Excitotoxins in food (Glutamates, etc.)

Foods to Avoid, Foods to Enjoy

This is one of the newest pages that I have added to the Website. Much of this information has been on the site for years but has been buried deep in the sections that have required tedious scrolling to find them. Thankfully, a Website upgrade has changed all of that. So, here are the lists of foods rich in glutamate/aspartate and those that are lower in these two non-essential, neurostimulating amino acids that we are restricting in the excitotoxin-related conditions.

First of all, Here are a couple of great sites for looking up the nutritional profiles of food, including their glutamate and aspartate content. The newest and most comprehensive that I have found to date is http://www.foodcomp.dk/fcdb_alphlist.asp. Another is http://www.whfoods.com/foodstoc.php . In the latter, simply click on the food you are inquiring about, then scroll down toward the bottom of the page until you see the chart in the Nutritional Profile section. There is a click-on link after that chart (just above the References section) that reads "In Depth Nutritional Profile for (chosen food)" . Click on that link and then just scroll done to the aspartate and glutamate listings. Make note of the serving size at the top of the chart so that you'll be making an accurate comparison. You will quickly see the huge difference between the glutamate/aspartate content of healthy fruits/vegetables versus items such soy, wheat, barley, and the bean family (with the exception of green beans).

For example, recently my wife started eating peanuts and raisins as a late night television snack. Almost immediately, she started having very restless sleep and was complaining about soreness in her muscles and back. A quick trip to the chart showed very high levels of glutamate and asparate in peanuts.

I'm just glad that my canine patients don't eat peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and down it with a big glass of milk like our ADHD kids do. Let's see: wheat bread (with gliadorphins and plenty of glutamate and aspartate), peanut butter (LOTS more glutamate and asparate), jelly ("sugar gel"), and all of it washed down with cow milk (casomorphins and plenty of glutamate. Oh yeah. Don't forget the arachadonic acid for you pain sufferers).

Hmmmm..... It does all make sense, doesn't it?

Foods rich in glutamate and aspartate: 1) Grains: Wheat, barley, and oats are highest. Corn and rice are lower than the previous three but higher than potatoes. 2) Dairy Products: All Cheeses (cheddar, Swiss, Monterey Jack, Mozzarella, PARMESAN) are very high. Casein is very concentrated in cheese and is 20% glutamic acid by composition. 3) Beans: Soy, Pinto, lima, black, navy, and lentils 4) Seeds: Sunflower, pumpkin, etc. 5) Peanuts: Very high, as are cashews, pistachios, and almonds. I have more detailed charts on the site to show exact values for the various nuts. Everything in moderation applies when eating nuts of any kind. So, I do not recommend you reach for nuts when you are really hungry unless you can stop after a few. Nuts are very good for you..in moderation. For example, seven almonds a day gives you what you need . 6) Diet drinks: Primary source of aspartate (aspartame) 7) Prepared foods, soups: 70% of prepared foods and many soups have MSG 8) Meats: Note- All meats are naturally rich in glutamate and aspartate. Lamb (and eggs) are the lowest, while rabbit and turkey are the highest. However, I believe that the amount in a normal serving of meat should not be enough to cause problems. I think that it is all of the other "unnatural" sources when combined with the meats that are causing the problems. One of my newest concerns is the presence of glutamate in the flesh of grain-fed animals, especially chickens, turkeys, and cattle. This is a topic of discussion on the celiac forums and we are now believing that this is a real concern and could explain why some celiacs are not responding to elimination diets. Catfish are also grain fed. The fact is that 60-70% of the American Diet is wheat and dairy (with heavy emphasis on cheese). This combined with the amount of artificial sweeteners being consumed and the addition of SOY has led this country into an epidemic of pain syndromes, including fibromyalgia. Epilepsy is definitely on the rise in pets and the combination of wheat and soy in pet foods is playing a huge role. I am seeing first time epileptic dogs within three weeks of starting such diets. Food low in glutamate and asparate: 1) Fruits 2) Vegetables 3) Potatoes 4) Lamb and eggs are relatively low. 5) Tree nuts (e.g. pecans, walnuts, macadamias) NOTE: These are relatively low when compared to peanuts and cashews. I have more detailed charts on the site to show exact values. Pecans, for example, have half the amount of glutamate that peanuts have but that is still quite a bit. Again, everything in moderation applies when eating nuts of any kind. I do not recommend you reach for nuts when you are really hungry unless you can stop after a few. Nuts are very good for you..in moderation. 7 almonds a day gives you what you need .

