Excitotoxins and You
by Reenie L. Mahon

After reading a book entitled Excitotoxins the Taste that Kills, by Dr. Russell L. Blaylock, I was immediately off to my kitchen to check labels to be sure there were no "excitotoxic entrees" destined for my family's consumption. My reading made me aware of the widespread use of these dangerous food additives, however, I was not prepared for the large bag of items to be culled from my cabinet. Practically every package of soup broth, sauce mix, snack crackers, and chips, some soy products, bread crumbs, tuna and even the fresh bakery bread contained one or more of these powerful brain toxins.

That experience prompted me to write this article for the busy, health conscious consumers who may not have this book on their "must read" list yet. I believe this information will be valuable to anyone who buys or consumes food. These "flavor enhancing" chemicals are added to an alarming number of foods and drinks we consume on a daily basis from supermarkets, health food stores, and restaurants.

Strong scientific evidence suggests these substances could cause brain damage in children, adolescents and adults; with strong emphasis on children and elderly individuals. They could affect the development of a child's nervous system; resulting in learning and emotional difficulties later in life. It has also been determined that the placental barrier is not an absolute barrier to the passage of excitotoxins; some such as cysteine can easily pass through from mother to child, and damage the developing brain of the baby.l.

Several of these excitotoxins are man-made and used as research tools, others are found in nature, such as glutamate, aspartate and cysteine, all are amino acids and serve as neurotransmitters. Neurotransmitters are the chemical messengers for the synaptic transfer of information in the brain. Glutamate and aspartate are two of the most common neurotransmitters found in the brain and spinal cord. However, when their concentrations rise above a critical level they can become deadly toxins to the neurons (brain cells) and to all the nerve cells connected to these neurons. The brain is equipped to handle and balance these naturally occurring amino acids from food sources. However, when high concentrations of these isolated excitotoxins are put into the bloodstream via food additives it is a seriously different situation. When the neurons are exposed to these substances, they become very excited and fire their impulses rapidly and repeatedly until they reach an extreme state of exhaustion; within hours these neurons die, as if "excited to death". Thus neuroscientists dubbed this class of chemicals "excitotoxins". They affect a specific type of neurons and cause widespread destruction of neurons in the retina of the eye, the hypothalamus, and the circumventricular organs. These are areas of the brain which control hormones, growth, the onset of puberty and many other important endocrine functions. This damage is cumulative in effect.

Why are they being added? Primarily to boost sales for food industry giants by enhancing the taste of a myriad of products, many of which are targeted for marketing to children. The snack food aisle abounds with excitotoxic chemicals, as do the canned fun-shaped pastas, soups, sugar-free soft drinks, and even baby foods and infant formulas. This group of chemicals stimulate the taste receptors on the tongue, thereby enhancing the taste of the foods to which they are added.

At the advent of their use, these chemicals were thought to be perfectly safe. However, scientific testing and inquiry began in the 1950's and by the mid 1960's there was a very compelling body of scientific evidence to refute the safety and indicate many serious health dangers connected with the use of these substances. One of the neuroscientists responsible for much of the early research, and testimony in this area, Dr. John Olney astutely pointed out the irony of the food industry practice:

"Thus, today we are witnessing an ironic situation; while knowledgeable neuroscientists are fervently attempting to develop methods for protecting CNS (brain) neurons against neurotoxic potential of endogenous Glu (glutamate) and Asp (aspartate), other elements of society are vigorously promoting the unlimited use of exogenous Glu and Asp as foods additives.2

Today the experimental evidence demonstrating the neurotoxic potential of these excitotoxins is so overwhelming as seen in the scientific citations q Dr. Blaylock's book, it can no longer be ignored.

The studies of how excitotoxins work have greatly increased our understanding of brain function and are the very basis of the degenerative brain disease process. Today, virtually ~~ of the neurodegenerative diseases are considered to be intimately related to the excitotoxic process.3 The cumulative effect of consuming this group of chemical additives has been demonstrated by extensive neuroscientific studies as the possible precipitating cause of Parkinson's disease, Huntington's disease, ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease), and Alzheimer's disease, and have been shown to further aggravate these conditions. Anyone who has a family history of any neurodegenerative disease or a personal history of hypertension, diabetes, meningitis, stroke, brain injury, brain tumor, seizure or viral encephalitis are at a particular risk when consuming foods containing these substances.

