Are you looking to optimize your diet for muscle growth and overall health? Incorporating leucine rich foods into your meals could be the game-changer you need.
Leucine, an essential amino acid, plays a crucial role in protein synthesis and muscle repair, making it a must-have nutrient for fitness enthusiasts and anyone aiming to improve their nutritional intake.
In this article, we’ll explore the best leucine rich foods, their benefits, and how you can easily include them in your daily diet to maximize your health and fitness goals.
Which Foods are Highest in Leucine?
The infographic below shows the amount (in grams) of various popular foods required to get 2.5 grams of leucine and the calories they provide.
The table below shows these popular foods ranked based on the calories required to get 2.5 g of leucine. Remember, this is the minimum amount needed to activate muscle protein synthesis. You may need to eat more depending on your goals, current muscle mass, and activity level.
| food | calories | grams | servings |
| egg whites | 129 | 249 | 1 cup |
| turkey breast | 141 | 96 | 3.4 oz |
| cod | 141 | 135 | 0.8 fillet |
| chicken breast (skinless) | 150 | 134 | 0.65 large |
| sirloin steak | 152 | 142 | 3.4 oz |
| Greek yogurt (non-fat) | 153 | 260 | 1 cup |
| shrimp/prawns | 161 | 162 | 27 large |
| pork loin (lean) | 161 | 113 | 4 oz |
| ribeye filet (fat trimmed) | 163 | 88 | 3.1 oz |
| liver | 181 | 89 | 3.4 oz |
| cottage cheese (low-fat) | 194 | 239 | 1 cup |
| ground beef (95% lean) | 205 | 142 | 4.2 oz |
Regardless of your preferred way of eating, you need adequate leucine to activate muscle protein synthesis. The infographics below show popular leucine-rich foods from different food groups required to get a minimum of 2.5 g of leucine.
Leucine-Rich Meat
Animal-based foods, like turkey breast, chicken breast, beef and pork, are rich in leucine. Hence, they will provide the leucine you need with fewer calories.
| food | calories | grams | servings |
| turkey breast | 141 | 249 | 1 cup |
| chicken breast (skinless) | 150 | 134 | 0.65 large |
| roast beef | 150 | 143 | 3.3 oz |
| sirloin steak | 152 | 142 | 3.4 oz |
| pork loin (lean) | 161 | 113 | 4 oz |
| ribeye filet (fat trimmed) | 163 | 88 | 3.1 oz |
| liver | 181 | 89 | 3.4 oz |
| ground beef (95% lean) | 205 | 134 | 4.2 oz |
| flank steak (fat eaten) | 209 | 166 | 3.6 oz |
| filet mignon | 216 | 106 | 3.7 oz |
| chicken thigh (skinless) | 229 | 119 | 1.5 large |
| chicken drumstick (skinless) | 236 | 142 | 4.8 oz |
Leucine-Rich Dairy & Egg
Lower-fat dairy products and eggs are also a great way to get bioavailable leucine.
However, as shown below, you’ll need to consume a lot more calories to get the minimum amount of leucine from full-fat dairy. For example, three large eggs will only give you 1.6 g of leucine. You’d need five whole eggs to get 2.5 g of leucine.
| food | calories | grams | servings |
| egg whites | 129 | 249 | 1 cup |
| Greek yogurt (non-fat) | 153 | 142 | 3.4 oz |
| protein powder (whey) | 177 | 47 | 1.5 scoops |
| cottage cheese (low-fat) | 194 | 239 | 1 cup |
| parmesan cheese | 284 | 72 | 0.5 cup |
| milk (low-fat) | 330 | 784 | 3.1 cups |
| Jarlsberg cheese | 332 | 84 | 4 slices |
| Gruyere cheese | 333 | 80 | 2.8 oz |
| Swiss cheese | 336 | 86 | 4 slices |
| gouda cheese | 347 | 98 | 4.6 slices |
| Edam cheese | 352 | 98 | 3.5 oz |
| whole egg | 366 | 236 | 5.5 medium |
Leucine-Rich Seafood
Seafood is also an excellent source of bioavailable leucine.
