Get glutamate from food

[Canari]

This is a very fast & healthy & tasty dish for a quick supper, and ingredients are all keeping, so you never run out of them like fresh veggies.

You need red lentils, kombu and miso.

- Wash well the lentils though they are hull-free. You can even wash + soak them + clear them again.

- Put them in cold water and make them boil stirring sometimes. Then add the kombu and regulate the fire for no over-board escape! I prefer to cut the kombu in little pieces, it will soak a lot of water. You can also boil water and throw everything in after. You can add some veggies too of course. Some red peppers are doing good for example.

- Boil 20 to 30 mns. I prefer the longer side... You can put enough water for either a soup or a puree.

- No need to salt. Add some miso or tamari sauce in the plate only, as these need to not boil.
You can add parsley and whatever you want for a personal taste. I also like some crumbs of raw cauliflower! Any addition will make a tea with the hot soup.

Lentils will give folate. Red lentils have no hull, which is the worse part of legumes.
Kombu and fermented miso or tamari will give natural glutamate. I am sure the seaweed gives much more.

I intended the title as a joke and as informations, but I think we also eat more than ingredients... Enjoy!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glutamic_acid

All meats, poultry, fish, eggs, dairy products, and kombu are excellent sources of glutamic acid. Some protein-rich plant foods also serve as sources. 30% to 35% of the protein in wheat is glutamic acid. Ninety-five percent of the dietary glutamate is metabolized by intestinal cells in a first pass.

Glutamic acid, being a constituent of protein, is present in foods that contain protein, but it can only be tasted when it is present in an unbound form. Significant amounts of free glutamic acid are present in a wide variety of foods, including cheese and soy sauce, and is responsible for umami, one of the five basic tastes of the human sense of taste.

Glutamic - gluten... A gluten-free diet will not help, so it has to be compensated. And as you can see, intestine health is super important for glutamate.
So, aged cheese, miso and soy sauce are good sources.
I do not know if unbound forms are better absorbed in the intestine?

GABA precursor
Glutamate also serves as the precursor for the synthesis of the inhibitory gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) in GABA-ergic neurons. This reaction is catalyzed by glutamate decarboxylase (GAD), which is most abundant in the cerebellum and pancreas.

Stiff person syndrome is a neurologic disorder caused by anti-GAD antibodies, leading to a decrease in GABA synthesis and, therefore, impaired motor function such as muscle stiffness and spasm. Since the pancreas has abundant GAD, a direct immunological destruction occurs in the pancreas and the patients will have diabetes mellitus.

This syndrom is super rare, but maybe some of the common stiffness has to do with GABA?

 

[Canari]

I did the recipe, and it is my first starch since ...long!
Welllll.... I prefer raw food, more tasty without need of miso sauce.
Miso keeps well, I had not touched it since ....before peat.
Let's see what's happen with some days with more UMAMI taste, as I have some aged cheese in the morning too. = I up my glutamate.

 

[Nighteyes]

I did the recipe, and it is my first starch since ...long!
Welllll.... I prefer raw food, more tasty without need of miso sauce.
Miso keeps well, I had not touched it since ....before peat.
Let's see what's happen with some days with more UMAMI taste, as I have some aged cheese in the morning too. = I up my glutamate.
View attachment 141

That looks like a nutritious meal and cool bowl! You have inspired me to try making Miso soup tomorrow.. I really love the taste of soy sauce/oyster sauce etc so I think I will like it. I used to eat sooo many noodle as a child that were loaded with glutamate. Cravings cannot always be ignored, right?