It appears it is by design this critical information is not known by the general public, and especially to those whose medical history indicates an inherently dangerous consequence of consuming foods containing added excitotoxins. The multi-million dollar producers of these additives have a very powerful lobby. This lobby unequivocally affirms the safety of these substances despite the overwhelming body of unbiased evidence of the enormous hazards to our health and to the development and normal functioning of the brain.

Despite the alleged "safety" of the products, the industry "disguises" many of the excitotoxic additives in the labeling of their products and have enlisted the assistance of the Food and Drug Administration to support this effort.* For example, monosodium glutamate is one widely used excitotoxic additive which has been documented as posing many health risks. The FDA has yielded to the lobbying efforts of the Glutamate Association to change labeling laws. The words "monosodium glutamate" is not required on food labels unless it contains 100% pure MSG. 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.5.

Many foods that do not list US•O as an ingredient, not only contain MSG, but also contain other excitotoxins of equal potency in a substance even more dangerous than MSG alone. A label designation "natural flavoring" may contain anywhere from 20-60% MSG.5. Another widely used substance known as "hydrolyzed vegetable protein", "vegetable protein", or "plant protein", is a powerful excitotoxin mixture which is often portrayed as perfectly safe and "natural" because it is made from plants. You decide how natural a product is that starts with "junk" vegetables, unfit for sale and especially selected for their high levels of glutamate. The extraction process involves the boiling of these vegetables in a vat of acid, followed by a process of neutralization with a caustic soda. The end product is the brown sludge that collects on top, which 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).6

Another excitotoxic additive is aspartate, found in the artificial sweetner NutrasweetTM.. Nutrasweet consists of phenylalanine, aspartate(50%), 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).7. Aspartate is used in a wide variety of foods, candies and beverages. It is documented that liquid forms of excitotoxins are much more toxic to the brain than solid forms because they are absorbed faster into the bloodstream and produce higher concentrations than when mixed with solid foods.

The typical American consumes an average of 10-20 grams of these highly toxic substances per day. Studies show that humans are five times more sensitive to excitotoxins than mice and twenty times more sensitive than the rhesus monkey In fact, the human species has demonstrated the highest sensitivity to excitotoxins of any animal tested.

I believe it is of paramount importance for us to consider in view of this issue, where human welfare seems to be overlooked; the security nets we rely upon are often faulty. The companies manufacturing these substances and the food industry using them in their products are huge, publicly owned corporations with powerful public relations firms/lobbies. Every time someone challenges the safety of MSG or hydrolyzed protein, the FDA invites the Glutamate Association to give its defending testimony.

A corporation has no soul or conscience. Its basic instincts are profit and growth. Although it employs human beings, their decisions are largely predicated on profit and growth imperatives, or they can be replaced. Unfortunately, community welfare does not pay dividends to stockholders, sales do. Our health is therefore not a consideration to the corporate machine; that responsibility rest upon us. "Caveat emptor" let the buyer beware. It is up to the individual to "nose out the facts" and make informed choices-or at least calculate the risks, based upon what we have learned and how it affects us.

Excitotoxins to look for before you buy:

Aspartame, aspartate, Cysteine, cysteic acid, Monosodium Glutamate (the following is a list of hidden sources of MSG )
Additives that Always Contain MSG:

Monosodium Glutamate
Hydrolyzed Vegetable Protein Hydrolyzed Protein
Hydrolyzed Plant Extract
Plant Protein Extract
Sodium Caseinate
Yeast Extract
Texturized Protein
Autolyzed Yeast
Hydrolyzed Oat Flour
Calcium Caseinate
Additives that Frequently Contain MSG:

Malt Extract
Bouillon
Stock
Natural Flavoring Seasonings
Malt Flavoring
Broth Flavoring
Natural Beef or Chicken Flavoring
Spices
Footnotes:

1.Blayloclr, Russell L., "Excitotoxins, the Taste that Kills" 2. Olney, J~W. "Excitotoxic Food Additives: Functional Teratologial Aspects" Prog.Brain Res.. 18 1988. 3. Blaylock, Russell L, "Excitotoxins: the Taste that Kills". 4. mid 5. Ibid 6. Ibid . 7. Gittleman, Jo Jo, Nutrition and our Children. 8. Blaylock, Russell L. "Excitotoxins: the Taste that Kills".