Amino Acid Toxicity...

Nutrition
1

I am on the Velocity Diet and my flax seeds have extra vitamins, minerals, and amino acids in them (Barlean’s Forti-Flax). I have worried in the past about too much extra stuff in it, but tonight takes the cake. I look up side effects online of the amino acids and some of them freak me the hell out. I basically don’t want to fuck up my central nervous system. Also, after looking at the side effects of Glutamic Acid toxicity it turns out that I experienced a good portion of them.

This may be bullshit but considering there is 580 mg per serving of this stuff in my flax, and I experienced Rapid Heartbeat, Slow Heartbeat, Nausea, Stomach Cramps, Stiffness, Migraine Headache, Dizzyness, Light Headedness, Loss of Balance, Disorientation, Mental Confusion, Anxiety, Panic Attacks (was debating calling the ER, plus posting here), Lethargy, Sleepiness yet not being able to sleep/Insomnia, Numbness, Chills, Blurred Vision, Difficulty Focusing, Pressure around the eyes, Frequent Urination and Shortness of Breath, I’d say it was that.

It’s strange to me that I haven’t had anything this bad after 2.5 weeks on the V-Diet, but I guess I was a little bit more liberal with this serving, and it was on an empty stomach. I don’t really know, but before getting over it a little bit and looking up side effects, It was really worse then having the flu, or a hangover, and it’s really the only thing I can think of it being.

So, If anyone knows if I most likely was amino acid poisoned tonight, or if 5 servings of this stuff a day is going to fuck up my central nervous system, or just your .02 cents it would be much appreciated.

2

[quote]RED9 wrote:
I experienced Rapid Heartbeat, Slow Heartbeat, Nausea, Stomach Cramps, Stiffness, Migraine Headache, Dizzyness, Light Headedness, Loss of Balance, Disorientation, Mental Confusion, Anxiety, Panic Attacks (was debating calling the ER, plus posting here), Lethargy, Sleepiness yet not being able to sleep/Insomnia, Numbness, Chills, Blurred Vision, Difficulty Focusing, Pressure around the eyes, Frequent Urination and Shortness of Breath, I’d say it was that.[/quote]

Dude, with those issues, who cares what caused it, just go get it checked out. Going from an abnormally fast to abnormally low heart beat is pretty nuts (among other issues). Be sure to consider other possibilities… when did you read about those effects?

Glutamic acid is always the most abundant amino acid in protein, but who knows, you may have a hypersensitivity.

Cheers

3

You have 580mg of MSG in a serving of your flax?

4

yes, 580 mg in each serving

5

Also, looking back, I think the slow/fast heartbeat thing and chills was exgageration from me freaking out. The others are about right though. Really I just want to know if 5 servings of this stuff a day is safe.

6

I’ve experienced most of those symptoms and I just assume it’s from either extreme calorie restriction or my body switching from carbs to fat for energy. Have you ever tried a diet like V-Diet before?

7

Red9, wheat, soy and corn are all good sources of glutamic acid (one of the excitatory/excitory amino acids). So if you’ve ever eaten any of those before without incident, I doubt that you are reacting to any glutamic acid found in flaxseed. Also, if you’ve eaten out at Chinese restaurants (notorious for using MSG (monosodium glutamate) in their food to increase taste & flavor) without incident, it’s unlikely that you are reacting to MSG. And if you were not aware, MSG is a processed (altered) free glutamic acid.

Whatever your problem is/was, I doubt it was amino acid toxicity. Amino acids are the building blocks that make up protein. Amino acids are also the end products of protein digestion. In the human body protein makes up the organs, muscles, ligaments, nails, hair, vital body fluids, glands, and is critical for the development of bones. The hormones and enzymes that catalyze (cause or speeds a chemical change) and control all bodily processes are proteins. Proteins also assist in the exchange of nutrients between the cellular fluids and the tissues, blood and lymph. The genetic code contained in each cell?s DNA is actually information for how to make the cell?s protein.

So the bottom line is that protein and the amino acids they’re broken down into are essential for life.

However, protein can be processed so that different individual amino acids are extracted or created. They are often used therapeutically. And for anyone who’s studied physiology, it’s well known that some amino acids act as neurotransmitters. It is generally in that context (therapeutically, where people are prescribed individual free-form amino acids) that you would see amino acid toxicity – the one caveat being that there are certain medical conditions (like phenylkeotnuria or Celiac Sprue) that require that foods high in certain amino acids be avoided.

8

Yeah, thanks guys, what I failed to mention in the post was that I played a couple of games of basketball. Very stupid of me, but that’s probably what did it. Whoever asked if I have ever been on a low carb diet like V-Diet before, no, but it is towards the end of the 3rd week with no previous incident like this. Thanks again for the responses.