Unsteady blood glucose levels impact the brain neurotransmitter tyrosine, which manages mood.
"And scientists then found that when you have very unsteady glucose levels, it impacts this neurotransmitter in your brain called tyrosine that manages your mood." (said at 0:03:39)
The speaker's statement contains fundamental biochemical errors. Tyrosine is a dietary amino acid and a precursor for catecholamine neurotransmitters (such as dopamine, norepinephrine, and epinephrine), not a neurotransmitter itself. Furthermore, there is no established scientific evidence showing that 'unsteady glucose levels' directly act on a 'neurotransmitter called tyrosine' to manage mood. While acute changes in glucose and insulin can affect plasma amino acid competition across the blood-brain barrier, the specific mechanism described by the speaker misstates basic neurobiology.
- contradicts: The catecholamine neurotransmitter precursor tyrosine increases anger during exposure to s… (Psychopharmacology 2015)
"Increasing CA activity by administration of the dietary amino acid CA precursor tyrosine may increase responsiveness to stress." (abstract, background, passage verified)
pubmedfull study (doi) - contradicts: Effect of tyrosine supplementation on clinical and healthy populations under stress or cog… (Journal of psychiatric research 2015)
"Consuming the amino-acid tyrosine (TYR), the precursor of dopamine (DA) and norepinephrine (NE), may counteract decrements in neurotransmitter function and cognitive performance." (abstract, background, passage verified)
pubmedfull study (doi)