PKU diet tracker
Phenylketonuria. Also called PAH deficiency and phenylalanine hydroxylase deficiency.
In PKU the body can’t break down phenylalanine, or phe, an amino acid in almost all protein. The diet keeps phe within a daily amount your clinic sets, and watches tyrosine, which the body would normally make from phe.
Phebe was built by a PKU family for exactly this. Every food shows its phe in milligrams, and Today shows how much of the day’s phe is left.
Hyperphenylalaninemia (HPA) is counted the same way.
Your clinic sets your targets. Phebe does the counting.
What Phebe counts
- phenylalanine (phe)
- tyrosine
- protein
Plus calories, macros, minerals, vitamins and every other amino acid.
How Phebe counts
- Search the food database, scan a barcode, or photograph a nutrition label.
- Weigh a portion on a Bluetooth kitchen scale, and the grams go straight into the entry.
- Set a daily target for each nutrient you count, and see what is left today.
- Log favorites in one tap, and build a recipe once to log the dish.
- Start on your phone with no account. A free account adds the web app at app.phebe.life.
PKU questions
- Does Phebe count phe?
- Yes. Every food and every meal shows phe in milligrams, and Today shows it against your daily target. Tyrosine sits right beside it.
- Does Phebe work if my treatment lets me eat more protein?
- Yes. Set the targets your clinic gives you, and change them when they change.
- Is Phebe free?
- Yes. Phebe is free on iPhone, Android and the web, with no ads and no paywall.
- Where do the amino acid numbers come from?
- From USDA food analyses, for every food that has been measured. For a packaged food whose label lists only protein, Phebe estimates all 18 amino acids from the label and its ingredients, and shows the range.
Other metabolic diets
- MSUDMaple syrup urine diseaseLeucine, isoleucine and valine, each with its own target.
- TyrosinemiaTyrosine and phe together, since the body makes one from the other.
- HomocystinuriaClassical homocystinuria (CBS deficiency)Methionine in milligrams, with protein and cystine beside it.
- Urea cycle disordersProtein gram by gram, with every amino acid on hand.
- Organic acidemiasPropionic, methylmalonic and isovaleric acidemiaIsoleucine, valine, methionine and threonine, or leucine for IVA.
- Glutaric acidemia type 1Lysine and tryptophan in milligrams.
- Any nutrient you countProtein, sodium, iron, fiber, vitamin D: your nutrients, your targets.