Now, for the GOOD news:

On these dietary restrictions, I just want to make one thing very clear. We are restricting the level of glutamate and aspartate in the diet because the neurons of the brain (and their associated supportive cells called glial cells, or astrocytes) are diseased and cannot handle the high levels of this non-essential, neurostimulating amino acid in our typical diet. By eating what has become the Standard American Diet (S.A.D.), we are absolutely bombarding our brain with these “excitotoxins” in the form of grains, dairy, soy, and the rest.

But, it is the fact that the brain is unhealthy that explains why we are seeing the syndromes such as epilepsy, ADHD, insomnia, fibromyalgia, and various neurodegenerative diseases. I need to reemphasize this point for a number of reasons but mainly to establish why a person would develop one of these conditions and another not while eating the same foods. There must be something that distinguishes that person from the other…and there is…there always is. These things are covered elsewhere on the Website, but this might be a good time to check out my newest section, Viruses-Friend or Foe?

Here’s the point: When we are in the throws of one of the excitotoxin-related disorders, we need to reduce our consumption of the foods rich in these amino acids as much as possible. Doing so places a big Band-Aid on the situation and yields notable and often remarkable results in a short period of time. Dogs have stopped seizing in 24 hours. I felt noticeably better in four days. My fibromyalgia was improved in less than a week and gone in a month.

The phenomenal thing is that the long-term recovery also comes from the same diet. The principle reason this disease-producing cycle was set into motion to begin with was the damage effects of the “big 4” (gluten, casein, soy, and corn) on the intestinal villi and their ability to absorb vital nutrients. This combined with the showering of the body with exctotoxins, allergens, lectins, estrogens, and other substances from these same foods sets us up for the disease states that follow. Once the immune system starts to suffer from the same process, we are pretty much done.

The good news (yes, there is some good news) is that once we are off the “big 4” long enough, the process does reverse. Imagine the benefits of your body properly absorbing the calcium, iron, iodine, B complex, vitamin C, and trace minerals it so desperately needs. Imagine a brain, liver, and entire body that is getting what it needs to repair and thrive and in an environment free of the top four human, dog, and cat food allergens (cow milk, wheat, soy, and corn), which are also providing major quantities of allergens, damaging lectins, estrogens, depressants (casomorphins/gliadomorphins), and excitotoxins. Do you think you might just start feeling better??? (Smile)

But there’s more good news (and this is the main reason for placing this information here on this page). Once you have recovered…your brain, liver, and immune system are back to normal or close to it…then you can go back to eating some of those sources of glutamate and aspartate that are not one of the “big 4”. Again, the reason for the more severe restriction of these other foods was to place a Band-Aid on the situation- to provide relief for your ailing brain and liver (which regulates the glutamate in the bloodstream) by reducing the load of these potentially harmful neuroactive amino acids on these unhealthy organs. Once the nervous system and liver have recovered, most of us can go back to eating the nuts, seeds, beans, and meats that we were limiting in the beginning.

Just remember- "Everything in moderation". Some individuals will recover to such a degree that they could go back to eating all of the peanuts, lima beans, and steak they want without experiencing a seizure, pain episode, or bad night's sleep. BUT, most will fall into a category somewhere in between this level of recovery and where they were to start with, depending on several secondary factors, such how much we cheat with the "big 4", our age, local pollution, and more. And after all, loading up on peanuts is not good for anyone. (All you need is about 6 peanuts or almonds to get all that you need from them for the day. BUT, who does that???) Similarly, we do not need the cowboy-sized serving of steak they throw at us at your favorite restaurant. (I have to keep telling myself that.)

