You are here

Top 10 Food Containing Arginine

Nutrispeak's picture

soy and its productsArginine is a non-essential amino acid (building blocks of proteins), which means that even if there is an inadequate intake of food containing Arginine, as it can be synthesized in our body from a different source.  Arginine’s role in our body is indispensible, as it is required for protein synthesis, wound healing, removal of excess ammonia, stimulating immune function, cell growth,  and promoting secretion of several hormones (including glucagon, insulin, and growth hormone).


The biosynthetic pathway does not produce enough arginine for all our body needs, thus dietary intake is essential too. Optimal levels of intake of this amino acid are unknown, and it’s need varies from person to person. Higher levels of arginine (2 -30g/day) are required during times of unusual stress like burns, wounds, infections, surgery, and cardiovascular diseases. Given below are the best sources of arginine, many of which are already a part of you diet.


Foods Sources of Arginine

Sometimes, individuals with poor nutritional status and certain physical conditions are advised to increase their intake of arginine rich foods. The non vegetarian foods include dairy products (like cheese, cottage cheese, milk, yoghurt, whey proteins, etc.), beef, pork, gelatin, poultry, pheasant, quail, and seafood. Vegetarian sources of arginine are wheat germ and flour, chocolate, oatmeal, nuts, peanuts, seeds, chick peas, seaweed, spirulina, and soybean.


Here is a list of Top 10 Food Containing Arginine.


  1. Red meat: These are high in proteins, especially arginine, but their intake should be limited in order to avoid undue stress on the liver and kidneys.
  2. Nuts: Nuts contain 1 -3 g of arginine per 100g serving. The best sources in the decreasing order are peanuts, almonds, walnuts, hazelnuts, cashews, brazil nuts, pistachios, and pecans.
  3. Spinach: vegetables are not very good sources of arginine, the only exception is spinach which in the frozen form contains 3.3 g per 100g.
  4. Lentils: Lentils like chick peas have good arginine content; the average is around 2.1 g of arginine per 100g.
  5. Fish: Fish like tuna (1.7 g per 100 g) and salmon (1.2 g per 100 g) are good sources of arginine. Halibut is a good source too.
  6. Seafood: Crustaceans like crabs, lobsters and shrimps are arginine rich, a 200 calorie serving of such foods gives around 3.6 to 3.8 g of arginine, which works out to be 1g per 100g.
  7. Whole grains: Whole grains and their products like flour, bread, pasta, etc are arginine rich, containing 650mg per 100g serving.
  8. Soy: Soy-based proteins are one of the richest food sources of arginine. Soy protein isolate contain 4g of arginine, while 100g tofu contain 600mg.
  9. Eggs: Eggs, particularly the yolk contains arginine. In it’s raw form egg yolk contains 1.10 g of arginine per 100 g, while a raw egg white contains 0.65 g per 100 g.
  10. Seeds: Seeds like pumpkin, sesame, and sunflower and their flour are excellent sources of arginine.


One must try to include the above given sources in their daily diet to experience the health benefits of Arginine.


Image Credits:


Rate This

Your rating: None
Average: 4.1 (3 votes)


Top 10 Food Containing Arginine