PVT TIM HaLL: Phenylalanine, Valine, Threonine, Tryptophan, Isoleucine, Methionine, Histidine, Leucine, Lysine
Expansion
PVT TIM HaLL:
- P - Phenylalanine
- V - Valine
- T - Threonine
- T - Tryptophan
- I - Isoleucine
- M - Methionine
- H - Histidine
- L - Leucine
- L - Lysine
Conditionally essential in illness, prematurity or specific disease: arginine, cysteine, glutamine, tyrosine, glycine and proline. Tyrosine becomes essential in phenylketonuria, since it is normally made from phenylalanine.
Branched chain amino acids are leucine, isoleucine and valine; they are metabolised in muscle rather than liver, which is why they are used in liver failure formulations.
Ketogenic only: leucine and lysine (the two Ls), which cannot form glucose. Glucogenic and ketogenic: phenylalanine, isoleucine, threonine, tryptophan and tyrosine. All the rest are purely glucogenic.
Protein quality depends on the essential amino acid profile: animal proteins are complete, while most single plant proteins are limited in one, typically lysine in cereals and methionine in legumes, which is why combining them is nutritionally complementary.