What Is Glutamate?
Health ConditionsHormones & Metabolic Disorders

What Is Glutamate?

The neurotransmitter glutamate is produced in your body, and is also found in many foods.
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Updated on September 21, 2023
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Glutamate is a neurotransmitter that sends signals in the brain and throughout the nerves in the body.

Glutamate plays an important role during brain development. Normal levels of glutamate also help with learning and memory.

Having too much glutamate in the brain has been associated with neurological diseases, such as Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer’s disease, stroke, and ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis or Lou Gehrig’s disease), according to the Cleveland Clinic.

Problems in making or using glutamate have also been linked to a number of mental health disorders, including autism, schizophrenia, depression, and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD).

Glutamate and Disease

In addition to passing chemical messages from one nerve cell to another, glutamate has many important functions in the brain.

Too much glutamate may damage nerve cells and the brain.

Glutamate can be damaging in two ways: Too much glutamate in the brain may make the nerve cells oversensitive, meaning that fewer glutamate molecules are needed to excite them; and at high concentrations, glutamate can also overexcite nerve cells, causing them to die.

Prolonged excitation is toxic to nerve cells, causing damage over time, as outlined by researchers at Stanford. This is known as excitotoxicity.

Researchers have been studying therapies that attempt to inhibit glutamate activity for the treatment of ALS, as noted by the ALS Association. One glutamate-blocker, riluzole (Rilutek), has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). While riluzole does not reverse damage already done by ALS to the patient’s nervous system, clinical trials have shown that it can extend a person’s life by a few months.

Glutamate and Food

Glutamate is a naturally occurring amino acid found in many different types of food. Amino acids are the building blocks of protein.

Glutamate is perhaps best known as the food additive monosodium glutamate (MSG).

MSG is used as a flavor enhancer commonly found in fast food, canned soups and vegetables, processed meats, and condiments like soy sauce.

MSG can also be found naturally in many foods, including tomatoes, cheeses, mushrooms, seaweed, and soy, notes the FDA.

Some people report adverse reactions to MSG, such as headaches, nausea, or heart palpitations. To date there is no definitive research to support this connection, but many researchers do acknowledge that people may experience some short-term reactions, notes the Mayo Clinic.

According to the FDA, MSG is generally safe at the levels commonly found in the typical American diet.

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Jessica Baity, MD

Medical Reviewer
Castle Connolly Top Doctor

Jessica Baity, MD, is a board-certified neurologist practicing in southern Louisiana. She cares for a variety of patients in all fields of neurology, including epilepsy, headache, dementia, movement disorders, multiple sclerosis, and stroke.

She received a bachelor's degree in international studies and history from the University of Miami and a master's in international relations from American University. She graduated from the Louisiana State University School of Medicine, where she also did her internship in internal medicine and her residency in neurology.

Prior to practicing medicine, she worked in international relations and owned a foreign language instruction and translation company. 

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Lindsey Konkel

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Lindsey Konkel is an award-winning freelance journalist with more than 10 years of experience covering health, science, and the environment. Her work has appeared online and in print for Newsweek, National Geographic, Huffington Post, Consumer Reports, Everyday Health, Science, Environmental Health Perspectives, UCSF Magazine, American Association for Cancer Research, and others.

She previously worked as an editor and staff writer at Environmental Health News. She holds a master’s degree in journalism from NYU’s Science, Health and Environmental Reporting Program and a bachelor’s degree in biology from College of the Holy Cross.

Konkel lives in Haddon Township, New Jersey, with her husband, daughter, three cats, and dog. When she isn't writing, she handles social media and content marketing for a small veterinary clinic she started with her husband, Neabore Veterinary Clinic.

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