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Excitotoxins

By Eliza Bicknell of Lotus Petal yoga

Glutamate and aspartate are two of the most common neurotransmitters found in the brain and spinal cord. The brain is equipped to handle and balance these naturally occurring amino acids from natural food sources. Man made food additives such as monosodium glutamate (MSG) and aspartame are not natural and the brain is not equipped to handle and balance these. Do not be fooled by food manufacturers claiming that substances such as MSG are naturally occurring and safe for your health. Quite to the contrary.

MSG and aspartame are called excitotoxins. An excitotoxin is a group of chemical transmitters that work by exciting brain cells to death.

When high concentrations of these isolated excitotoxins are put into the bloodstream via man-made food additives such as monosodium glutamate (MSG) and aspartame, certain neurons in the brain are killed. This occurs because the glutamate and aspartic acid (found in aspartame) allow the influx of too much calcium into the cells. This influx triggers excessive amounts of free radicals, which kill the cells.

This influx occurs for a variety of reasons. The blood brain barrier (BBB), which normally protects the brain from excess glutamate and aspartate as well as toxins may not be fully developed as is the case in early childhood. In addition, it does not fully protect all areas of the brain. It is also possible that due to acute conditions (accidents involving head trauma) or chronic conditions the blood brain barrier becomes damaged and allows seepage of excess glutamate and aspartate into the brain even when it is still pretty much intact.

Thus, excess glutamate and aspartate slowly begin to destroy neurons. The worst part of this is that the large majority (75 percent or more) of neural cells in a particular area of the brain are killed before any clinical symptoms of a chronic illness are noticed. Today, virtually all of the neurodegenerative diseases are considered to be intimately related to the excitotoxic process. The effect is cumulative over time. Diseases such as Parkinson's disease, Huntington's disease, and ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease) have been shown linked to excessive consumption of this group of chemical additives. A few other chronic illnesses such as multiple sclerosis, Alzheimers disease, dementia and memory loss have also been linked to by long-term excitotoxin exposure.

The typical American consumes an average of 10-20 grams of these highly toxic excitotoxin substances per day.

Man made excitotoxins are found in many of the foods we eat on a daily basis. They enhance the flavor of foods are so are used to boost sales for food industry giants by enhancing taste. They stimulate the taste receptors on the tongue, thereby enhancing the taste of the foods to which they are added. Many of these products are marketed to children. The snack food aisle is filled with processed excitotoxic chemicals in foods such as canned pastas, soups, sugar-free soft drinks, and even baby foods and infant formulas.

Check an ingredient list when buying packaged food and you may see MSG, a major excitotoxin labeled, but more likely you will see things like things like natural spices, natural flavors, audolyzed yeast extract, spices and many other misleading terms. This is because MSG needs to be identified as MSG only when it is 100% MSG. A label designation "natural flavoring" may contain anywhere from 20-60% MSG for example. Also, MSG is not required to be listed by any name if one product containing pure MSG is an ingredient in another food; as seen by example in canned soup. If broth is used to make a soup, and the broth contains pure MSG , MSG does not have to be listed as an ingredient. If the broth was sold alone, it would be required to be listed.

Many foods not only contain MSG, but also contain other excitotoxins of equal strength. For example, other widely used substances known as "hydrolyzed vegetable protein", "vegetable protein", or "plant protein", all of which you might read and think, hmmm that sounds good for me, are a powerful excitotoxin mixtures and anything but good for you. They are often portrayed as natural and safe because they are made from plants. However, this is how they are made: "junk" vegetables, unfit for sale and especially selected for their high levels of glutamate are boiled in a vat of acid. Next they are neutralized with caustic soda and the final product is a brown sludge that collects at the top. This is scraped off and allowed to dry. Hydrolyzed protein is high in three known excitotoxins; glutamate, aspartate and cystoic acid (converts to cysteine in the body).

And it doesn’t stop there. When you go to a restaurant MSG and other excitotoxins are everywhere. Ask to see an ingredient list. Most managers and restaurant employees don’t even know they have MSG or other excitotoxins in the food. Soy sauce has MSG in it but it is not labeled as such and most Chinese restaurant employees don’t even know this. Its not just Chinese restaurants either, fast food such as that from Burger King, McDonalds, Wendy's, Taco Bell, every restaurant, even the sit down ones like TGIF, Chilis', Applebees and Denny's use MSG in abundance. Kentucky Fried Chicken seemed to be the WORST offender: MSG is in every chicken dish, salad dressing and gravy.

Another excitoxin is aspartame, which is found in the artificial sweetner Nutrasweet. Nutrasweet consists of phenylalanine, aspartic acid(40%), and methanol(wood alcohol). At 86 degrees, aspartame emits methanol, formaldehyde, formic acid, and DKP( a brain tumor agent). In addition, it exhibits the damage to the neurons described earlier, and alters DNA (in lab tests). Aspartate is used in a wide variety of foods, candies and beverages. I’ll post an intel later about the harmful effects of this terrible substance so stay tuned.
According to researchers and physicians studying the adverse effects of aspartame, the following chronic illnesses can be triggered or worsened by ingesting of aspartame (and other excitotoxins as mentioned above): Brain tumors, multiple sclerosis, epilepsy, chronic fatigue syndrome, parkinson's disease, alzheimer's, mental retardation, lymphoma, birth defects, fibromyalgia, and diabetes.

What’s the bottom line here? Man made excitotoxins are harmful to your health when consumed in abundance and over long periods of time, therefore, they should be avoided whenever possible. Read ingredient labels and select natural and unprocessed foods whenever possible.

Contributor's Note

Excitotoxins: The Taste That Kills by Russell L. Blaylock, MD (the worlds leading expert on the topic) is an excellent book that discusses this in great deatil. I highly recommend it.

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My grandfather lived to be 102 and it was probably due in part to eating fresh whole foods and not the additive junk that we have today. If the FDA knows all of these facts, what are they doing about them?
Great intel, Eliza.
Frederick

Thanks for your note Fredrick, The FDA is truly corrupt, its sad but true. They ahve soeld out to big agribusiness, corporations and big pharmica. A great book - Food Politics discusses it all. It does make me sad, all the stuff thats in our food and how its raised and most people have no idea. Thats awesome your grandfather lived so long, and you are right, it was probably due to his diet. I am planning to make it to 100 myself :)

Cudos to you Eliza for bringing forward this very important information! I really enjoy reading your excellent intel. "We are destroyed from a lack of knowledge." Keep up the great writing.

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