Valine
Valine is an essential branched-chain amino acid that muscle can use for energy and that the body can turn into glucose. Adults need about 26 mg per kilogram of body weight a day.
26 mg per kg of body weight a day
1.8 g a day for a 70 kg adult
Upper limit · none set, for lack of studies
- Most per 100 g 2.8g Maitake mushroom
- In protein 39mg/g of protein, the WHO pattern
- Main sources Meat, fish and cheese then nuts, beans and oats
- Type BCAA one of three branched-chain amino acids
Daily requirement: WHO, FAO and UNU 2007. Food figures per 100 g from USDA FoodData Central, only for foods with a Caltide calorie page.
Foods High in Valine
Ranked per 100 g, with what a usual portion gives, limited to 3 foods per category. Foods with a Caltide calorie page link to it.
M
Maitake mushroom
2.8g / 100 g
W
White button mushrooms
2.5g / 100 g
C
Crimini mushroom
2.3g / 100 g
G
Gruyère
2.2g / 100 g
F
Fontina
1.9g / 100 g
B
Bacon
Nutrition facts
1.9g / 100 g
G
Gouda
1.8g / 100 g
S
Soy nuts
1.7 g in 1 cup
1.8g / 100 g
T
Tilsit
0.37 g in 1 slice
1.8g / 100 g
V
Veal chop
1.5 g in 1 chop
1.6g / 100 g
C
Cube steak
0.47 g in 1 piece/slice
1.6g / 100 g
P
Pumpkin seeds
2.2 g in 1 cup
1.6g / 100 g
What Is Valine?
Valine is an essential amino acid: the body cannot make it, so it has to come from protein in food or from supplements. Its side chain branches, which puts it in the branched-chain group (BCAAs) and means muscle, rather than the liver, does most of the work of breaking it down.
How the Body Turns Valine Into Glucose
The three branched-chain amino acids end up in different places. Leucine can only become ketone bodies or fat, isoleucine goes both ways, and valine is broken down to succinyl-CoA, a step in the cell's energy cycle that can be turned into glucose. That is why valine counts as a glucose-forming amino acid.
Valine and Sickle Cell Disease
Valine's best-known appearance in medicine has nothing to do with diet. In sickle cell disease, a single letter of the gene for hemoglobin is changed, so the protein has valine at position 6 of its beta chain instead of glutamic acid. Glutamic acid carries a charge and mixes with water; valine does not. When oxygen is low, those valines make hemoglobin molecules stick together into long fibers that bend red blood cells into the sickle shape.
It shows how much one amino acid can matter in the right spot. It does not mean valine in food is a concern: the change is in the gene, and eating more or less valine neither causes nor treats the disease.
Valine in Everyday Food
In the Caltide food library, a 140 g fillet of cod gives about 1.6 g of valine, a cup of cooked black beans about 0.8 g, half a cup of cottage cheese about 0.85 g and a boiled egg about 0.38 g. Protein from varied food carries valine in step with leucine and isoleucine, so a day with enough protein rarely leaves one of the three behind. The full list of foods is in the food library.
When Valine Is a Problem
Too little from food is rare except in severe protein malnutrition. People born with maple syrup urine disease (MSUD) cannot break down valine, leucine and isoleucine, and follow a lifelong diet low in all three. A few other rare inherited disorders affect the later steps of valine breakdown and are also managed with diet.
How Much Valine You Need
For adults the requirement scales with body weight and is the same for men and women. The table shows it by body weight, with the same amount in cooked black beans for scale.
| Body weight | Valine a day | Same in black beans |
|---|---|---|
| 50kg | 1.3g | 280g |
| 60kg | 1.6g | 340g |
| 70kg | 1.8g | 390g |
| 80kg | 2.1g | 450g |
| 90kg | 2.3g | 510g |
| 100kg | 2.6g | 560g |
Tracking Valine in Caltide
- Worked out for your weightCaltide adds up the valine in the foods you log and the supplements you tick off. With your weight in your profile, the Nutrition tab shows the day against 26 mg per kilogram, the same figure as the table above.
Valine Sources and References
The figures and claims on this page are checked against these sources. Food amounts come from USDA FoodData Central.
Questions About Valine
About 26 mg per kilogram of body weight, according to the WHO, FAO and UNU 2007 report. A 60 kg adult needs about 1.6 g a day and an 80 kg adult about 2.1 g.
In the Caltide food library, maitake mushroom: 2.8 g per 100 g. White button mushrooms (2.5 g) and Crimini mushroom (2.3 g) come next.
It is built into the body's proteins, and muscle can break it down for energy. Its carbon skeleton can be turned into glucose, which leucine's cannot.
Sickle cell disease comes from a single change in hemoglobin: valine sits where glutamic acid should be, at position 6 of the beta chain. It is a genetic change, not something diet causes or fixes.
Yes, with enough protein. Cottage cheese has 0.75 g per 100 g, black beans 0.46 g and oats 0.69 g, so a day of mixed protein foods covers the requirement.
There is no human evidence that valine on its own helps healthy people. It is sold inside BCAA and essential amino acid blends, and protein foods already supply more than the requirement for most people.
Track anywhere. On any device.
Your calorie counter and food diary in your pocket, free and without ads, with Tide one tap away.
- Log by photo, barcode or voice, right where you eat
- Steps and workouts from Apple Health and Health Connect
- The same log on your phone and in your browser, always in sync