Braised beef & tomato

We cooked a braised beef dish for dinner recently that contained tomato paste and roasted salsa. Couldn’t sleep that night and I think it threw me off. Too much glutamate? Maybe so. Anybody else have issues like this?

Hi DBM, certain foods wreak havoc on our fragile systems. I hope you are sleeping a bit better now. Oregano does a number on me and it is typically in spaghetti and pizza sauces. I raise it in my garden, but no longer add it to any thing I prepare.  Perhaps there was something in the salsa.

Not sure about the glutamate, but I wouldn't be surprised.

 

Ripe tomatoes are naturally high in glutamates, as are mushrooms, broccoli, walnuts, peas, aged cheeses such as Parmesan and Roquefort, and some other foods. You might want to limit your exposure to them, gradually tapering up over time to give your body a chance to adjust. I don't think you can realistically eliminate all natural sources of glutamates from your diet, nor would you want to. You'd be eliminating all the best foods, and also, I think we need to subject our system to some stress, but not too much, to help it heal. I liken this to the walking-cast for a broken leg. Some stress helps the healing, but too much causes reinjury.

Thanks guys. I’ll make note of that list, Redevan. I had a bunch of grated parm on a salad last night and didn’t sleep great again... I might as well avoid it and see if it helps.