GLUTEN-FREE, CASEIN-FREE FOODS W/ ASPARTATE AND GLUTAMATE LEVELS

Compiled by Helen C. Harrison, Murrieta, CA, March 2007

Nutritional information by nutritiondata.com/

These glutamate and aspartate levels are provided to support the GARD (Gut Absorbtion Recovery Diet, aka Glutamate-Aspartate Restriction Diet) developed by Dr. John B. Symes, DVM, who believes there is a link between food intolerance, malnutrition-malabsorbtion and glutamate toxicity, and the development of digestion and metabolism problems (e.g. IBS, celiac, hypoglycemia, leaky gut syndrome) and neuropathological conditions (e.g. fibromyalgia, ADHD, insomnia, epilepsy, MS, Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s) because of his research into the relationship of diet to epilepsy in dogs. His web site is www.dogtorj.net/. 

It should be noted that the amino acid glutamate (also known as glutamic acid) is the major neurotransmitter in the brain and ingesting it in healthful quantities is an important part of a normal diet.  The problem Dr. Symes is addressing is the over ingestion of glutamate and other excitotoxins (aspartate and cysteine) because of damage to the small intestines as a result of celiac disease or poor dietary habits.  A survey of web-available literature indicates that Dr. Symes opinion is shared to a certain extent by other medical and nutritional professionals, but their certainty of the association between the over ingestion of excitotoxins and the more severe physiological and neurological conditions is more tentative. Please keep the preliminary nature of this information in mind when you consider the right diet for you or your loved one.

Dr. Symes recommends eliminating the high consumption of glutamate-aspartate-casein-laden foods (affected grains, especially gluten-bearing ones like wheat, barley, rye and variations thereof, legumes, cow and sheep milk) because their “gluey” amino acids/protein stick to the villi in the small intestines and cause them to atrophy, resulting in malnutrition and malabsorbtion and leading to more serious conditions over time.  According to Dr. Symes, everyone may potentially experience this villius atrophy, depending upon how much of the glutamate-laden foods they ingest over time, but celiacs may be especially prone to this damage because of the condition’s autoimmune dysfunction.  Dr. Symes also recommends the elimination of estrogen-bearing foods (such as soy beans) as estrogen is inflammatory and immunosuppressive. 

For those whose small intestines is injured as a result of poor diet or autoimmune dysfunction, it might be best when planning a diet to think in terms of eliminating large portions or multiple combinations of the high glutamate-aspartate-casein-estrogen foods at one meal and keep the proportion of these foods relative to non-glutamate et. al. foods low, especially when trying to heal.  As the villi regrow and the small intestine heals, individuals without food intolerances or allergies may be able to increase their intake of these foods.  For those who do not have celiac disease or a poor diet generally, on a regular basis vary the intake of gluten and non-gluten cereals, and high glutamate and low glutamate foods, to maintain small intestinal health.  Healthy individuals should not regularly deprive themselves of these essential amino acids as they are necessary for proper brain function.  Consult a medical and/or nutritional professional to determine if this diet would be beneficial for you.

Lower glutamate foods: majority of fruits, vegetables, lamb, eggs, tree nuts and natural sweeteners (molasses, honey, cane juice, maple syrup) but there are exceptions.  Only those vegetables that contain close to 1 gram of glutamate are included, but that is still low compared to other food groups. Higher glutamate foods: majority of grains, nuts, seeds, legumes, dairy, seafood and meat but there are exceptions. Non casein food: goat milk, but it contains a similar amount of glutamate et. al. to cow milk; caution is recommended. Higher casein foods: all cow and sheep milk products.  Gluten foods: wheat (all types), rye, barley, oats contaminated by contact with gluten grains. High-quality, non-gluten oats can be purchased over the internet. Caution is recommended.

Nightshade vegetables (pain-causing): tomatoes, potatoes, eggplant, tobacco, peppers. For those with pain syndromes, these may be able to be reintroduced to the diet after healing in the small intestines and insomnia decreases (and serotonin increases!).  From the data at nutritiondata.com/, it appears that levels of glutamate and aspartate in legumes drops once they have sprouted, perhaps rendering this food group less harmful if harvested, stored and prepared accordingly; however, the estrogen in affected legumes may still be an issue. Caution is recommended.

When calculating glutamate et.al. ingestion, consider the food amount you are actually likely to eat compared to the 1 c measurement standard used in the tables here.  Compare this data to other nutritional sources to verify accuracy if you have any questions.  “?” means I was unable to find the nutrient values for that item at nutritiondata.com/.  “/” means the nutrient information was not available from nutritiondata.com/ or the nutrient amount was so low as to be insignificant. “*” means lowest or lower levels of harmful amino acids in the food category.  “+” means a lower level of gluten or amino acids in the food category but may or may not be problematic, depending upon the individual.  Use with caution.   Note that some foods occasionally recommended for celiacs (amaranth, millet, wild rice, sorghum, flax) actually have higher glutamate levels compared to other foods.  This paper does not contain glutamate-aspartate levels for seafood because a quick survey of those foods at nutritiondata.com/ showed that all seafood had significant levels of these amino acids, higher than meat and around the level of legumes.  Do check yourselves for individual seafood favorites.

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The New DogtorJ.com is done! Yes, the time has finally come for this homemade Website to go the way of the buffalo. I know that you all join me in looking forward to using a site that is better organized and more accessible....prettier, too! I've even corrected most of those annoying typos (I hope).

Feel free to check it out now at www.dogtorj.com. I am still working hard to populate all of the pages so don't worry if a link does not work. They should all be active in the near future. In the meantime, this current site will remain on-line until I get all of the bugs worked out.

Let me know what you think! It's not too late to make some changes.

Dogtor J