I was just discussing this topic a bit in the Paleo-cave area, but they decided it was inappropriate for some reason, so I am moving it here.

I have come across claims many times about some foods affecting the brain directly. The claims I want to look at more closely are:

• casomorphins from casein cause dairy to be pleasureful and addictive
• glutamates - but only those from MSG and whey protein powder - cause brain effects
• aspartate has effects like glutamate, but if eaten as aspartame (not from meat, fish, etc.)

There are even claims that these processed foods cause disease in humans (MS, ALS, etc.).

I am also interested in:

• the drug-like effects of many foods
• whether the source truly makes a difference
• (i.e., glutamates from fermented foods, seaweed)
• whether quantity makes a difference

This is very complicated stuff and there are a lot of unsubstantiated claims out there on various sites.

I don't have an agenda here; I'm just curious. Is food a drug? Or is it only some foods? Is it only processed foods? Is it bad to eat foods that affect the brain?

First of all, it looks like there are glutamates, and then there are "free glutamates." Glutamates bound into a protein are not "free," but they can be freed by two means - heat (hydrolization) or enzymes (fermentation). Examples are making fish sauce out of fish, grilling meats, or making whey protein out of milk. The "umami" taste, our fifth taste (after salty, sweet, sour, and bitter) is the detection of these free amino acids.
MSG, monosodium glutamate, is glutamate bound with sodium, and the body breaks that apart in digestion.

http://www.sci-toys.com/ingredients/msg.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monosodium_glutamate
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glutamate
http://www.smart-drugs.net/ias-excitotoxins.htm

Ysabella,
Read the book Crazy Makers by Carol Simontacchi and Excitotoxins – The Taste that Kills – How Aspartame and
Monosodium Glutamate Damage Our Health
Russell Blaylock, M.D.

I had never heard about the fifth taste.

Apparently, concentrated tomato products (like ketchup) and parmesan cheese are examples of foods high in glutamates. That explains a lot about my condiment habits.

Yes, that's right, and I think it is free glutamates that provide the taste. Fish sauce, seaweed, tomatoes, parmesan, a lot of fermented foods have free glutamates. The fermentation process breaks the proteins into the amino acids.

http://www.umamiinfo.com/what_exactly_is_umami?/

Ah, there are more components to umami: insosinate and guanylate.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disodium_inosinate
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disodium_guanylate

Nice 'world map of umami' on this page:
http://www.umamiinfo.com/umami-rich_food/

And here's an interesting PDF about studying the taste receptors:

http://jn.nutrition.org/cgi/reprint/130/4/931S.pdf

Ooh, neat, food history bit. Probably the oldest umami food of humans is rotted fish - fish sauce! - absolutely full of free glutamates. Nuoc mam, nam pla, Worcestershire sauce (a Western version of an Eastern food, using fermented anchovies) - but it was a Western food too, popular with the Romans:



And a little chart:



http://www.glutamate.org/media/A_na...art_of_food.asp
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fish_sauce

Interesting stuff, Ysabella. I think that Vegemite/Marmite, the savoury yeast spreads loved in NZ and Australia, are also packed full of glutamates.

Absolutely. The Wikipedia page for Monosodium Glutamate has this chart:



That's plenty, alright!

Does anyone know what the 'bound' glutamate in foods is bound to? I mean in MSG it's bound to sodium. Is it also sodium in food?

Explains my love of fish sauce. It always gives a meaty body to everything.

My philosophy is that we generally have a biological reason for being attracted to foods, that there is something intrisically good about foods we're attracted to in settings that ancient man was in. For instance, carbs and sugars were attractive for the purpose of storing fat. Fat is attractive as an energy source too. Meat because of it's high protein and energy content. Chocolate... well, all those flavinoids and stuff they're finding out now.

But because we have easy access to this stuff now, we're getting far more of those things and our bodies were not built to handle them in those quantitites.

Keep digging! This is interesting stuff.

I definitely have a pleasurable relaxation after eating something starchy. Unfortunately it also comes with a desire to repeat.

Very Interesting thread. I find that I crave heavy cream. Though I wonder if I just like the "full" feeling I get from it. With food cravings, is it a true physical symptom or more psychological? So called "comfort foods" would be a good example. Then you have to figure in Nature or Nurture.

It's linked by peptide bonds to other amino acids, to form proteins.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protein

Okay, here's a quiz.

What country eats the most MSG?
(a)Japan
(b)China
(c)Korea
(d)Netherlands
(e)USA
(f)Malaysia
(g)Thailand

Feel free to try to rank them in order, if you like.

click for the answer

(From this interesting doc)

Okay, now how about the WZ part of the debate? If natural glutamates are okay, how bad is it to shake Accent on your food?

Dr Eades wrote his thoughts on MSG a few months ago.

http://www.proteinpower.com/drmike/?p=535

I have an army buddy who can NOT eat MSG at all. She gets horrible migraines. She has to have MSG-free rations when we're in the field, and the army makes them, so she can't be the only sensitive person.

However - I think it's like a lot of other products out there. If you're sensitive to it, don't eat it. It's not necessarily indicitive that it's dangerous to everyone.

I've never worried about it, especially now that I do most of my own cooking. If I'm eating a food with MSG added, chances are it's loaded with sugar, starch, trans fats or other crap that'll do me more harm than the MSG.

I do have a container of Accent in my cupboard... though I confess, I bought it to see if I could make up for the fact that I just can't quite seem do a great roast beef... or good Asian dishes.

Now, about calling fish sauce "rotted fish" (ahem!) humans LOVE decayed food and eat it all the time, its just we choose which bacteria cause the decay. We do it with milk products (yogurt, cheese, kefir). The chineese do it to fish and eggs and to make soy sauce (and meat). Oh yeah, it used to be the process of making sausage even in the US involved fermentation. If you properly decay fruit you get wine or spirits, grains yeild another type of deliciously intoxicating drink.

I think almost every culture has some form of decayed food they eat.