So, please do not think that I am saying you cannot eat any of the foods on the glutamate-rich list ever again. The formal name of the diet is the glutamate-aspartate restricted diet. That is a relative term, with some individuals requiring a more severe restriction than others. But when it comes to the "big 4", I use the term elimination. If you are gluten, casein, soy, and/or corn intolerant, elimination is the key to your optimal recovery. These are the guys that set us up for all of this mess. That is why I now "lovingly" call them the four horsemen of the apocalypse. The effects they can have on man and animals is potentially catastrophic and hopefully the reader now has a much better idea of why I have dedicated my life to this mission.

I hope this helps.

Dogtor J.

Symptoms of Gluten Intolerance

Is Subclinical Gluten Intolerance/Celiac Disease Sabotaging Your Health? The Celiac Disease/Autoimmune/Thyroid Connection

Gluten intolerance -- also known as celiac disease, celiac sprue, and sprue -- is a genetic autoimmune condition that makes it difficult for the body to properly absorb nutrients from foods. It affects an estimated 1.5 million Americans. What happens in gluten intolerance is: The body lacks a particular digestive enzyme, intestinal glutaminase, that can digest gluten products Gliadin antibodies are produced as the body's reaction to the presence of the gluten the villi in the bowels become flattened, making them less able to sweep along waste products and filter out toxins The bowel, in a state of irritation, becomes more permeable, allowing larger proteins to pass through, which further aggravates the "allergic" response The body responds by producing more histamine, seratonin, kinins, prostaglandins, and interleukins -- which can trigger or aggravate autoimmune and inflammatory conditions The incidence of full-scale gluten intolerance has been found to be substantially higher in people with autoimmune thyroid disease. A study reported on in the February 2000 issue of Digestive Diseases and Sciences found that undiagnosed celiac disease may be part of the process that triggers an underlying autoimmune disease. In their findings they wrote: ""We believe that undiagnosed celiac disease can cause other disorders by switching on some as yet unknown immunological mechanism. Untreated celiac patients produce organ-specific autoantibodies." Of perhaps greatest importance to thyroid patients, those researchers found that the various antibodies that indicate celiac disease - organ-specific autoantibodies (i.e., thyroid antibodies) -- disappear after 3 to 6 months of a gluten-free diet. The researchers suggested that patients with autoimmune thyroiditis "may benefit from a screening for celiac disease so as to eliminate symptoms and limit the risk of developing other autoimmune disorders." Celiac antibodies blood testing can help diagnose the full-scale version of the condition, but formal diagnosis requires biopsy. Because the full-scale diagnosis of the condition is not that common, many doctors and patients do not realize that a milder version of the condition -- subclinical gluten intolerance/celiac disease -- may be the cause of chronic symptoms in millions more thyroid patients. Diagnosing the subclinical, reversible version requires newer "intestinal permeability" or "mucosal barrier" tests, along with clinical observation of symptoms made by an experienced practitioner. What are the symptoms of subclinical gluten intolerance and celiac disease? Recurring abdominal pain and bloating Gas, intestinal difficulties Aggravated allergies Difficulty losing weight Muscle aching Joint stiffness and pain, especially in hands, with swelling Fatigue Burning sensations