Fwd: MSG (it's long)

[Guest guest]

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FriendsForHealthNaturally, " Robin Stone " <rstone@k...>

wrote:

Thought I would share some things I found interesting from the

book " EXCITOTOXINS THE TASTE TO KILL. " by Russell L.Baylock 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 fount 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. Large amounts of MSG and hydrolyzed

vegetable protein (a compound that contains 3 EXCITOTOXINS). 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.

 

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 cysteinie - 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. Hydrolyze 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

scarped 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 industry. All these chemicals stimulate the taste

cells in the tongue, thereby enhancing the taste of food.

 

Another excitotoxin additive is the artificial sweetener Nurta 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 buildup in the brain. For example, disorders such as

strokes, hypoxic brain injury, hypoglycemic brain damage, seizures,

migraine headaches, hypoxic brain damage 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, infact 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 mfgs. 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, they 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 n 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 substance 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 neurotransmitter (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 apartane 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.

 

 

I could go on, but you really should by this book! It's one I have

found myself reading over and over.

 

Here's to your health!

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. Manufactures disguise

MSG and related toxins in foods disguised as hydrolyzed vegetable

protein, natural flavorings and spices, each of those may contain 12%-

40% MSG.

 

 

Robin

rstone@k...

http://www.kua.net/~rstone

http://www.FriendsForHealthNaturally

It is not the truth that will heal you, but the knowledge of the

truth.

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