Bone broth & free glutamates?..

I've recently introduced bone broth as part of my paleo diet (I've noticed some people include this, some don't, but looking at the nutritional value it seems well worth including!), however it gives me really bad brain fog for a few hours after having some.

Looking into this it seems it's potentially down to excessive free glutamates, from the amino acid glutamine in the bone broth.

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One of glutamine’s many roles in the body is to convert to two neurotransmitters essential for good mental health – glutamate and GABA. These play balancing but opposite effects on brain chemistry.

In particular, glutamate is stimulating and GABA is calming. In a healthy person, the two are kept in a delicate but balanced ratio.

Problems can develop when there’s excessive glutamate in the brain

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When Bone Broth Is Bad For You - Fearless Eating

Some suggestions I've read are either start with meat broth, then slowly introduce bone broth, or increase GABA to balance out the increase in glutamate.

Aren't PFS guys supposed to have impaired GABA synthesis or something?

Anyone else experienced this issue with bone broth, and did you just 'push through' or slowly build up a tolerance to it or what?!

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Originally Posted by TanedOut

I've recently introduced bone broth as part of my paleo diet (I've noticed some people include this, some don't, but looking at the nutritional value it seems well worth including!), however it gives me really bad brain fog for a few hours after having some.

Looking into this it seems it's potentially down to excessive free glutamates, from the amino acid glutamine in the bone broth.



When Bone Broth Is Bad For You - Fearless Eating

Some suggestions I've read are either start with meat broth, then slowly introduce bone broth, or increase GABA to balance out the increase in glutamate.

Aren't PFS guys supposed to have impaired GABA synthesis or something?

Anyone else experienced this issue with bone broth, and did you just 'push through' or slowly build up a tolerance to it or what?!

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You can do that, or you can supplement with glycine and gelatine. Alot more convenient then going through the trouble to make bone broth.

Thanks CD, I'll give those a go in the meantime.

I've been reading that NAC apparently reduces free (unbound) glutamates, so I'll give this a go. I must either be very sensitive to this, or leaky gut means it's getting into the brain too easily;

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Even if glutamate does not cross the healthy BBB, there are many factors which may contribute to a leaky BBB, potentially allowing too much glutamate to enter the brain. In his podcast on the “gut-brain axis,” Chris explained that having a leaky gut (which itself can be due to a number of underlying causes, including food intolerances, dysbiosis, or small intestinal bacterial overgrowth) can contribute to a state of chronic low grade inflammation. This low grade inflammation then also makes the BBB leaky, which essentially loosens the control over what enters the brain. More recent research has identified a specific molecule that damages the cells to create microscopic gaps allowing material through, bypassing the normal regulatory pathways, and explaining how general inflammation within the body can cause a leaky BBB.

Thus, it may be that in the setting of inflammation, we have a leaky BBB, which allows more glutamate to enter the brain than normal. Moreover, since some people have a genetic predisposition to glutamate sensitivity, it may be that a combination of excess glutamate in the diet, combined with chronic low grade inflammation, and an associated leaky BBB, contribute to symptoms. It seems less clear if people without an underlying genetic predisposition to glutamate sensitivity experience any adverse effects from excess dietary glutamate. Further research is clearly needed to elucidate the contribution of dietary glutamate to symptoms.

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Beyond MSG: Could Hidden Sources of Glutamate Be Harming Your Health?

I always get brain fog from eating a load of Chinese food (MSG), so that also ties in.

Might see if I cope better after taking some NAC first;

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NAC may be having beneficial effects on patients by reducing glutamate, a major excitatory neurotransmitter in the brain that can lead to overstimulation (14-16, 26).
Therefore, if you take NAC, you're giving your body an efficient way to soak up excess glutamate, and reducing oxidative stress and inflammation over time by giving it glutathione. As a result, this helps alleviate a number of different mental health problems.

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The Remarkable Antioxidant That Can Help Treat 6 Mental Illnesses — Optimal Living Dynamics

I think basically "N-acetylcysteine + glycine can combine with glutamate to make glutathione, using up some of the glutamate in the process"