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OCD and Dietary Glutamate


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I read a study in which the participant, an older man with OCD, tried a diet low in glutamate (found in MSG as well as naturally in some foods).  The result was a complete disappearance of OCD symptoms.  

It almost makes sense.  If you look at anti-anxiety meds (Xanax, etc), they increase GABA, which as I understand it is an antagonist to glutamate.  GABA tells your brain to stop and chill out, while glutamate says to keep doing what you're doing.  I also read they're working on a new medication specifically for OCD that targets glutamate-- presumably to reduce it.

Incidentally, I've been on a diet high that is probably pretty high in glutamate (I might need to end this now that I've read about this study).  I've been putting MSG on my foods since I read several articles saying it's perfectly safe despite its widespread demonization.  Also, I didn't imagine dietary glutamate would affect glutamate in the brain. 

I have not noticed my OCD getting worse since I started adding MSG.  OCD is about as bad as it's been for the past couple years-- long before I started the high-glutamate diet-- so I'm not seeing any impact for me personally.  But then again, I've never tried a diet that was entirely free of glutamate either.  

What do you think? Would we all recover if we changed our diet (eliminating MSG, yeast extract, parmesan cheese, ketchup, soy sauce, etc.)?

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No I don’t think so. Anxiety comes from our amygdala or anxiety center.  It protects us thus anxiety is necessary.  Anxiety is a form of energy so if one exercises they can use that energy up. Like doing 25 jumping jacks. Or walking etc

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4 hours ago, ineedahug said:

I read a study in which the participant, an older man with OCD, tried a diet low in glutamate (found in MSG as well as naturally in some foods).  The result was a complete disappearance of OCD symptoms.  

Its great that studies continue to assess possible treatments for OCD, and seeing results like the one in the study you mentioned (I've read about it too) can be a huge relief to those of us who suffer OCD.  However, its important to keep in mind the limitations of such findings at this point.  In particular this study was not targeted at examining OCD, it just so happened one of the participants had OCD and reported a cessation of symptoms.  Another limiting factor is that symptom levels were self reported.  
Now its entirely possible the low glutamate diet had an impact on the patient, there has been additional research to suggest glutamate levels might play a role in OCD.  But one should not draw a definitive conclusion from a single persons response.  
That said, if you wish to try to lower the glutamate in your diet there would seem to be no obvious downside to that.  Certainly you could refrain from adding MSG as a seasoning to foods, and probably find foods that are lower in glutamate as well.  So long as following the diet doesn't, itself become a compulsion, it would probably be fine.  I would caution about setting your expectations too high though, don't expect a miracle cure here.  If it helps, great, but don't forget about the CBT steps we know which work, albeit not as quickly as we would often like :)


P.S.  Please ignore Handy, he's either an intentional troll or a massively uninformed unintentional one.

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13 hours ago, dksea said:

Its great that studies continue to assess possible treatments for OCD, and seeing results like the one in the study you mentioned (I've read about it too) can be a huge relief to those of us who suffer OCD.  However, its important to keep in mind the limitations of such findings at this point.  In particular this study was not targeted at examining OCD, it just so happened one of the participants had OCD and reported a cessation of symptoms.  Another limiting factor is that symptom levels were self reported.  

Thanks dksea! Yeah, a lot of these studies involving OCD get their findings from self-reported symptom levels.  Do you think studies involving brain scans would be better? I've read conflicting opinions on them.

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Thanks for the info @ineedahug

I am always interested in the body's role of ocd symptoms. I believe that there could be a number of dietary factors that could play a role. Maybe different ones for different people. I've read various stories of people getting relief from symptoms from taking out various things from their diet or adding other things in.

I often try out different ideas, so far with no great results, but you never know what might work for someone, especially if there is a higher sensitivity involved.

Maybe I'll take note of how much glutamate's in my diet and adjust it to nothing. I don't think I have much, if any, as it is.

 

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