11/08/2013

EXCITOTOXINS - The Taste That Kills

Excitotoxins are food additives that can stimulate nerve cells in the brain to death. 
The most common excitotoxins in the diet are MSG and aspartame. MSG, in particular, is present in almost all processed foods, but is often called by different names. It can even be in foods labelled 'No MSG'.


There are a growing number of clinicians and basic scientists who are convinced that a group of compounds called excitotoxins play a critical role in the development of several neurological disorders including migraines, seizures, infections, abnormal neural development, certain endocrine disorders, neuropsychiatric disorders, learning disorders in children, AIDS dementia, episodic violence, lyme borreliosis, hepatic encephalopathy, specific types of obesity, and especially the neurodegenerative diseases, such as ALS, Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease, Huntington's disease, and olivopontocerebellar degeneration.

What is an excitotoxin?
These are substances, usually acidic amino acids, that react with specialized receptors in the brain in such a way as to lead to destruction of certain types of neurons. Glutamate is one of the more commonly known excitotoxins, but over seventy have thus far been identified. MSG is the sodium salt of glutamate. Glutamate is a normal neurotransmitter in the brain. In fact, it is the most commonly used neurotransmitter by the brain. Defenders of MSG and aspartame use, usually say: How could a substance that is used normally by the brain cause harm? This is because, glutamate, as a neurotransmitter, exists in the extracellular fluid only in very, very small concentrations - no more than 8 to 12uM. When the concentration of this transmitter rises above this level, the neurons begin to fire abnormally. At higher concentrations, the cells undergo this specialized process of delayed cell death, excitotoxicity. That is, they are excited to death.
It should also be appreciated that the effects of excitotoxin food additives generally are not dramatic. Some individuals may be especially sensitive and develop severe symptoms and even sudden death from cardiac irritability; but, in most instances, the effects are subtle and develop over a long period of time. While the food additives, MSG and aspartame, are probably not direct causes of the neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer's dementia, Parkinson's disease, or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), they may well precipitate these disorders and certainly worsen their pathology as we shall see. It may be that many people with a propensity for developing one of these diseases would never develop a full blown disorder had it not been for their exposure to high levels of food borne excitotoxin additives. Some may have had a very mild form of the disease had it not been for the exposure. Likewise, food borne excitotoxins may be harmful to those suffering from strokes, head injury and HIV infection, and certainly should not be used in a hospital setting.



References: Food Additive Excitotoxins and Degenerative Brain Disorders by Russell L. Blaylock, MD  htt://www.whale.to/a/blaylock5.html

No comments:

Post a Comment

Note: only a member of this blog may post a comment.