As National PKU News, we spent over three decades developing and expanding the most comprehensive patient-focused database for management of the low protein diet and developing a methodology to derive phenylalanine content of a food or product based on the unrounded protein and ingredients. Beginning in 2011, our Amino Acid Analysis program gave us better insights into phe:pro ratios to refine our evaluation process. Many of the foods in the Low Protein Food List for PKU that were ported to HowMuchPhe.org came from the USDA; since 2014, we've added more than 3000 foods and updated many more. In the last several years, we’ve added, on average, one food per day to our database. All of these are available in the flok app.
In the transition to flok, we're committed to providing accurate, updated data on all the amino acids of concern to the conditions we serve. To that end, our dietitian did a literature review to establish baseline estimation data of amino acid content for any foods in our database that did not have values for AA other than phe. These are shown in the table below. These values are not fixed, but will be informed by ongoing efforts including collaboration with GMDI, analysis of the full USDA dataset, our amino acid analysis program and more. Read about this work here.
Amino Acid | mg per gram of protein |
Isoleucine | 27 |
Leucine | 60 |
Lysine | 60 |
Methionine | 25 |
Phenylalanine | 50 |
Valine | 35 |
Sources:
Isoleucine for MSUD diet…..Rani Singh, PhD, Professional correspondence; MSUD Diet Pocket Guide
Leucine for MSUD diet……….Rani Singh, PhD, Professional correspondence; MSUD Diet Pocket Guide; Bernstein L, Nutrition Management of Inherited Metabolic Diseases, First Edition, p176
Lysine for GA1 diet…………….Laurie Bernstein, et al. Nutrition Management of Inherited Metabolic Diseases, 2nd Edition, page 290
Methionine for HCU diet…….Laurie Bernstein, et al. Nutrition Management of Inherited Metabolic Diseases, 2nd Edition, page 215
Phenylalanine for PKU and tyrosinemia diets….Orr M, Watt B, Amino Acid Content of Foods. USDA Home Econ Research Report, 1957.
Valine for MSUD diet……………..Rani Singh, PhD, Professional correspondence; MSUD Diet Pocket Guide