Prove it. Empty talk might get you far in some circles, but not around here (if I have anything to say about it).
[h1]MSG (monosodium glutamate), Excitotoxins[/h1]
Seizures: The MSG Connection
From the book: "EXCITOTOXINS THE TASTE THAT KILLS"
by Russell L. Blaylock M.D.
MSG (monosodium glutamate) is a taste enhancing and hydrolyzed vegetable protein. At the time of discovery, MSG was thought to be safe since it was a natural substance (an amino acid). The amount of MSG alone added to foods has doubled in every decade since the 1940's and by 1972 262,000 metric tons of MSG were produced.
In 1957 two ophthalmologists, Lucas and Newhouse decided to test MSG on infant mice in an effort to study an eye disease known as hereditary retinal dystrophy. When they examined the eye tissue of the sacrificed animals they made a startling discovery. MSG had destroyed all the nerve cells in the inner layers of the animals retina which are the visual receptor cells of the eye.
Ten years later John W. Olney, M.D. a neuroscientist working for the Department of Psychiatry at Washington University in St. Louis repeated Lucus and Newhouse's experiment in infant mice. He found that MSG was not only toxic to the retina, but also to the brain. When he examined the animals brains, he discovered that specialized cells in a critical area of the animals brain, the
hypothalamus, were destroyed after a single dose of MSG.
At this time the concentrations of MSG found in baby foods was equal to that used to create brain lesions in experimental animals and in all these experiments, immature animals were found to be much more vulnerable to the toxic effects of MSG than older animals (this was true for all animal species tested).
The FDA refused to take action after Dr. Olney informed the FDA and it was only after his testimony before a Congressional committee that the food manufactures agreed to remove MSG from baby foods.
But instead of adding MSG, added
hydrolyzed vegetable protein, instead. Today EXCITOTOXINS are still added to our food, usually in the form of
caseinate, beef or
chicken broth, or
flavoring.
In experimental animals "MSG babies" are found to be short in stature, obese and have difficulty reproducing. This effect only becomes evident long after the initial use of MSG exposure. More detailed studies have found that "MSG babies" have severe disorders involving several hormones normally produced by the hypothalamus.
MSG is not the only taste "enhancing" food additive known to cause damage to the nervous system. They all share one important property.
When
neurons are exposed to these substances, they become very excited and fire their impulses very rapidly until they reach a state of "extreme exhaustion". Several hours later these neurons suddenly die as if the cells were excited to death.
As a result, neuroscientists have dubbed these class of chemicals "EXCITOTOXINS."
Several EXCITOTOXINS are man made,-- others are found in nature-- such as glutamate, aspartate and cysteine - all which are amino acids.
MSG is a modified from of 'glutamic acid' in which sodium is added to the molecule. But the toxic portion is the *glutamic* acid, not the sodium.
Often manufactures will mix MSG with other substances to "disguise" it.
Hydrolyzed vegetable protein also referred to as
vegetable protein, or plant protein is a mixture made from "junk" vegetables,--
unfit for sale, especially selected so as to have naturally high contents of "glutamate".
The extraction process of "hydrolysis" involves boiling these vegetables in a vat of
acid, followed by the process of neutralization with
caustic soda. The resulting product is a
brown sludge that collects on top. This is scraped off and allowed to dry and the end product is a brown powder that is high in 3 known EXCITOTOXINS -- glutamate, aspartate and cystoic acid (which converts in the body to cysteine).
It's then added to the food manufacture.
All these chemicals
stimulate the
taste cells in the tongue, thereby enhancing the taste of food. Another excitotoxin additive is the artificial sweetener
Nutra-sweet, 40% of the compound is composed of the excitotoxin "aspartate". Like glutamate, aspartate is a powerful
brain toxin, which can produce similar neuron damage.
It is well recognized that 'liquid' forms of excitotoxins are much more
toxic to the brain than dry forms, as they absorb faster and produce higher blood levels than when mixed with solid foods.
But the negative effects of excitotoxins are not limited to small children. There is growing evidence that excitotoxins play a major role in a whole group of degenerative brain diseases in adults - especially the elderly.
These diseases include Alzheimer's, Parkinson's disease, Huntington disease, Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) and more disorders of the nervous system.
What all these disease have in common is a slow
destruction of brain cells that are specifically sensitive to excitotoxin damage. More and more diseases of the nervous system are being linked to excitotoxin build-up in the brain.
