Biomarkers Associated with Depression Improvement in Veterans with Gulf War Illness Using the Low-Glutamate Diet.

Gulf War Illness (GWI) is a chronic multi-symptom neurological disorder affecting veterans of the Gulf War that is commonly comorbid with depression. A secondary data analysis was conducted to examine serum homocysteine and inflammatory cytokines (IFN-γ, IL-6, IL-1β, TNF-α) as potential biomarkers of depression improvement among veterans with GWI after a one-month dietary intervention aimed at reducing excitotoxicity and increasing micronutrients. Analyses, including multiple linear and logistic regression, were conducted in R studio.

Nutritional Criminology: Why the Emerging Research on Ultra-Processed Food Matters to Health and Justice.

There is mounting concern over the potential harms associated with ultra-processed foods, including poor mental health and antisocial behavior. Cutting-edge research provides an enhanced understanding of biophysiological mechanisms, including microbiome pathways, and invites a historical reexamination of earlier work that investigated the relationship between nutrition and criminal behavior. Here, in this perspective article, we explore how this emergent research casts new light and greater significance on previous key observations.

Targeting Glutamate Neurotoxicity through Dietary Manipulation: Potential Treatment for Migraine.

Glutamate, the main excitatory neurotransmitter in the central nervous system, is implicated in both the initiation of migraine as well as central sensitization, which increases the frequency of migraine attacks. Excessive levels of glutamate can lead to excitotoxicity in the nervous system which can disrupt normal neurotransmission and contribute to neuronal injury or death. Glutamate-mediated excitotoxicity also leads to neuroinflammation, oxidative stress, blood-brain barrier permeability, and cerebral vasodilation, all of which are associated with migraine pathophysiology.

Beyond Plants: The Ultra-Processing of Global Diets Is Harming the Health of People, Places, and Planet.

Global food systems are a central issue for personal and planetary health in the Anthropocene. One aspect of major concern is the dramatic global spread of ultra-processed convenience foods in the last 75 years, which is linked with the rising human burden of disease and growing sustainability and environmental health challenges. However, there are also calls to radically transform global food systems, from animal to plant-derived protein sources, which may have unintended consequences.

The low glutamate diet reduces blood pressure in veterans with Gulf War Illness: A CONSORT randomized clinical trial.

Background: Gulf War Illness is a multi-symptom condition affecting veterans of the 1990 to 1991 Gulf War, which often presents with comorbid hypertension. The purpose of this study was to analyze the effects of the low glutamate diet, as well as an acute challenge of monosodium glutamate (MSG)/placebo, on resting heart rate, blood oxygenation level, and blood pressure (BP) in this population.

Methods: These data were measured at 4 time points: baseline, after 1 month on the low glutamate diet, and during each challenge week, where subjects were randomized into a double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover challenge with MSG/placebo over 3 days each week.

Effects of a diet low in excitotoxins on PTSD symptoms and related biomarkers.

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) develops after trauma exposure and involves symptoms of avoidance, intrusive re-experiencing, mood and cognitive dysfunction, and hypervigilance. PTSD is often comorbid with Gulf War Illness (GWI), a neurological condition involving widespread pain, cognitive dysfunction, digestive problems, and other symptoms, in Gulf War veterans. PTSD tends to be more severe when comorbid with GWI.

Low glutamate diet improves working memory and contributes to altering BOLD response and functional connectivity within working memory networks in Gulf War Illness.

Gulf War Illness is a chronic multi-symptom disorder with severe cognitive impairments which may be related to glutamate excitotoxicity and central nervous system dysfunction. The low glutamate diet has been proposed as a comprehensive intervention for Gulf War Illness. We examined the effects of the low glutamate diet on verbal working memory using a fMRI N-back task.

The association between heightened ADHD symptoms and cytokine and fatty acid concentrations during pregnancy.

Objective: Previous research conducted with samples of children suggest that individuals with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) have altered fatty acid concentrations and may have increased systemic inflammation. Whether these differences are also apparent in other populations of individuals with heightened ADHD symptoms (e.g.

The Effect of the Low Glutamate Diet on the Reduction of Psychiatric Symptoms in Veterans With Gulf War Illness: A Pilot Randomized-Controlled Trial.

The objective of this pilot study was to examine the effects of the low glutamate diet on anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and depression in veterans with Gulf War Illness (GWI). The low glutamate diet removes dietary excitotoxins and increases consumption of micronutrients which are protective against glutamatergic excitotoxicity. This study was registered at ClinicalTrials.

Caregiver perspectives on dietary therapies for epilepsy.

The objective of this research was to identify caregiver perspectives on dietary therapies for epilepsy, as well as provide future directions for improving caregiver support. A Qualtrics survey was distributed via social media platforms. The survey was aimed towards caregivers with children who are currently using or have previously used dietary therapy for epilepsy.

Micronutrients May Be a Unique Weapon Against the Neurotoxic Triad of Excitotoxicity, Oxidative Stress and Neuroinflammation: A Perspective.

Excitotoxicity has been implicated in many neurological disorders and is a leading cause of oxidative stress and neuroinflammation in the nervous system. Most of the research to date has focused on each of these conditions individually; however, excitotoxicity, oxidative stress, and neuroinflammation have the ability to influence one another in a self-sustaining manner, thus functioning as a "neurotoxic triad." This perspective article re-introduces the concept of the neurotoxic triad and reviews how specific dietary micronutrients have been shown to protect against not only oxidative stress, but also excitotoxicity and neuroinflammation.