in the arms and legs Numbness and tingling in hands, arms and legs Brain fog, memory problems, disorganized thinking Sores inside the mouth Painful skin rash on elbows, knees, and buttocks Hives Once diagnosed, the next step is a gluten-free diet. The Gluten Free Diet (Featuring information from the federal government's NIDKK site) The only treatment for celiac disease is to follow a gluten-free diet--that is, to avoid all foods that contain gluten. For most people, following this diet will stop symptoms, heal existing intestinal damage, and prevent further damage. Improvements begin within days of starting the diet, and the small intestine is usually completely healed--meaning the villi are intact and working--in 3 to 6 months. (It may take up to 2 years for older adults.) The gluten-free diet is a lifetime requirement. Eating any gluten, no matter how small an amount, can damage the intestine. This is true for anyone with the disease, including people who do not have noticeable symptoms. Depending on a person's age at diagnosis, some problems, such as delayed growth and tooth discoloration, may not improve. A small percentage of people with celiac disease do not improve on the gluten-free diet. These people often have severely damaged intestines that cannot heal even after they eliminate gluten from their diets. Because their intestines are not absorbing enough nutrients, they may need to receive intravenous nutrition supplements. Drug treatments are being evaluated for unresponsive celiac disease. These patients may need to be evaluated for complications of the disease. If a person responds to the gluten-free diet, the physician will know for certain that the diagnosis of celiac disease is correct. A gluten-free diet means avoiding all foods that contain wheat (including spelt, triticale, and kamut), rye, barley, and possibly oats--in other words, most grain, pasta, cereal, and many processed foods. Despite these restrictions, people with celiac disease can eat a well-balanced diet with a variety of foods, including bread and pasta. For example, instead of wheat flour, people can use potato, rice, soy, or bean flour. Or, they can buy gluten-free bread, pasta, and other products from special food companies. Whether people with celiac disease should avoid oats is controversial because some people have been able to eat oats without having a reaction. Scientists are doing studies to find out whether people with celiac disease can tolerate oats. Until the studies are complete, people with celiac disease should follow their physician or dietitian's advice about eating oats. Plain meat, fish, rice, fruits, and vegetables do not contain gluten, so people with celiac disease can eat as much of these foods as they like. Examples of foods that are safe to eat and those that are not are provided below. The gluten-free diet is complicated. It requires a completely new approach to eating that affects a person's entire life. People with celiac disease have to be extremely careful about what they buy for lunch at school or work, eat at cocktail parties, or grab from the refrigerator for a midnight snack. Eating out can be a challenge as the person with celiac disease learns to scrutinize the menu for foods with gluten and question the waiter or chef about possible hidden sources of gluten. However, with practice, screening for gluten becomes second nature and people learn to recognize which foods are safe and which are off limits. A dietitian, a health care professional who specializes in food and nutrition, can help people learn about their new diet. Also, support groups are particularly helpful for newly diagnosed people and their families as they learn to adjust to a new way of life.

