Posted by MoparFan91 on March 31, 2007, at 17:49:55
In reply to Re: Glutamic acid.....? » Meri-Tuuli, posted by Larry Hoover on March 30, 2007, at 9:15:35
> > Hey all
> >
> > What exactly is Glutamic acid? How does it affect the brain, and should I be concerned about eating it in foods? I do like abit of vegemite/marmite, which are good sources of B vitamins.
> >
> > Marmite for those of you unacquainted with the stuff:
> >
> > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marmite
> >
> > "As with other yeast extracts, Marmite contains free glutamic acids"
> >
> > I've been reading how its got something to do with strokes/GABA and would like to know if anyone knows anything...
> >
> > Kind regards
> >
> > Miss Meri
>
> Glutamate is a neurotransmitter. Well, at least, a neuromodulator. It's excitatory, when released into a synapse. Taurine directly antagonizes it, and is usually released along with it.
>
> When you eat a food with free glutamate, you can sometimes feel the effects. It excites the tongue's taste receptors, for example, so it is a common food additive in processed foods (as the sodium salt, MSG). Free glutamate is one of the things that gives soy sauce its flavour enhancing effects. Salt is another. Anyway, free glutamate from food can sometimes be felt in the brain as a bit of a buzz. It can cause pulse increases, and flushing, and headache. It depends on your sensitivity, and the dose ingested. "Chinese food syndrome" is glutamate sensitivity. Just take some taurine, and it goes away, BTW.
>
> Following a stroke, excitatory amino acids are responsible for some of the damage that occurs. That's really not relevant to diet in any way. GABA also antagonizes glutamate. It's just one of the yin/yang things in the brain. Balancing acts going on all the time.
>
> Lar
>One night, I had a spicy shrimp Chinese dish (it was labeled as "spicy" based on the pepper symbol shown by it), and not long afterward, I had an OCD attack as I started going on and on and on about an issue I had (I was doing it in a very angry and over-reacting manner). My family even noted my marked obsessiveness. I had't had an OCD attack like that in a while. I ended up using some Taurine because I figured it was the MSG from food. It took a total of 2 grams of it to finally get calm again.
I definitely believe the sudden increase in OCD was due to the MSG from that dish.
Anyone ever had something like this happen before?
poster:MoparFan91
thread:745397
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/alter/20070320/msgs/745817.html