What is MET??

I noticed that I use the term "MET value" a lot in my blog but don't really explain what that is. MET is short for methionine, which is an amino acid building block for protein. I know I talk about Kaden not processing protein but its really methionine he can't process. I count Kaden's daily methionine intake since its more accurate then just counting grams of protein. Each gram of protein is roughly 15-20 miligrams of MET and that is how I decide if Kaden can eat something by looking at the protein value on the label. Calculating MET is much more difficult since you can't find amino acid values on most food labels but I do have some resources from our WONDERFUL dietican that gives the MET value for a set portion of food.

This is why I calculate MET over protein....Food labels can trick you sometimes!!
EXAMPLES....

*One yoplait "gogurt" has 2 gms of protein, so that would be 40 MET points based on my guidelines from the dietician but it has over 200MET! K's MET points can't be over 90 each day. This food is definitely not allowed but from looking at the label I would think he could have one every once in a while if he is low on his protein allowance.

*One gerber cereal bar has 1gm of protein so I would calculate 20 points for the bar. But in my resourse book its only 12 points! That give Kaden 8 extra points for the day which is an extra snack. (8 points equal a cup of fruit or 4 wheat thins for example) If I was calculating protein, I wouldn't have "extra" points left over.

Thanks for reading my food science post! Hope your not sleeping by now, but this is my life.

Bridgett