FAQ (4 of 5): Glutamate Toxicity

30. What is diet-induced glutamate toxicity (DGT)?

Whenever your fasting glutamate is greater than 45 µmol/L, you have DGT.

The ideal fasting glutamate of a healthy person should be less than 15 µmol/L, and the normal level should be no higher than 30 µmol/L. If your fasting glutamate is significantly higher than 30 µmol/L, it indicates that after 12 hours of fasting, your body is still unable to metabolize or excrete excess glutamate to bring serum glutamate down to a normal level of < 30 µmol/L (about 4.4 ppm).

The higher your fasting glutamate, the more you need to restrict your intake of dietary glutamate.

31. What causes diet-induced glutamate toxicity (DGT)?

The top two causes of DGT are the following:

1) Excessive consumption of animal protein. Protein digestion takes place in the small intestine and can take 2 to 3 hours. If you overload the digestive system with too much animal protein, which often has a high glutamate content, there will not be enough time to convert glutamate into glutamine. The excess glutamate will increase the serum level of glutamate so high that even after 12 hours of fasting, your kidneys will still be unable to bring the level down to 30 µmol/L through urinary excretion.

2) Extreme dehydration. Without water, your kidneys will not be able to excrete excess glutamate.

32. What can I do to correct diet-induced glutamate toxicity (DGT)?

If you have DGT, you should:

1) Limit the intake of dietary glutamate by eating smaller meals more often.

2) Switch to a vegetarian diet, since plant proteins in general have much lower glutamate levels than animal proteins.

3) Drink 2 to 3 liters of bottled water daily (pH < 6.5) at the rate of 500 ml every 2 hours, as slowly as one mouthful at a time. This helps the water enter your main blood circulation though the microvilli of the small intestine, and allows the kidneys to effectively remove excess glutamate through urination. If you don’t drink enough water, your kidneys will not be able to excrete excess serum glutamate though urination.

Chronic exposure to high levels of serum glutamate (higher than 30 µmol/L) can contribute to many neurological disorders including ALS, MS, Parkinson’s disease and Alzheimer’s disease.

33. What is enzyme-induced glutamate toxicity (EGT)?

If your postprandial glutamate is 60 µmol/L higher than your fasting glutamate, you have EGT.

34. What causes enzyme-induced glutamate toxicity (EGT)?

A lack of a special glutamate-metabolizing gut bacterium is the primary reason for EGT. These bacteria reside in the small intestine and produce the enzyme needed to convert glutamate into harmless glutamine. The worse your deficiency of this bacterium, the worse your EGT problem will be.

35. How do I correct enzyme-induced glutamate toxicity (EGT)?

You can correct EGT by restoring the bacteria that produce the glutamate-to-glutamine converting enzyme. Restoring this type of glutamate-metabolizing gut bacterium is not an easy task, since the existing bacteria in the gut have already adapted to the hostile environment in the gut and are thus stronger than the newcomer. It could take 1 to 3 years of the RaphaN+ regimen to restore the glutamate-metabolizing gut bacteria.

36. Why is my fasting glutamate getting worse while taking RaphaN+?

Healthy fasting glutamate should be lower than 30 µmol. If your fasting glutamate is many times higher than 30 µmol, it means even after an 8 to 12 hour fast, your body is still unable to remove excess levels of glutamate through both liver metabolism and kidney excretion.

37. What can I do if my fasting glutamate is getting worse while taking RaphaN+?

In that case you should:

1) Limit the intake of dietary glutamate by eating smaller meals more often.

2) Switch to a vegetarian diet, since plant proteins in general have much lower glutamate levels than animal proteins.

3) Drink 2 to 3 liters of bottled water daily (pH < 6.5) at the rate of 500 ml every 2 hours, as slowly as one mouthful at a time. This helps the water enter your main blood circulation though the microvilli of the small intestine, and allows the kidneys to effectively remove excess glutamate through urination. If you do not drink enough water, your kidney will not be able to excrete excess serum glutamate.

38. How often should I do the glutamate challenge test?

Correcting elevated serum glutamate due to loss of glutamate-metabolize bacteria can be challenging. We recommend the following schedule for redoing the test:

Postprandial serum glutamate:

60–90 µmol

90–120 µmol

120–150 µmol

Above 150 µmol

Next glutamate challenge test:

3 months

6 months

9 months

12 months

39. Why is my postprandial glutamate getting worse while taking RaphaN+?

This situation is more likely to happen among those with a history of taking antacid medications or those whose postprandial glutamate is 150 µmol higher than their fasting glutamate:

1) Higher postprandial glutamate indicates a worse loss of the specific gut bacteria needed to metabolize dietary glutamate.

2) Since this specific bacterium is known to produce lactic acid to maintain the pH of the intestines at 6.0, this means you also have lost a source of lactic acid production.

3) A loss of these lactic acid “factories” will mean the pH of your intestines will shift from 6.0 towards 8.4. Antacid medications can easily shift the intestinal pH towards 8.4, even if you have already stopped taking them.

4) A higher intestinal pH makes it more likely for pathogen overgrowth to occur, which prevents the lactic acid–loving bacteria in RaphaN+ Part One from colonizing the small intestine.

5) This turns into a vicious cycle and will require much more than taking RaphaN+ to reverse. This intestinal environment, being alkaline and saturated with pathogens, is hostile to the RaphaN+ Part One bacteria, and the lack of this type of good bacteria worsens the gut flora and alkalinity.

6) So far, the highest increase in postprandial glutamate we have seen is 340 µmol, which is 11.33-fold higher than the normal increase of 30 µmol.

40. What can I do when my glutamate challenge tests show my postprandial glutamate is getting worse while taking RaphaN+?

Do not panic or lose hope, these are techniques you can use to break this vicious cycle:

1) Switch to vegan diet immediately, this way you minimize the consumption of animal protein with too much glutamate in it.

2) The pathogenic microorganisms in your gut need lots of iron to attach to the gut lining. Therefore, you should adopt a low-iron diet. Since blood is high in iron, and the blood content of beef is the highest among all types of red meat, red meat such as beef should be strictly avoided.

3) Other high-iron foods such as shellfish, spinach, liver and other organ meat, legumes, pumpkin seeds, quinoa, turkey, broccoli, tofu and dark chocolate should be avoided.

4) Take 500 mg of supplement grade lactoferrin after each meal. Lactoferrin is an immune defense protein that takes iron away from pathogens and weakens their ability to attach to the gut lining. The pathogenic bacteria will then leave the gut lining without the need for anti-microbial herbs to kill them. This also makes it easier for the bacteria in RaphaN+ to colonize the gut lining.

5) Take 5,000 mcg to 10,000 mcg of biotin 1 hour before each meal. Without Lactobacillus to produce biotin, the liver will not be able to produce bile, and without bile, no food can be properly digested.

6) Take 4 to 6 oz of plain yogurt before each meal to introduce lactic acid and other yogurt nutrients into the small intestine. These beneficial nutrients help the Lactobacillus species colonize the small intestine. Sweeten the plain yogurt with honey or fruit such as grapes, apples or bananas if you cannot tolerate the sourness of plain yogurt.

7) Take 2 to 4 capsules of Complete Digestion enzymes at each meal to aid digestion.

8) Drink water with fresh lemon juice in it. The pH of pure lemon juice is 3.0 and will thus help you lower the pH of the intestines.