GABA powder

pittybitty

@sunsunsun High GABA means serotonin is low, it's probably that.

sunsunsun

@pittybitty you're one of those people who can't bring themselves to concede a point aren't you?

jamezb46

@pittybitty I was reflecting on the significance of whether oral GABA penetrates the CNS or not and I'm not sure

even if it can if it can substantially and persistently elevate GABA-ergic signaling directly in the CNS
if it can't why that would be any significant evidence that it could not nevertheless produce a state of calm that indirectly influences the whole organism and hence the CNS

To give an analogy, consider massage. I (and many others) find massage to be very relaxing. Does massage "directly and persistently elevate GABA-ergic signaling in the mammalian CNS". Well, no. Obviously not.

Does that mean it can't produce calmness that does indirectly influence the brain and spinal cord? No. It obviously does.

The heart and digestive system both have GABA receptors, so even if oral GABA is not CNS-penetrant, who cares? If the heart and gut have enhanced inhibitory tone as a consequence of the oral GABA, surely the brain will register that and be more at ease, and that's not even factoring in the influence of the gut on the CNS via the vagus nerve.

In summary, I'm not sure if the "CNS-penetration or bust" paradigm even makes sense for the same reason that massage clearly has CNS effects without those effects being "direct".

sunsunsun

@jamezb46 le "it can't cross the BBB therefore can't work" is the same level of midwittery as Redditors still going on about how collagen peptides are a scam because "the peptides get digested into single aminos anyways" despite there being studies with radio labelling proving some get absorbed as peptides not single aminos

these same pieces of garbage who advocate for depersoning people based on decisions not to take the wuflu jabs and who engage in their own approved racist speech against certain people who it is societally acceptable to be racist to while downvoting and banning anyone who Is racist against George Floyd, who also celebrate murder when it is against people they dont like and committed by an attractive male, will also freely admit that mood can be dictated by gut derived serotonin (ofc they still call it the "happy" hormone or whatever) yet they will at the same time say stuff like gaba not crossing the BBB in big amounts is proof it doesn't really work

these people are actually ontologically evil and there are farm animals deserving of more respect than them, not to say anything bad about farm animals.

LucH

@jamezb46 said in GABA powder:

The heart and digestive system both have GABA receptors, so even if oral GABA is not CNS-penetrant, who cares?

I'd like to try to put the ball back in the center.
The question is not to know/ confirm that GABA powder can or not cross the BBB, nor whether there are GABA receptors in the gastrointestinal tract and in the muscles (cardiomyocytes and the cardiac conduction system). Yes, there are some.
The main question here is that there is interaction between the microbiome and the vagus nerve. We know butyrate is a substitute for several strains.
Butyrate is the star among SCFAs (with propionate) as it upregulates the tight junction proteins (occludin, claudin-1 and -4and ZO-1 (zonulin): Tight junction expression, anti-inflammatory signaling (via HDAC inhibition) and hypoxic barrier maintenance (via oxygen consumption in colonocytes). Butyrate literally energizes the gut barrier.
So if we accept that the GABA shunt is a pathway for enhancing a well-balanced microbiota, no need to know / confirm that GABA powder can or cannot cross the BBB.
GABA → Succinate = substrate for some bacteria that convert it into butyrate, a key SCFA.
But we should know how and when to use GABA powder.
More info:
How is GABA powder useful for microbiota?
GABA → succinate → butyrate pathway: The Microbial Power Route.
How gut bacteria convert GABA through the shunt and succinate pathway to fuel and protect colonocytes of the linen walls
https://mirzoune-ciboulette.forumactif.org/t2153-english-corner-how-is-gaba-powder-useful-for-microbiota#30480