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NO MORE “TASTE POWDER”
A growing number of
clinicians and basic scientists 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 neuro-degenerative diseases, such as ALS [amyotrophic lateral
sclerosis], Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, Huntington’s
disease, and olivopontocerebellar degeneration.
An enormous amount of
both clinical and experimental evidence has accumulated over the
past decade supporting this basic premise. Yet the FDA still
refuses to recognise the immediate and long term danger to the
public caused by the practice of allowing various excitotoxins to be
added to the food supply, such as MSG (monosodium glutamate),
hydrolyzed vegetable protein, and aspartame.
The amount of these
neurotoxins added to our food has increased enormously since their
first introduction. For example, since 1948 the amount of MSG added
to foods has doubled every decade. By 1972 262,000 metric tons
were being added to foods. Over 800 million pounds of aspartame
have been consumed in various products since it was first approved.
Ironically, these food
additives have nothing to do with preserving food or protecting its
integrity. All are used to alter the taste of food. MSG,
hydrolyzed vegetable protein, and natural flavouring are used to
enhance the taste of food. Aspartame is an artificial sweetener.
These toxins (excitotoxins) are not present in just a few foods, but
rather in almost all processed foods. In many cases they are being
added in disguised forms, such as natural flavouring, spices, yeast
extract, textured protein, soy protein extract, etc.
Experimentally, we know
that when subtoxic levels of excitotoxins are given to animals in
divided doses, the experience full toxicity, i.e., they are
synergistic. Also, liquid forms of excitotoxins, as occur in soups,
gravies, and diet soft drinks, are more toxic than added to solid
foods. …
So what is an
excitotoxin? These are substances, usually acidic amino acids, that
react with specialised 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. MSG is the sodium salt of
glutamate. This amino acid is a normal neurotransmitter in the
brain. In fact, it is the brain’s most commonly used
neurotransmitter. Defenders of MSG and aspartame 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 12 μM.
When the concentration of this transmitter rises above this level,
the neurons begin to fire abnormally. At higher concentrations, the
cells undergo a specialised process of delayed cell death known as
excitotoxicity, that is, they are excited to death.
… 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.
While the food additives MSG and aspartame are probably not direct
causes of the neuro-degenerative diseases (Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s,
or ALS) they may well precipitate these disorders and certainly
worsen their pathology …
--Dr. Russell L.
Blaylock in Dr. Thomas Dorman’s Fact, Fiction & Fraud in Modern
Medicine. Monthly, $69.95/year from 216 Railroad Avenue North,
Kent, WA 98032. After reading this Susan and I began checking
ingredients on food labels. You’ll be astonished how many products
contain “natural flavouring, spices, yeast extract, textured
protein, soy protein extract, etc.” I know organic or untreated
foods are often hard to find and expensive, but the more I read the
more I am convinced that is the safest way to eat. – FS.
July 2000
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