Following a low-phenylalanine diet can prevent intellectual disability and other complications in people with phenylketonuria. The diet focuses on low protein foods and avoids high protein foods.

Several low protein versions of common foods are available for people with PKU. Some foods are also medically formulated without phenylalanine, allowing people with PKU to safely consume them.

Individuals with PKU are placed on a special low protein diet to limit their intake of phenylalanine, which is generally maintained for life (5). For healthy adults, phenylalanine is considered ...

Foods that contain phenylalanine include soy, chicken, milk, sesame seeds, and lima beans. Tyrosine may improve mood, cognition, or concentration. A deficiency in this amino acid may cause low ...

PKU was first described in 1934 by the Norwegian physician Asbjörn Fölling, but it was not until the mid-1950s that a patient with PAH deficiency was treated with a low phenylalanine (PHE) diet.

Since phenylalanine converts to L-tyrosine, this could lead to low levels. People with PKU may be advised to consume a diet that's low in phenylalanine, but this meal plan can be very restrictive.

This can affect behavior, mood, and thinking. The treatment for PKU is to follow a diet low in phenylalanine. Supplementing ...

The ability to identify patients with phenylketonuria (PKU) at birth—and to treat them with low-phenylalanine diets—has resulted in a “much better outcome for individuals with PKU than before,” says ...