I gave the Solaray 490mg Yucca capsules a shot this week, taking one with breakfast and another with dinner (high protein meals) and I believe it's been helpful in reducing my excitotoxicity/anxiety. This points to ammonia being an issue for me - and so now I'm left with a lot of questions. Does high ammonia mean my CBS mutation is expressed? Do I need to be concerned about sulfate as well? The CBS info on the heartfixer site suggests a low protein diet, but didn't work well for me in the past, so instead I'm left with supplements to reduce ammonia. I see some studies on yucca that make me wonder if it's unsafe to take daily/long-term. Earlier in the thread someone pointed out OKG to reduce ammonia, but I'm confused as heartfixer tells me to avoid alpha-ketoglutarate. As far as butyrate, I already eat ghee, but perhaps it doesn't contain enough butyrate to make a difference. Heartfixer also recommends GABA, but I cannot take GABA and continue to hold a job - even half a tablet puts me in a stupor (indicative of BBB issues?)
I'd appreciate any input on this. As of now I'm considering buying the urine test strips in order to quantify my sulfate levels.
High ammonia almost certainly goes hand in hand with a CBS problem for most of us. But it can also be indicative of urea cycle problems.
Dr Yasko thinks sulfates themselves lead to fight of flight problems. But no one to my knowledge has gotten a clear answer of exactly why that is the case. I too would love to know the biochemical pathway that leads from high sulfates to high NE.
The AKG link to the trans-sulfuration pathway as discussed on heartfixer and by Yasko is
WRONG! It is alpha-keto-BUTYRATE not AKG. They made a mistake a long time ago and have not changed it. Misleading information.
On the other hand too much AKG if not processed well can turn into glutamate in principle. However, apparently research has shown that OKG does NOT raise glutamate. To be honest they don't really know the mechanism. All they know is it bumps glutamine very efficiently and at the same time I am pretty sure it lowers ammonia via the ornithine at the very least.
The 2 x 490 mg of Yucca is way below the hemolysis danger levels. Native Americans in the Southwest eat tons of the stuff. They get into issues at some point, yes. Saponins are kind of controversial anyways. Supposedly most of the Yucca schiderga saponins stay in the gut. But that is hard to confirm and I could see if one has a leaky gut there may be an issue. And yet ... Yucca is often given for a leaky gut. So go figure.
Yes if GABA does that to you, you have a leaky BBB sorry. Which almost certainly means you have a leaky gut. Sorry again.