High glutamate foods

[[Ma...]]

I found this and I'm having a hard time finding something to eat. I am very sensitive to everything.

 

 

 

 

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/NutraSweet)

7) Prepared foods, soups: 70% of prepared foods and many soups have MSG

Meats: Note: All meats are naturally rich in glutamate and aspartate. Lamb (and eggs) are the lowest, while rabbit and turkey are the highest.

 

[[Ma...]]

I forgot to add the rest of my post.

 

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). 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.

[[Pe...]]

Maymay,

 

I also was very careful during acute withdrawal about what I consumed and limited foods that were said to be particularly high in natural glutamate. That said, we have to be very careful in withdrawal not to limit our food intake so severely that we aren't getting the protein and nutrients that we need in order to for our brains and bodies to heal.

 

You've mentioned in a number of posts only eating a couple of different foods, and I'm concerned this could be hard on your system. Certainly worse for you than eating foods with normal levels of glutamic acid.  Almost all foods have some glutamic acid, sometimes referred to as glutamate. (These are similar substances and their names are often used interchangeably, it is also called natural glutamate .)

 

It may help to keep in mind that almost all foods have some glutamic, but that doesn't mean they will have the same negative effect on you that MSG would. MSG is manufactured and, as such, has a different structure that is far far more potent both in terms of raising the glutamate in your body and the effect that it has on your system when ingested. Even many people outside withdrawal have a negative reaction to MSG.

 

Also, all proteins tend to have some glutamic acid because glutamic acid is a building block of proteins and peptides. You need proteins!  I've even read that glutamic acid may play an important role in helping to metabolize some of the waste that is generated when we are metabolizing protein. So, unlike MSG, glutamic acid is not all bad.

 

I would concentrate on eating a good healthy diet that includes a variety of sources of protein. Avoid foods that contain MSG and be aware of all the names that it is hidden under, like anything autolyzed, hydrolyzed, "natural flavorings"...  There are lists online of the names used to hide MSG because of the hazards it poses for many people. 

 

If you want to avoid foods highest in glutamate or aspartate, you can find nutrient details on foods on a fabulous Danish database that lists the breakdown for almost any food you can imagine.  http://www.foodcomp.dk/v7/fcdb_namesearch.asp  But again, most foods will have some glutamic acid and few will have such high glutamic acid that you need to worry about them.

 

I really related to you because I was HIGHLY sensitive during withdrawal and desperately wanted to avoid all foods that might even possibly trigger me. While I don't know if it was necessary, I did choose to avoid vegetables I had been told were unusually high in glutamate and foods high in aspartate. But I then realized I still had to eat a wide wide variety of fruits, vegetables and proteins - despite the face they almost all had glutamic acid in them. Glutamic acid is pervasive enough that it is unavoidable. That's okay, it really is. Getting the nutrients and protein we need is critical and the amount of glutamic acid/glutamate most foods have is not likely to harm you.

 

Remember that when you are eating protein the glutamic acid is part of the building block of that food, whereas MSG is glutamate that has been separated from protein, which is why it behaves differently when ingested.

 

Avoiding the foods with "free glutamate" because they were processed or with straight up MSG is a very good idea. That's what you really want to avoid if you are trying to reduce the type of free glutamate that is most likely to be excitatory and, therefore, problematic when ingested. This includes anything processed, fermented, or otherwise altered prior to you cooking it at home. Stick to fresh foods. And eat well, my friend. It is such an important part of getting well. If you are like me in withdrawal, it's also possible to become obsessive about limiting one thing or another, but in the long run it's more important to have a balanced diet with lots of good and different foods, assuming you can tolerate them in terms of allergies.

 

I hope you find this helpful, and perhaps can rest a little easier about eating a variety of things in order to nurture both your body and your brain.  If you don't not eating a balanced diet will make your body and brain suffer, which is why I was concerned when reading your posts about limiting your foods so severely.

 

When people limit their foods to just a few items for a long period of time, it can have a direct and negative impact on one's neurotransmitters and brain function as evidenced among people with eating disorders. If you read Death Grip: A Climber's Escape from Benzo Madness he talks about how his anorexia led to an imbalance in his brain that caused an anxiety disorder and panic attacks prior to his use of benzos. It turns out our brains needs us to eat well as much as our bodies do.

 

This is another reason to focus on eating a variety of foods, rather than limiting yourself to just a few things. You also certainly don't want to emerge from benzo withdrawal with an eating disorder because you were frightened to eat the very foods you need in order to heal.

 

I hope this helps you, Maymay, to know you aren't alone in worrying about this. And you can, and should, go ahead and eat a variety of foods. Don't be frightened of everything that has glutamic acid/glutamate. I know you are thoughtful and will be wise about what you consume and by avoiding the worst offenders, MSG and aspartame which are both produced artificially, you will be doing your brain and body a huge favor.

 

I hope you can feel better about this and start nourishing your body and brain with wide variety of good fresh foods.

 

Love, Perseus

[[Ma...]]

Thank you Perseus. I know I have to eat. I feel bad either way right now so I'm just gonna go back to my whole foods anyway. That was very informative and I didn't know that they reacted differently. Thank you again.

[[WT...]]

I am not sure foods that have a glutamate in them are very problematic (at least from my own experience.)  I can bust into a beautiful window after having a ton of grains, and cashews -- those make up a lot of my diet on a daily basis.  I find that MSG is the real problem for most people in w/d.  I am not really sure if MSG bothers me or not as I have never made a conclusive connection, but I think it is wise for anyone to avoid MSG. 

 

As for these other foods, it is probably wise to test the waters: see how you feel, then have some cashews and see how you feel after that. Usually you can psych yourself out if you think to hard about it.  One thing to research would be if natural glutamate (not MSG) actually crosses the blood brain barrier.

 

Hell, we've gotta eat ya know!

 

[[Ma...]]

Thank you WTBNA. I'm just gonna eat it anyway. I have to eat like you said.

[[ea...]]

This came up on another thread and we never got an answer.....IS eating food high in glutamate going to make our symptoms worse or are we just being overly cautious, without a real need to??

If I( had the enrgy and brain power Id research this myself but....I bet someone here already knows the answers. Another question is how is excess glutamate excreted? In other words, its possible that any excess we EAT (as opposed to our own naturally made glutamate-) is quickly gotten rid of.

We have some seriously smart members...I hope one of them reads this and can tell us the entire story. I hate to think of Maymay limiting herself perfectly good foods for NO reason!

east