I was researching to find out what supports GABA modulation, synthesis, or availability in the body.
And the dietary stuff pointed out that glutamate is the dietary precursor to GABA but you also require B6 to convert it. Magnesium is also important as it modulates GABA-A receptors and blocks NMDA glutamate receptors. Fermented foods promote GABA through the gut-GABA axis. L-theanine increases GABA activity, and taurine has mild positive allosteric modulation of GABA-A a little like magnesium.
Now I know glutamate. Glutamate is delicious. You all know what it tastes like. It's umami. It's your favourite savoury comfort food.
It's comforting for a reason. And pretty much every food culture worldwide has a savoury comforting dish that contains not just glutamate but everything else you need to convert it into GABA.
Ramen, spaghetti bolognese, Jollof rice, chicken soup, beef stroganoff, Hainanese chicken rice, a cheese and Vegemite toastie
But... we also live in a food environment that hijacks and exploits our GABA, serotonin, and dopamine seeking behaviour. And when our GABA is low it is easier to reach for something processed.
There's glutamate in the Pringles. Our body knows its there. There are dopamine and GABA reward loops that see it, but no behavioural loops for us to seek the B6 and magnesium we need to actually convert and use it. We eat the whole can of Pringles. But it does nothing... and that wasn't possible until we started processing food like this.
We get stuck with low GABA and systems that can't cope with stress. That whole food comfort dish gets harder to actually plan and prepare and cook.
Then we shame people for their "bad choices" and "lack of willpower".
You can't follow the CSIRO Total Wellbeing Diet when you are at The Sad Bastard Cookbook's rock bottom, and there seems to be nothing that meaningfully addresses, or apparently understands, this gap.
