine (per 100g). The first 6 or so pages are comprised of the following (in *approximate* order from higher to less high, also I left out things like dried eggs and milk since those aren’t commonly consumed): soy protein isolate, soy protein concentrate, parmesan cheese, soy flour, soy beans, gruyere cheese, romano cheese, swiss cheese, cooked bacon, veal, beef, lamb, deer, chicken, fontina cheese, edam/gouda cheese, goose, pork, tuna, mozzarella cheese, turkey,…….seeing a trend?

Now it’s time for me to analyze the foods I eat. I have been eating less meat lately, but QB and I have taken to a habit of raw cheese – which I find completely irresistible at times. I may have to give that cheese a second thought now and make sure I save it for rare occasions. I’m not sure what is considered low leucine intake at the moment, so I need to find some recommendations.      

Leucine in Animal Products I Consume:
Scifit Whey                    6429mg/100g
Asiago Raw Cheese        3071mg/100g
Salmon (Atlantic Farmed)    1615mg/100g
Shrimp                          1612mg/100g
Tilapia                          1603mg/100g
Egg, Yolk                       1399mg/100g
Egg, Whole                    1088mg/100g
****rarely consumed now****
Pork Chop (lean, boneless)   1856mg/100g
Chicken Breast               1732mg/100g

Leucine in Select Plant/Yeast Products I Consume:
Brewer’s Yeast, LL           2920mg/100g
Pumpkin Seed Kernels      2079mg/100g
Sunflower Seed Kernels    1659mg/100g
Almonds                           1488mg/100g
Cashews                           1472mg/100g
Avocado                            141mg/100g
Bananas                               68mg/100g
….
Hemp                               unknown

Obviously, the higher the protein per 100g, the higher the leucine content. With the exception of some soy products, animal products are the densest sources of leucine. Red meats tend to be more dense than whiter meats, and seafood tends to be among the least densest of meats from what I can tell. Cheese is considerably more dense than milk or eggs.

Now, I don’t think getting paranoid about leucine and trying to lower it drastically is rational, the main thing I think is to not consume excess which would activate the mTOR signaling pathway. By that I mean those high leucine protein shakes are out of the question now. Remember though, Leucine *is* an essential amino acid. However, I’m not sure a bodybuilding diet (like I was on a year ago) is conducive to my goals. Heh.

I just want to be aware of what I eat so I can tweak as necessary. Below is a chart of my approximate leucine intake since January 3rd. I still haven’t found what is required,  recommended, or what is considered low.  I will continue to look for that info. If any of you know, please leave a comment.

EDIT: Found something on branched chain amino acid minimum requirements HERE. Leucine = 40mg*kg(-1)*day(-1), and RDI recommendations in Here are listed as 25gmg*kg(-1)*day(-1) with an upper limit of 170-1100 mg*kg(-1)*day(-1).

Which puts me at 2240mg/day per the first link or a RDI of 1400mg/day with a high upper limit of 9520mg/day – 55,000mg/day. But I’m still not sure what these number mean in relation to the activation of the mTOR pathway.