Like a circuit board, our nerve system controls every thought we process, memory we retain, every move we make, and breath we take, among thousands of other tasks. Glutamate is the key needed to make those nerve connections; unfortunately, too much, and it can serve as a double edged sword. Never before in history, have we had as many glutamate containing foods as we do today. Following the end of World War II, the quantity of glutamate, within our food system, has doubled each year. This manmade epidemic is way more pervasive than any occurring natural disaster. We are now seeing its detrimental side, the effects made from supplying way more voltage to our circuits than is needed. Satan himself couldn’t ask for a more insidious way to subtly and slowly poison one’s health. It is a challenge, but getting glutamate back under control is pivotal in preventing damage to our health, most especially our nervous system.

There are three foods and one food additive, which inundate our food system and just so happen to contain a high level of glutamate, way more than our bodies were designed to have. These foods, not coincidentally, are also listed in the FDA’s top eight common foods for causing allergic reactions. The excess glutamate produced from these foods cause an intense inflammatory response. This response can take place for years before enough cellular/tissue/organ damage is done to present symptoms of a serious illness, disease or cancer. What is even more disturbing is that by the time a diagnosis is given; whether it relates to one’s mental health, neurological, gastrointestinal, cancer, or any of the over 100 autoimmune diseases, your glutathione level has just taken a hard hit. Lower glutathione levels equate to even poorer health and can contribute to a shorter lifespan. So, what are the specific foods and why do they contain unprecedented amounts of glutamate? This article is part 1 of a 3-part series and covers “Wheat” for which our bread, the staff of life, is made from.  

Throughout the bible, God specifically spoke of eating only the finest of wheat and the finest of flour. This infers eating wheat of superior quality or of the highest grade. This is not the wheat planted today. The wheat of today has a much more complex DNA structure than ever before. Within at least the last 50 years, wheat has been replaced with modern, high-yield dwarf strains that produce more seeds and grow faster. Per preventive cardiologist William Davis, “Agricultural geneticists never asked if these new strains of wheat were suitable for human consumption. Their safety has never been tested.” One of the biggest changes in this modern wheat is that it contains a modified form of gliadin called the gliadin alpha-9. This is one of many proteins found in wheat gluten. It is the gluten content that gives food manufacturers the ability to make softer breads, rolls, pizza dough, donuts, and buns. Unfortunately, gluten is approximately 25% glutamic acid which can cause an excess of glutamate in our bodies. It is this excess that is both highly inflammatory to our body and toxic to our nerve system. This is why glutamate is also known as an “excitotoxin” – having the ability to overexcite our cells to death. So how does this excess glutamate get into our bodies?

Seventy percent of our immune system, our body’s defense radar, resides in our gut.  It is always trying to protect us from foreign invaders. The gluten of today is one of those invaders. Our immune system responds to this unfamiliar and toxic protein by continually trying to attack and break it down, so it can be removed. The problem is that it has a very difficult time doing so. Think of this modern gluten as the world’s strongest type of glue. Although our immune system fights diligently and continuously, our guts were simply never created to easily break down this type of extra tough or gluey protein. However, because our immune system is our body’s radar system, it will keep on trying. Regrettably, it is this continued and determined state to fight which causes on-going chronic inflammation which can eventually damage our gastrointestinal tract, especially our small intestine. This inflammation can go on for years undetected. As some of the gluten protein is finally broken down, two amino acids are freed. Amino acids are the building blocks of proteins that help to make up the structure of our body. One of these released amino acids is called glutamine which gets further broken down into glutamic acid, aka “glutamate.” It is now free to enter into our bloodstream, wreaking havoc on just about any part of the body and brain it so desires. A “leaky gut,” which is not at all uncommon today and can be easily caused by this battle, will allow an even greater amount of glutamate to enter.

As printed in the January 2015 issue of the journal “Brain Behavior and Immunity,” patients with depression and suicidality suffer from low-grade neuroinflammation. Depression, which is widespread in our society today, is the greatest risk factor for suicide. Suicide attempters are found to have higher levels of glutamate in their spinal fluid, as compared to healthy individuals. This is because when chronic inflammation takes place in the gut or anywhere else in the body, our brain’s immune system, called the microglia, is also activated. Normally, these brain immune cells are at rest or at least semi-rest until they are needed, at which time they secrete powerful chemicals, one being glutamate. This can happen for years, long before depression becomes a problem and can take place in only certain areas of the brain. The more inflammation, the higher the concentrations of glutamate are poured out, disrupting our special brain circuits. This inflammation does not only incite depression, but anxiety, obsessive compulsive disorder, as well as a host of many neuron-related disorders and diseases. Over time, all this damage shrinks the brain, leading to many problems including and most especially memory loss.

Oh, to count the ways that gluten and glutamate can insidiously and slowly destroy our lives would be well beyond the writing of this article. There are a number of great books that can be read which are listed below. Due to the overwhelming research and a greater awareness concerning gluten, individuals are now becoming more informed about its detrimental effects. Going “gluten free” isn’t just a fad but one of the most critical ways we can protect our family’s health.

One thing we can absolutely be certain of is that the “showbread” dedicated to God was never made from the wheat that is grown today!

“They shall also have charge of the showbread, of the fine flour for the cereal offering, of the wafers of unleavened bread, and of the baking and mixing, and of all measure of quantity and size.”  (1Chronicles 23:29)

Books:

Gluten – “Wheat Belly”, William Davis, M.D.; “Grain Brain”, Dr. David Perlmutter, M.D.; “The Gluten Effect”, Drs. Vikki & Richard Peterson; “Gut and Psychology Syndrome”, Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride

Glutamate – “Excitotoxins: The Taste That Kills”, Russell L. Blaylock, M.D.