Mercury and ADD/Autism/Allergies/Immune System

Get your coffee before sitting don to read this one. It's long, but it's full of information! ~L Immune Reactive Conditions: The mercury connection to autism, schizophrenia, ADD, eczema, lupus, asthma, and allergies (snipped from larger study) Bernard Windham- Chemical Engineer The incidence of neurotoxic, allergic, and immune reactive conditions such as autism, scizophrenia, ADD, dyslexia, allergies, asthma, eczema, lupus, psoriasis, childhood diabetes, etc. have been increasing rapidly in recent years(1,2,3,5,23). A recent report by the National Research Council found that 50% of all pregnancies in the U.S. are now resulting in prenatal or postnatal mortality, significant birth defects, or otherwise chronically unhealthy babies(3). Exposure to toxic chemcials or environmental factors appear to be a factor in as much as 28 percent of the 4 million children born each year(3), with 1 in 6 having one of the neurological conditions previously listed.. According to the U.S. FDA, at least 26 million have allergies and at least 17 million have asthma. The largest increase has been in infants (1,2,,5-7,23), with an increase in autism cases to over 500,000 (1,2,23,22), an over 500% increase to a level of almost 1 per 250 infants in the last decade(2), making it the 3rd most common childhood condition, along with similar increases in ADD, and over 10 % of infants- approximately 15 million in the U.S. with such conditions or systemic eczema(1). Studies researching the reason for these rapid increases in infant reactive conditions seem to implicate earlier and higher usage of vaccines containing mercury(thimerosal) as a likely connection(2,2b,23,30,40). A recent study comparing pre- and post-vaccination mercury levels, found a significant increase in both preterm and term infants after vaccination(42), with post-vaccination mercury levels approximately 3 times higher in the preterm infants as compared with term infants. The study found mercury blood levels up to 23.6 ug/L and received an average dose of 16.7 ug/kg. Just this one vaccination gave an exposure to mercury that is many times the U.S. ATSDR adult minimum risk level(MRL) for mercury of .3/ug/kg body weight per day(41). It has been estimated that if all of the vaccines recommended by the American Assoc. of Pediatrics are given and contain thimerosal, then by age 6 months an infant would have received 187 micrograms of ethyl mercury which is more than the EPA/ATSDR health standard for organic mercury(33,41) and by age 3 the typical child has received over 235 micrograms of mercury thimerosal from vaccinations which is considerably more than Federal mercury safety guidelines (41), in addition to significant levels from other sources for many(23). Infants during this period have undeveloped blood brain barriers and much of the mercury goes to the brain, resulting in significant adverse neurological effects in those that are most susceptible(43,3). Because of the evidence the FDA has completed a study and written a letter to vaccine manufacturers asking that mercury be removed from vaccines. The updated letter stated, "The Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research (CBER) has completed its evaluation of the use of thimerosal in vaccines...Our review concluded that reducing or eliminating thimerosal from vaccines is merited(44). The letter pointed to a joint statement by the American Academy of Pediatrics and the United States Public Health Service in 1999, which "called for the removal of thimerosal from vaccines as soon as possible." Many thousands of parents have reported that their child got such conditions after vaccination, and tests have confirmed high levels of mercury in Many of those tested, along with other toxic exposures. An additional source of thimerosal to the fetus of women who are RH negative is the 30 micrograms in the RhoGAM shot they receive. Underweight infants that get the same dose of thimerosal as other infants have also been found to be at special risk. Many of those diagnosed with high mercury levels have also been found to have significant improvement after mercury detoxification(23,30,40,11,35). Thimerosal had been previously removed from similar preservative uses in eye drops and eye medications after evidence of a connection to chronic degenerative eye conditions. After over 15,000 law suits were filed in France over adverse effects of the Hepatitis B vaccine, the French Minister of Health ended the mandatory hepatitis B vaccination program for all school children. Adverse effects included neurological disorders and autoimmune disorders such as multiple sclerosis and lupus. Some hospitals in the U.S. also quit recommending certain vaccinations. Although vaccinations appear to be the largest source of mercury in infants, mercury has been found to be transmitted from the mother to the fetus through the placenta and accumulate in the fetus to higher levels than in the mother’s blood(22). Breast milk of women who have amalgam fillings or eat a lot of fish has also been found to be a significant source of mercury in infants and young children(22,45). A direct mechanism involving mercury’s inhibition of cellular enzymatic processes by binding with the hydroxyl radical(SH) in amino acids appears to be a major part of the connection to these allergic/immune reactive conditions (15-23,36,46). For example mercury has been found to strongly