Seafood tends to be lean and protein-packed, providing plenty of leucine with minimal calories.
| food | calories | grams | servings |
| cod | 141 | 135 | 0.8 fillet |
| snapper | 153 | 286 | 0.7 fillet |
| tilapia | 157 | 123 | 4.3 oz |
| shrimp/prawns | 161 | 162 | 27 large |
| tuna | 190 | 132 | 4.7 oz |
| octopus | 195 | 119 | 4.2 oz |
| mackerel | 207 | 133 | 4.7 oz |
| squid | 211 | 201 | 7.1 oz |
| salmon (canned) | 225 | 143 | 1.8 cans |
| scallops | 232 | 209 | 7.4 oz |
| mussels | 260 | 151 | 15 large |
| oysters | 313 | 387 | 7 large |
Leucine-Rich Beans, Legumes, Nuts & Seeds
Plant-based foods also contain the amino acid leucine; however, people on a plant-based or vegetarian diet need to consume more energy to get the leucine required to activate muscle protein synthesis.
For example, you will need to consume nearly five times as much energy to get the same amount of leucine from corn vs egg whites. So, choosing your leucine sources wisely on a plant-based diet is important.
| food | calories | grams | servings |
| lupini | 252 | 212 | 1.3 cups |
| natto | 350 | 166 | 1 cup |
| edamame | 400 | 330 | 2.2 cups |
| tempeh | 401 | 209 | 7.4 oz |
| kidney beans | 431 | 340 | 1.5 cups |
| lentils | 445 | 384 | 2 cups |
| oat bran | 448 | 182 | 2 cups |
| black beans | 466 | 353 | 2.1 cups |
| pinto beans | 467 | 327 | 2 cups |
| tofu | 516 | 498 | 18 oz |
| baked beans | 580 | 617 | 2.4 cups |
| corn | 585 | 878 | 5.3 cups |
The Importance of Leucine
Leucine is one of the three branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs) essential for muscle protein synthesis. Unlike other amino acids, the body cannot produce leucine, so getting it from your diet is vital. Understanding the leucine content in foods can help you make informed dietary choices to support your fitness and health objectives.
One reason many people refer to 30 g of protein as the minimum amount per meal is that that’s the amount typically required to get 2.5 g of leucine from most foods. Professor Don Layman’s research emphasises leucine for muscle growth, showing that older adults require at least 2.5 g of leucine to activate muscle protein synthesis, which is vital for muscle building and repair.
With less than this, the protein you eat is used only to maintain your vital organs, which are a higher priority than your muscles. While leucine is required to activate muscle protein synthesis, you need all the essential amino acids to build and repair your body, so it’s not as simple as supplementing with leucine.
How Many Meals Per Day to Get Enough Leucine?
Most people struggle to get all the protein and leucine they need in a single meal. Professor Layman also wisely recommends that you ‘bookend’ your day with a solid dose of protein at your first and last meal to ensure your body has adequate amino acids in your bloodstream throughout the day.
If you’re trying to lose weight, two meals a day with a snack in between tends to be a great approach. If you’re more active, you’ll need to eat more often to get the required energy and protein.
How Much Leucine Do You Need?
The current Recommended Daily Allowance for leucine for adults is 42 mg/kg body weight per day, which equates to 2.9 g of leucine per day for a 70 kg person. However, Professor Don Layman and others argue that this amount is woefully low to prevent sarcopenia.
The chart below shows that older adults require around 2.5 g of leucine or 30 g of protein per meal to activate muscle protein synthesis. Above 3.0 g of leucine per peal, the benefit of additional protein for muscle protein synthesis tapers off. So, while 2.5 g of leucine per meal is the minimum required to activate muscle protein synthesis, you need at least 3.0 g to maximise muscle protein synthesis.
The chart below shows the satiety response to leucine in our food based on 313,836 data from free-living people. It indicates that we eat the most when we consume around 4.7 g of leucine per 2000 calories.
This suggests that our bodies crave a minimum amount of leucine and will eat more to get the minimum amount we require. However, we eat less if we pack in more leucine to our energy budget.
