Transcription
Today, we're going to talk about tinnitus, okay? Ringing in the ears, and how to get rid of it. This is an updated video, and I will say that tinnitus can literally drive someone crazy. If you had some history of auditory damage somewhere in your brain, later in life it can come to haunt you.
Now, tinnitus is something a little mysterious; they don't have it fully figured out, okay? But they do know that certain medications, drugs, can improve tinnitus. So, I looked at two of them and the mechanism to actually understand this a little bit more.
Now, one drug is called Gabapentin, and the other is called Klonopin. So, what do these two have in common? Well, they both are GABA agonists. What does that mean? It means that they have a mechanism to increase GABA in the brain.
And so, let's take a look at this GABA, like exactly what it is. It's an inhibitory neurotransmitter; it slows down the central nervous system. And if you think about what ringing of the ear is, it's a hypersensitivity of the brain. So, this would make sense that the brake pads are a problem, and by putting more brake pads or inhibitory factors into the brain, it would help something that's hypersensitive.
And they've also done some interesting studies—I'm going to put the links down below—of people having tinnitus and having a lowered amount of GABA, as well as an upregulation of another transmitter called glutamate that stimulates the brain. And so, when you are missing the brake pads in a car and you only have an accelerator, you're going to have problems, and that's what tinnitus is. And so, tinnitus is kind of like an overcompensation with a problem in the auditory part of your brain. And so, this overcompensation is basically making this hissing sound.
So, based on that, you probably are thinking, "Well, I just need to increase GABA." And maybe you don't like the side effects from the medications that do that. So, you might then typically go to a GABA supplement, which is natural, which has virtually no side effects. But the problem with that is that GABA as a supplement does not cross the blood-brain barrier, so it's going to have a hard time penetrating into the brain to create the effect. But we have a solution for that. There's another compound, and it's called taurine, okay? That's an amino acid that turns into GABA, and it does pass the blood-brain barrier. But just make sure you take it in an empty stomach, okay, when you take it, because when you eat, you could have some competition from other amino acids. And I don't have a specific brand; you're going to have to do the research on that.
Now, in addition to increasing GABA, the other thing you need to do is inhibit the glutamate neurotransmitter that is potentially speeding things up. Now, you're probably asking, "Well, what foods are high in glutamate?" MSG, monosodium glutamate, which has been known to increase or stimulate or trigger tinnitus. Also, Aspartame is another one that has been known to trigger tinnitus.
Now, you might say that, "I don't consume MSG." Well, it's in a lot of foods, and I will put a link down below just so you can get more reality. It's in pretty much all junk foods, fast food, restaurant-type foods, Chinese restaurants. They even put it in cottage cheese unless you buy it organic. But if you've been following my videos and my recommendations on eating, you're probably not going to be consuming MSG. Now, I need to mention the hidden foods that are loaded with this glutamate that you need to be aware of and eliminate from the diet. Anything with these two words: hydrolyzed protein. Avoid that. Another one is calcium caseinate. Another one to avoid is yeast extract or utilized yeast. Definitely avoid textured protein, whey protein, soy protein isolates, and of course, soy sauce.
So, this is the update information. I do have another video that's been very, very successful for many people, and if you haven't seen that, I put it up right here. Check it out!