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Summary
In episode 701 of the 40+ Fitness Podcast, Coach Allan speaks with Dr. Katherine Reid, a biochemist and protein chemist by training and the founder of Unblind My Mind Inc., a nonprofit 501 organization dedicated to improving health through informed food choices. Dr. Reid previously worked in the Silicon Valley biotech industry developing cancer pharmaceuticals and diagnostics, and now works with individuals and families to devise data-driven food solutions for chronic inflammatory illnesses.
Dr. Reid explains that her work began as a personal journey after her youngest child was diagnosed with autism and she found little help in the conventional medical system. Diving deep into the foods her family ate, she uncovered a link between free glutamate hidden throughout the food supply and the chronic inflammatory load in modern society. She discusses her book, Fat, Stressed and Sick: MSG, Processed Food and America’s Health Crisis, and how glutamate acts as an excitatory neurotransmitter that can dysregulate metabolism, insulin, leptin, mood, and addiction pathways.
The conversation covers how ultra-processed foods free up glutamate from proteins, why the body already makes all the glutamate it needs, and how reducing excitatory and inflammatory foods can clear brain fog and other symptoms people accept as normal. Dr. Reid shares her REID framework and practical strategies for sourcing whole foods and rewiring taste preferences.
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Key Takeaways
- Glutamate is an amino acid and building block of proteins; bound glutamate is held in protein by peptide bonds, while free glutamate (most commonly monosodium glutamate) occurs in food and acts as an excitatory neurotransmitter that can trigger a fight, flight, fear, fawn response.
- The body produces all the glutamate it needs, so glutamate is not an essential amino acid and there is no nutritional reason to supplement it; even glutamine supplements can be converted to glutamate by gut microbes.
- Ultra-processed foods make up over 60% of the American diet, and processing protein (through acid, fermentation, heat, and pressure) breaks peptide bonds and frees glutamate; MSG production rose from about 10,000 metric tons to roughly 3.3 million metric tons, yet that MSG represents only 10% of free glutamate in the food supply, with the other 90% coming from protein processing and largely unlabeled.
- Glutamate is the underlying neurological mechanism of addiction, which is why adding it to food helps make that food addictive and why overcoming addictions requires rewiring glutamate signaling.
- Excess glutamate binds glutamate receptors on many cells, dysregulating insulin, leptin, and metabolism; Dr. Reid links this to insulin resistance, type 1 diabetes (early antibodies to the GAD65 glutamate decarboxylase enzyme), type 2 diabetes, and type 3 diabetes (Alzheimer’s).
- The claim that glutamate does not cross the blood brain barrier is debunked by gut-brain signaling and by times when the barrier is weakened, such as fatigue, pregnancy, infancy, illness, and inflammation.
- Dr. Reid’s REID framework stands for Reduced Excitatory Inflammatory Diet, with six principles including sourcing whole foods, increasing fiber, diversifying across regions and farms, knowing where food comes from and how it’s made, and embracing the food journey as a lifestyle.
- Her three wellness strategies are eating whole foods with fat, fiber, protein, carbohydrates, and culinary herbs in every meal; thinking better thoughts through meditation and appreciation; and getting nature and exercise.
Another Episode You May Enjoy
Episode 6 – For Health and Fitness Sugar is the Devil
Episode Notes
Podcast: 40+ Fitness
Episode: 701
Published: 2025-07-01
Host: Allan Misner (aka Coach Allan), author of The Wellness Roadmap
Guest(s): Dr. Katherine Reid, a biochemist and the founder of Unbind My Mind Inc, Fat, Stressed, and Sick: MSG, Processed Food, and America’s Health Crisis
Listen & Subscribe: Apple Podcasts · Spotify · YouTube (audio only)