Interestingly, the minimum of 4.7 g of leucine per 2000 calories highlighted by our data analysis is similar to Professor Layman’s minimum of 2.5 g of leucine with two meals.
Target Leucine Intake for Fat Loss
As shown in the chart above, people who get our Optimal Nutrient Intake of 14 g of leucine per 2000 calories consume 24% less energy than those who get 4.7 g of leucine per 2000 calories (i.e. the leucine bliss point).
You can think of the bliss point as the perfect amount of leucine for fat gain (i.e. the leucine bliss point), while 14 g/2000 calories is a stretch target for increased satiety and fat loss (i.e. the Optimal Nutrient Intake).
The table below shows the amount of leucine (in grams) corresponding to the fat gain vs fat loss settings for various calorie intakes.
| calories | fat gain | fat loss |
| 1000 | 2.4 | 7.0 |
| 1250 | 2.9 | 8.8 |
| 1500 | 3.5 | 10.5 |
| 1750 | 4.1 | 12.3 |
| 2000 | 4.7 | 14.0 |
| 2250 | 5.3 | 15.8 |
| 2500 | 5.9 | 17.5 |
If you want to lose fat and gain muscle, you can work to increase your intake of leucine-rich foods using the fat loss targets as a stretch goal.
How to Incorporate Leucine Rich Foods into Your Diet
Knowing the leucine content in foods allows you to strategically plan your meals to ensure you get enough of this essential amino acid. Here are some tips:
- Breakfast: To kickstart your leucine intake, start your day with a high-protein breakfast, such as scrambled eggs or a Greek yogurt smoothie.
- Lunch: To maintain protein and leucine levels, include chicken breast or tofu in your salad or sandwich.
- Dinner: Opt for lean beef or soybean-based stir-fry to ensure you hit your daily leucine targets.
- Snacks: Keep hard-boiled eggs or some Greek yogurt handy for a quick leucine boost between meals.
By understanding and incorporating foods with high leucine content into your diet, you can enhance muscle protein synthesis, support muscle recovery, and more effectively achieve your fitness and health goals.
Do You Need to Worry About Your Leucine Intake?
If you’re following an omnivorous diet and getting plenty of protein, you don’t need to stress about micromanaging your leucine intake.
Our analysis shows that we have the strongest satiety response to the protein in our food, with a bliss point at 12.5% and an Optimal Nutrient Intake of 40% protein. If you’re getting plenty of protein from an omnivorous diet, you’ll also get plenty of all the amino acids, including leucine.
However, plant-based foods tend to contain less leucine, so if you’re following a vegan or vegetarian diet, monitoring and managing your leucine intake will be useful to ensure you have enough to prevent sarcopenia.
How to Determine if You Are Getting Enough Leucine
The simplest way to determine if you’re getting enough leucine is to track your typical diet in Cronometer for a few days to see how your protein intake aligns with the fat loss vs fat gain targets above.
In our Macros Masterclass, we guide our Optimisers to gradually increase their protein % prioritising protein and dialling back energy from fat and/or carbohydrates. In addition to protein, our satiety algorithm also guides Optimisers to prioritise the other nutrients, like calcium, potassium and iron, that align with greater satiety and eating less.
If you’re looking for nutritious, higher-protein recipes, you can download free samples of our maximum nutrient density, fat loss or high protein:energy NutriBooster recipes here.
Thank you Marty for such an erudite and informative article! One query: for leucine qualities in Beans, Legumes, Nuts and Seeds: are all the quantities for beans in the form of dry, uncooked beans? If this is the case, I am wondering about the volume of cooked beans this would entail to obtain minimal daily leucine and the side-efefcts of this much fibre.
They’re in the most popular form logged by our Optimisers – usually cooked, which will include some additional water. The best way to confirm for you is to log the form you’re using in Cronometer.
This article was great! I am an older, once very active female. I am trying to regain some of my former energy and strength through diet and exercise. Not purchasing a so called “miracle in a pill or bottle”.
Thanks. So glad you found it useful. Prioritising protein is a big deal, especially for older females.