Essential amino acid
Valine
The third BCAA. Endurance and repair.
26 mg/kg/dayAbout 1.82 g a day at 70 kg
What it builds
Valine rounds out the branched-chain trio. It feeds muscle metabolism, tissue repair and nitrogen balance, and like its two partners it is oxidised in muscle rather than in the liver, so long endurance efforts spend it.
It has no signalling role comparable to leucine's, which is why it gets less attention. It is a building block. A missing building block stops a protein just as completely as a glamorous one would.
Where valine actually comes from
Dairy is notably rich, cottage cheese in particular. Soy leads the plant list.
Ranked by a realistic portion rather than per 100 g, because nobody eats 100 g of pumpkin seeds. Figures are digestibility-adjusted, so these are the amounts the app credits you with, not the amounts printed on the packet. Computed live from the 72 foods in the AminoLens recommender pool.
All foods
Every food in the pool, animal and plant.
| Food | Portion | Per portion |
|---|---|---|
| Chicken breast | 120 g breast | 1.76 g |
| Lamb leg | 120 g | 1.73 g |
| Beef (eye of round) | 120 g | 1.68 g |
| Pork tenderloin | 120 g | 1.56 g |
| Chicken thigh | 120 g | 1.37 g |
| Haddock | 120 g fillet | 1.36 g |
Plant-based only
Vegan foods only. The list most people actually need.
| Food | Portion | Per portion |
|---|---|---|
| Soybeans | 120 g cooked | 907 mg |
| Tempeh | 100 g | 837 mg |
| Extra-firm tofu | 150 g | 687 mg |
| Pinto beans | 150 g cooked | 638 mg |
| White beans | 150 g cooked | 626 mg |
| Firm tofu | 150 g (half a block) | 621 mg |
Signs you might be short
Rarely limiting by itself. Like the other branched-chain amino acids, valine tracks total protein closely.
Pairs well with
Dairy and soy. If leucine is handled, valine almost always is too.
See your valine coverage
Photograph a meal and watch where the protein actually goes.
Analyse a meal