Previous posts discuss two different amino acids that appear to have longevity benefits if reduced (leucine and methionine); after a comment my MR, I was inspired to make a post looking at the contents of these amino acids in common foods I eat as well as other foods for comparison purposes. First, since amino acids are the building blocks of protein, I am only going to focus on high (or somewhat high) protein foods since that is where the majority of my Leu and Met intake will come from- which basically means I am not going to do calculations for tons of fruits and veggies, but I will do some.  Since this task is complicated by the consideration of BOTH amino acids in relation to calories AND protein, I’m going to analyze/discuss these foods by groups.

Calorie restriction brings the challenge of finding the optimal intake of nutrients while being calorie thrifty. This can make for a fun challenge/experiment, as in my case, or a tedious task done as a means to an end. I’m going to order my following analyzations by food group for an initial comparison, then see where I want to take my conclusions.

Meats + Eggs

I plan on focusing mainly on the total percentage of Leu + Met in protein, then I will focus on grams of Leu+Met per gram of food and % of calories. The % Leu +Met in the total calories isn’t as much of a concern for me since this group is being consumed mostly for protein. I consume egg yolks for fat and nutrients, so even though it is on this list, I don’t treat it as a protein food. However, don’t forget about AGEs. I have the chicken, pork, and beef in the table for comparison purposes, but I rarely consume them now because they require serious cooking thus higher AGEs. I often eat my salmon raw or partially raw (I buy farmed frozen to avoid the parasite issue – and I can’t afford fresh anyway). Haven’t done the raw shrimp thing though. I’m not convinced it’s a good idea to eliminate animal meats entirely, but I am limiting them and being rather selective now.I definitely have a completely different paleo diet from the one I started on back in the summer.

Nuts + Seeds

Dairy

I only consume cheese a few time a week, but I wanted to include other dairy products for comparison purposes, and because others may be interested some of these numbers. By weight and % protein, the cheese I eat is the densest sources of Lue+Met in my diet. I’ll go a few days without cheese, but then I’ll eat 2-3oz. Maybe I should control this developing habit before it gets out of control. I started eating cheese a lot more when I cut my sugar intake, but I’m thinking that may have been a lateral move. Glad I worked out these numbers!

Notice the whey, while high, isn’t as high as other dairy sources or egg whites. However, it is the second densest source of Leu + Met in my diet outside of the cheese. I think I am putting whey on the “consume sparingly list” from now on. Hemp makes whey look bad; I need to do more research into hemp. Ha. 

Select Fruits + Vegetables

 This chart is really just for comparison purposes. Fruits and veggies have very little protein, so they have very little impact on my overall protein much less the Leu + Met.

Other Food Comparisons (Beans, Grains, Other Non-Paleo Things)

 Here are other foods for comparison. We’ve considered adding buckwheat. QB tried a bowl not too long ago and it didn’t seem to have a bad effect. We may sprout some and use it to make a granola type snack.

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This Post is still a work in progress, but I wanted to post the numbers I had so far. So keep checking back today for the rest! :-) And leave me a comment if there is a particular food you want to see on the list – I’ll add foods within reason… :-p

Oh, and until this post is done, any one of these tables may be added to. :-) I’m having way to much fun with this. 

EDIT: I think this post will always be “a work in progress” because I will keep adding to this as I analyze different food options. I’ll just post my revisions and dates the occurred below:
* Revised 2-5-2010 — added lentil info for sprouted and cooked