inhibit the activity of xanthine oxidase and dipeptyl peptidase (DPP IV) which are required in the digestion of the milk protein casein(15,16,17,19,20,22), and the same protein that is cluster differentiation antigen 26 (CD26) which helps T lymphocyte activation. CD26 or DPPIV is a cell surfact glycoprotein that is very susceptible to inactivation by mercury binding to its cysteinyl domain. Mercury and other toxic metals also inhibit binding of opioid receptor agonists to opioid receptors, while magnesium stimulates binding to opioid receptors (15). Studies involving a large sample of patients with autism, scizophrenia, or mania found that over 90 % of those tested had high levels of the milk protein beta-casomorphin-7 in their blood and urine and defective enzymatic processes for digesting milk protein(24,25,27), and similarly for the corresponding enzyme needed to digest wheat gluten(24,26).The studies found high levels of Ig A antigen specific antibodies for casein, lactalbumin and beta-lactoglovulin and IgG and IgM for casein. Beta-casomorphine-7 is a morphine like compound that results in neural dysfunction (24,25), as well as being a direct histamine releaser in humans and inducing skin reactions (14,21,25c). Similarly many also had a corresponding form of gluten protein (26). Elimination of milk and wheat products and sulfur foods from the diet has been found to improve the condition. A double blind study using a potent opiate antagonist, naltrexone(NAL), produced significant reduction in autistic symptomology among the 56% most responsive to opioid effects(28). The behavioral improvements was accompanied by alterations in the distribution of the major lymphocyte subsets, with a significant increase in the T-helper- inducers and a significant reduction of the T-cytotoxic-suppressors and a normalization of the CD4/CD8 ratio. Studies have found mercury causes increased levels of the CD8 T-cytotoxic-suppressors(29). As noted previously, such populations of patients have also been found to have high levels of mercury and to recover after mercury detox(23,11,22,30,40). As mercury levels are reduced the protein binding is reduced and improvement in the enzymatic process occurs(22,11). Additional cellular level enzymatic effects of mercury’s binding with proteins include blockage of sulfur oxidation processes and neurotransmitter amino acids which have been found to be significant factors in many autistics(18,36,46,17), plus enzymatic processes involving vitamins B6 and B12, with effects on the cytochrome-C energy processes as well. Epson salts(magnesium sulfate)baths, supplementation with the p5p form of Vit B6 and vit B12 shots are methods of dealing with these enzymatic blockages that have been found effective by those treating such conditions. Mercury has also been found to have adverse effects on cellular mineral levels of calcium, magnesium, zinc, and lithium(39,22,46). Supplementing with these minerals has also been found to be effective in the majority of cases(39) Another of the results of these toxic exposures and enzymatic blockages is the effect on the liver and disfunction of the liver detoxification processes which autistic children have been found to have (30,36,22). All of the autistic cases tested were found to have high toxic exposures/effects and liver detoxification profiles outside of normal(30). Along with these blockages of cellular enzymatic processes, mercury has been found to cause additional neurological and immune system effects in many through immune/autoimmune reactions(11,12,35). Mercury(22) as well as thimerosal (31,32) also have direct neurotoxic effects on brain nucleotid binding proteins through their effect on Ca2+ATPase and Na+/K+ATPase activity. But the effects on the neurological and immune systems of exposure to various toxic substances such as toxic metals and environmental pollutants has also been found to have additive or synergistic effects and to be a factor in increasing eczema, allergies, asthma, delayed food allergies, and sensitivity to other lesser allergens(14-22,35). Most of the children tested for toxic exposures have found high or reactive levels of other toxic metals, and organochlorine compounds (30,40,11,12,35,4). Other than the organochlorines or toxic metals which are discussed later, three common pollutants that have been documented to have effects on such conditions are traffic and industrial pollutants nitrogen oxide, power plant residual oil fly ash, and organochlorine pollutants(4). Another effect of mercury and toxic metals is a reduction in B- lymphocytes (37,38,22). One of these studies(37) dealing with autistic patients and further work with such patients has found this causes a tendency to be more seriously affected by viruses and to develop intestinal disorders including leaky gut, lymphoid modular hyperplasia, and a high incidence of parasites. Allergic contact eczema is the most frequent occupational disease(1,22), and the most common cause of contact eczema is exposure to toxic metals(1, 6- 12,22). The metals most commonly causing allergic immune reactivity are nickel, mercury, chromium, cobalt, and palladium(1,6-14,22). The highest level of sensitization is to Infants, who are most reactive to thimerosal, a form of mercury that has been used as a preservative in vaccines and eye drops(6,7). There is strong suggestive and clinical evidence for a connection between toxic metals and autism(2b,15-40).