For example, disorders such as strokes, hypoxic brain injury, hypoglycemic brain damage,
seizures, migraine headaches, hypoxic brain damage, ADD, ADHD, and even AIDS dementia have been linked to excitotoxins 'damage'.
There is evidence that some individuals born with "metabolic" defects in certain brain cells may be particularly susceptible to excitotoxin damage.
The food industry and representatives of the glutamate manufactures have joined together to fight anyone who would dare criticize the use of flavor enhances, in fact they have formed a special lobby group to counter any negatives about their product.
This group is called the Glutamate Association and is made up of representatives of major US food manufacturers and the Ajinomoto G. based in Japan, the chief manufacturer of MSG and hydrolyzed protein.
The 'neuron system' within the hypothalamus appears to use glutamate as a neurotransmitter. The pituitary gland "Master Gland" controls the other endocrine glands, such as the adrenals, the thyroid and reproductive organs by releasing small amounts of it's controlling
hormones into the blood.
What controls the pituitary gland, the hypothalamus - it controls hormone releasing factors that stimulate the pituitary to release hormones. By the feed back control, the hypothalamus "regulates" the hormone balance in the body.
Sort of a hormone thermostat.
The discovery by Dr. Olney was particularly important, because the hypothalamus plays an important role in "controlling" so many areas of the body.
The hypothalamus regulates growth, the onset of puberty, most of the endocrine glands, appetite, sleep cycles and waking patterns, the biological clock and even "consciousness" itself. When MSG feed in doses similar to those found in human diets, destroys
hypothalamic neurons. Later experiments demonstrated that MSG could cause the hypothalamus to secrete excessive amounts of a reproductive hormone (luteinizing hormone) which is associated with an early onset of puberty. Many of these endocrine effects appeared at an older age.
The primary purpose of us eating is to support the chemical reactions of the body. Many of the substances absorbed from our food plays a vital role in the overall metabolic process of life. When adult humans are fed 100-150 milligrams per kilogram of body weight of MSG, their blood levels rise 20 times higher than normal as compared to a four fold rise seen in experimental mice fed a comparable dose. A child's brain is four times more 'sensitive' than an adult brain to these toxins.
Glutamate and aspartate are "s" neurotransmitters (the keys) found normally in the brain and spinal cord and even though they are two of the most common transmitter chemicals in the brain and spinal core, when their concentrations rise above a critical level they become deadly "toxins" to the neurons containing "glutamate receptors" (the locks).
What this means is that excessive glutamate will not only
kill the 'neurons' with the receptors for glutamate, but it will also kill any neuron that happens to be connected to it, even if that neuron uses another type of transmitter. Both glutamate and aspartate can cause neurons to become extremely 'excited' and if given in large enough doses, they can cause the cells to degenerate and die. It is for this reason that the nervous system carefully controls the concentration of these two amino acids in the fluid surrounding the neurons (called the extracellular space). Even small doses can damage these neurons without actually killing them. Within 15-30 minutes after being exposed to high doses of MSG, neurons suspended in tissue culture are seen to 'swell' like
balloons. Within 3 hrs. those neurons are not only
dead, but the bodies defense mechanism begins to haul away the "debris".
Be aware, the FDA does not regulate the amount of carcinogens allowed in "hydrolyzed vegetable protein" or the amount of hydrolyzed vegetable protein allowed to be added to food products.
Manufacturers disguise MSG- in foods it is disguised as hydrolyzed vegetable protein, natural flavorings and spices, each of those may contain 12%-40% MSG.
[h1]MSG-free: Avoiding the hidden sources[/h1]
-- Sufferers of monosodium glutamate (MSG) toxicity syndromes have long been dismissed by the makers of glutamate and food additives and by the FDA, whose labeling standards for foods containing the controversial flavor enhancer are fairly lax. For many of these MSG sufferers, the experience of coping with the ambiguities of food labeling leaves them feeling like Han Solo navigating his way through an asteroid field. Not only is it confusing -- it can be very dangerous. ~WebMD
Cont'd Here: http://life-enthusiast.com/index/Articles/Blaylock/MSG:_Excitotoxins[url]http://life-enthusiast.com/index/Articles/Blaylock/MSG:_Excitotoxins[/URL]
MSG is a toxic substance; as in poisonous. Much as some here love to be contrary, the evidence on this is irrefutable if one institutes an honest inquiry.
