20221205M-1471-AustinTX
Me: “How can I help?”
Z: “Can you do the dishes?”
… Four hours later, I got to the dishes. In the mean time, we pulled out all the under sink plumbing we could to find the source of the clog that was stopping up the sink. Each piece of plumbing had some nasty black mold. We got in all cleaned out and put back together.
Meanwhile my post on Glutamate is waiting until now. I wondered if Glutamate and mold were related and a quick search showed that they were. According to online sources, mold releases mycotoxins that cause oxidative stress and glutathione (a tripeptide of Glutamate, Cysteine, and Glycine) helps to counteract this effect through it’s antioxidant function. These sources seem to base their claims on papers like “Deficient Glutathione in the Pathophysiology of Mycotoxin-Related Illness” (doi: 10.3390/toxins6020608).
E is for Glutamate. Glutamate-Glu is encoded by the codons GAA and GAG. Glutamate is the principal excitatory neurotransmitter in the central nervous system and the most abundant free amino acid in the brain. Research has shown that Glutamate plays a role in depression (“Glutamate and depression: Reflecting a deepening knowledge of the gut and brain effects of a ubiquitous molecule“.
It is also of interest to me that Glutamate “may be the key blood pressure-lowering component of vegetables.” One theory is this is due to the role Glutamate plays in cardiovascular regulation in the central nervous system. However, take note of Monosodium glutamate (MSG), the sodium salt of glutamic acid used a common flavor enhancer. MSG contains 78% glutamic acid and 21% sodium. It has been shown to increase blood pressure, perhaps by increasing oxidative stress.
surfing the universe 