N
The Daily Insight

Which foods contain the amino acid methionine?

Author

Sarah Martinez

Updated on April 04, 2026

You can fulfill your needs through your diet, as methionine is found in varying amounts in most dietary protein — especially animal protein. It’s abundant in egg whites, seafood, meat, and certain nuts and seeds.

Do oats have methionine?

Methionine Methionine can be found in plant-based food items such as oats, sunflower seeds, hemp seeds, along with quinoa and buckwheat flour.

Are chickpeas high in methionine?

Chickpeas as a food source contain low amounts of the essential amino acid methionine which makes its protein incomplete. The amino acids in chickpeas are also affected by cooking. Our objective is to determine the amount of methionine in chickpeas that the body can use.

Who should not take methionine?

People with homocystinuria type I, an inherited disease, shouldn’t use methionine supplements. If you take methionine supplements without enough folic acid, vitamin B-6, and vitamin B-12, it can increase the conversion of methionine to homocysteine. This may increase your risk for heart disease.

What nuts have the most amino acids?

Peanuts are a legume but considered a nut from a nutritional and culinary standpoint. Like most legumes, they provide a lot of plant-based protein. In fact, peanuts have the highest protein content out of all commonly consumed nuts.

What amino acid is bread missing?

The amino acid composition of wheat is quite unbalanced, lacking the essential amino acids like lysine, threonine, and methionine.

What foods contain methionine?

Skipjack tuna, chum salmon, bluefin tuna, yellowfin tuna, halibut and mackerel all contain plenty of methionine, offering 690 to 2,200 milligrams of the amino acid in every 100-gram serving. Other methionine-rich animal foods include eggs, milk, chicken, turkey and pork.

What is methionine good for?

Methionine is an amino acid. Amino acids are the building blocks that our bodies use to make proteins. Methionine is found in meat, fish, and dairy products, and it plays an important role in many cell functions. Methionine is used to prevent liver damage in acetaminophen ( Tylenol) poisoning.

How much methionine daily?

The recommended daily intake for methionine is 10.4mg per kilogram of body weight, or 4.5mg per pound. A person weighting 70kg (~154 pounds) should consume around 728mg of methionine per day. Below is a list of the top 10 foods highest in methionine with the % RDI calculated for someone weighting 70kg (154lbs).