HighLysineDiet

TRADITIONAL DIETS

High lysine foods like fish, dairy products, meat, and potatoes are a major part of traditional diets throughout the world.  Although grains, with their high arginine content, are also staple foods for many traditional cultures, most grains are only about 50% (rice and millet) to 70% lysine (pita bread, quinoa, oatmeal). As a result, grains and high arginine beans (mung and soy) have been prepared by long fermentation, and this process improves the lysine to arginine ratio. Examples include sourdough breads and crackers, African teff injera bread, mung bean sprouts, soybean tempeh, and Indian lentil and rice dosas.

Importantly, traditional grain-based diets also include fish and/or cheese, which are so high in lysine that they would balance out the grains. For example, quinoa is eaten in the Andes but, at the same time, Andean llama cheese is a major traditional food, and dried fish is another important part of the Andean diet. In addition, potatoes are the staple Andean food, and potatoes are higher in lysine.  Their diet also includes meat, which is higher in lysine than in arginine. Eaten in this way, as part of a traditional high lysine diet, the high arginine content of quinoa would present no problem.

The Indian traditional vegetarian diet may seem to be very high in arginine, with no fish or meat to make up the lysine. However, Indians eat a lot of dairy products from water buffalo milk and, most importantly, water buffalo milk has 50% more lysine than cow's milk, which already has almost three times more lysine than arginine. So, served with every meal, Indian dairy products would balance out the high arginine foods. Spices are probably a critical component of the Indian diet. For example, turmeric is well-known as an anti-inflammatory, and a diet high iin arginine is highly inflammatory.

NORTHERN MARITIME DIET

The high lysine diet presented here is an attempt to correct a lysine deficiency that has developed here with the modern American diet, as described on the home page. So, grains necessarily play a smaller part in it than they do in most traditional diets. Happily, there is a traditional diet with many delicious foods that are high in lysine, and that is relatively low in grains, that can serve as a good general guide to an nutritious diet overall. This is the maritime diet of people who live along the Baltic Sea, in the Scandinavian countries, Poland, Northern Germany, and the small Baltic countries.

Fish plays a large part in this diet, of course, and very high lysine fish is the best animal protein to make up for a lysine deficiency. Cheese is very important as well, and here in the U.S. we are able to buy many raw milk cheeses, for optimal lysine and digestion, imported from Europe. These include Gouda and a delicious new cheese called Parrano from Holland, Emmental from Switzerland, Gruyere from France, and Parmigiano Reggiano from Italy. Domestically-produced raw cow's milk and goat's milk cheddar and milder cheeses are also available.

The standard grain in the northern maritime diets is a sourdough rye, very satisfying and digestible, which has a lysine to arginine ratio of 81%. In addition, egg noodles are a traditional food, which is improved by adding egg, an excellent source of methionine. Potatoes are another staple, along with beets, turnips, and turnip greens, all of which are much higher in lysine than arginine. Bacon, pork and ham are the meats of choice, and these are less likely to contain cottonseed poison. In addition, many cuts of bacon and pork are particularly high in lysine. Chicken and beef are eaten as well, but to a lesser extent.

Nutritional yeast is very popular in Great Britain, another northern maritime country. Nutritional yeast is an excellent source not only of lysine, but also the vitamin B6 needed to absorb lysine. Another helpful British food is the traditional arrowroot biscuits, which are cookies made from half arrowroot flour, which is high in lysine, and half wheat flour.

One example of how the foods of the northern maritime countries work together is with haluski, a delightful Polish comfort food of egg noodles, cabbage, and onions, garnished with bacon. Adding eggs improves the lysine of the noodles, but the noodles are still higher in arginine. On the other hand, bacon has the most lysine per pound of any meat, almost as high as fish. So, garnished with just a small amount of bacon, haluski is brought up to about equal parts of lysine and arginine. For even more lysine, the recipe for haluski found here includes a recipe for easy yogurt pasta, which is fermented before cooking it, to use instead of the egg noodles.