The low glutamate diet improves cognitive functioning in veterans with Gulf War Illness and resting-state EEG potentially predicts response.

Gulf War Illness (GWI) is a chronic, multi-symptom disorder with underlying central nervous system dysfunction and cognitive impairments. The objective of this study was to test the low glutamate diet as a novel treatment for cognitive dysfunction among those with GWI, and to explore if baseline resting-state electroencephalography (EEG) could predict cognitive outcomes. Cognitive functioning was assessed at baseline, after one-month on the diet, and across a two-week double-blind, placebo-controlled crossover challenge with monosodium glutamate (MSG) relative to placebo.

Post-traumatic stress disorder may set the neurobiological stage for eating disorders: A focus on glutamatergic dysfunction.

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a trauma and stress-related disorder which has been shown to be highly comorbid with, and commonly a precedent of, the eating disorders anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, and binge eating disorder. The objective of this review is to discuss a potential overlapping neurobiological mechanism for this comorbidity. Alterations in glutamatergic neurotransmission have been observed in all four of the aforementioned disorders.

Brain concentrations of glutamate and GABA in human epilepsy: A review.

An imbalance between excitation and inhibition has been a longstanding proposed mechanism regarding ictogenesis and epileptogenesis. This imbalance is related to increased extracellular glutamate in the brain and/or reduction in GABA concentrations, leading to excitotoxicity, seizures, and cell death. This review aims to summarize the microdialysis and magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) literature investigating glutamate and GABA concentrations in epilepsy patients, present limitations, and suggest future directions to help direct the search for novel epilepsy treatments.

Effect of the low glutamate diet on inflammatory cytokines in veterans with Gulf War Illness (GWI): A pilot study.

Aim: To examine the effects of the low glutamate diet on inflammatory cytokines in veterans with Gulf War Illness (GWI).

Main Methods: Forty veterans with GWI were recruited from across the country. Anthropometric measurements and blood samples were collected at baseline and after one month on the low glutamate diet.

Optimizing data collection in dietary therapy clinics for epilepsy: A recommendation for standardized data collection forms.

Objective: The objectives of this study were to 1) examine medical records from one medium-sized dietary clinic as an example of data being collected clinically, 2) identify data limitations, and then 3) create standardized data collection forms with the long-term goals of improving clinical care and facilitating multicenter data analysis.

Methods: A retrospective chart review was conducted at the Dietary Therapies for Epilepsy Clinic at Children's National Medical Center (CNMC) in Washington, D.C.

The Low Glutamate Diet Effectively Improves Pain and Other Symptoms of Gulf War Illness.

Gulf War Illness (GWI) is a multisymptom disorder including widespread chronic pain, fatigue and gastrointestinal problems. The objective of this study was to examine the low glutamate diet as a treatment for GWI. Forty veterans with GWI were recruited from across the US.

Food in Chronic Pain: Friend or Foe?

While many still consider food to be innocuous, ongoing research demonstrates food's role, both harmful and protective, in chronic pain [...

Evaluation of maternal inflammation as a marker of future offspring ADHD symptoms: A prospective investigation.

Early life predictors of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are critically needed; they could inform etiological theory and may help identify new prevention targets. The current study examined prospectively whether maternal cytokine levels during pregnancy predict offspring ADHD symptoms at age 4-6 years. Secondarily, we evaluated maternal cytokine levels as a possible common pathway through which prenatal risks exert influence on child ADHD.

Neurotoxicity in Gulf War Illness and the potential role of glutamate.

Shortly after the Gulf War in 1990-1991, service men and women began reporting multiple symptoms ranging from persistent headaches, widespread pain, chronic fatigue, cognitive dysfunction, mood dysregulation, gastrointestinal issues, skin abnormalities, and respiratory problems. This prompted the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to initially classify the disorder as chronic multi-symptom illness (CMI), where it later became known as Gulf War Illness (GWI). Researchers and healthcare professionals since the early 1990s have been working extensively on alleviating the symptoms expressed in GWI as well as attempting to understand the mechanisms behind this illness.

Artificial food coloring affects EEG power and ADHD symptoms in college students with ADHD: a pilot study.

Removing artificial food coloring (AFC) is a common dietary intervention for children with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), but has not been tested in young adults. This pilot study examined the effects of AFC on ADHD symptoms and electroencephalography (EEG) in college students with and without ADHD. At baseline, control and ADHD participants completed the Adult ADHD Self-Report Scale (ASRS), simple and complex attention measures, and resting-state EEG recordings.

Breakfast Positively Impacts Cognitive Function in College Students With and Without ADHD.

Purpose: To compare the effects of a nutritionally balanced breakfast on cognitive function in college students with and without attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

Design: Pre-post dietary intervention.

Setting: University.

Moving past antioxidant supplementation for the dietary treatment of multiple sclerosis.

Current research has demonstrated the definitive presence of oxidative stress in multiple sclerosis (MS). This finding has led to clinical trial research which has indicated that specific antioxidants have the ability to effectively reduce markers of oxidative stress. However, few interventions testing antioxidant supplements have shown efficacy for reducing the symptom burden in the disorder.