Re: [CH] alapyridaine taste booster
Bruce (stordock@telusplanet.net)
Fri, 11 Jul 2003 01:58:49 -0600
Hi, the following info is something I found on the web recently.
Best Regards,
Bruce.
----- Original Message -----
Subject: RE: [CH] alapyridaine taste booster
> Press release: MSG and Alapyridaine are both "natural," one is isolated
> from seaweed and the other is derived from beef stock. By the way, sh!t
> and poison ivy are also natural.
> =Mark
Yup. Don't recall the source but think it reliable that msg also occurs in
tomatoes, a close relative of peppers. So close in fact it wouldn't be
surprising to find it in chiles.
Regards,
Riley...beat the sh!t outta me, just leave the msg...
DANGER! NOT JUST TASTE ENHANCERS
by George E. Shambaugh, Jr., MD, Professor Emeritus of Otolaryngology,
Northwestern University Medical School, graduate of Harvard University
Medical School, author of three editions of Surgery of the Ear, as well as
approximately 400 articles and editorials in medical journals
In Japan in 1908 a chemist trained in Germany was looking for the substance
in Kombu seaweed that enhances the taste of food and discovered MSG
(monosodium glutamate). By 1933 Japanese cooks were using over 10 million
pounds of it to make bland recipes taste better. In 1948 quartermasters in
the American army met with the foremost food manufacturers in the United
States to discuss the Japanese technique for improving the taste of almost
any food, and MSG use in America increased rapidly. Today it is added to
most soups, chips, fast and frozen foods, prepared packaged dinners, and
canned foods. However, since the public has learned about the syndrome of
undesirable symptoms produced by MSG, food manufacturers often disguise it
as "vegetable protein," "natural flavoring," or "spices," each containing12
to 40 percent MSG. Other commonly used taste enhancers are aspartame
(NutraSweet®), cysteine, and aspartic acid. All of them enhance the taste of
foods and beverages to which they are added by exciting the taste cells on
the tongue.
There is increasing scientific evidence, however, that taste cells on the
tongue are not the only things that these taste enhancers stimulate. When
neurons in the brain are exposed to these substances, they become very
excited and fire their impulses 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 this class
of chemicals "excitotoxins."
Dr. Russell Blaylock, a neurosurgeon, has compiled some of the vital
research linking excitotoxins to injury and diseases of the nervous system.
"Unfortunately," says Blaylock, "most of the information has been buried in
technical and scientific journals, far from the public eye." His book,
Excitotoxins: The Taste That Kills, published in 1994, cites 430 such
articles.
Dr. Blaylock relates how two ophthalmologists in 1957 fed MSG to baby mice
and found that the nerve cells of the retina were destroyed by this taste
enhancer. Ten years later another neuroscientist at Washington University,
Dr. John W. Olney, repeated the experiment of giving MSG to baby mice. He
found that not only were the retinal neurocells destroyed, but brain cells
in the hypothalamus were also destroyed after a single dose of MSG. Dr.
Olney, knowing that MSG was being added to baby food, informed the United
States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of his findings, but failed to
obtain any interest or action. He and others then went directly to Congress,
testifying before a Congressional committee. The committee was sufficiently
impressed to persuade baby food manufacturers to remove MSG from their
products in 1969. But no one warned pregnant mothers to avoid MSG in their
own food.
Continuing his research, Dr. Olney demonstrated in 1974 that when MSG was
fed to pregnant Rhesus monkeys it could cause brain damage to their
offspring. Other researchers found similar results when pregnant rats were
fed MSG. Yet the FDA remained silent, and gynecologists and pediatricians
were not told to warn their patients of this danger. Critics of Olney's
research claim that humans rarely ingest the high doses of MSG given to baby
mice and pregnant monkeys. On the contrary, in humans those excitotoxins are
concentrated five times more than in experimental animals. The child's brain
is four times more sensitive to any toxins than is an adult's.
The human brain, when fully developed, contains one hundred billion neurons,
with trillions of fiber connections between them. The development of these
connections between neurons requires stimulation of the body by touch,
speech, and vision. (Unstimulated babies left undisturbed in their cribs are
delayed in their ability to sit up and to walk.) But overstimulation, as
well as understimulation, can be devastating on brain development.
Since we cannot experiment on human children, we must rely upon animal
experimentation to learn the effects of substances that are potential health
hazards. Baby mice fed MSG, for instance, grow up to be short and grossly
obese despite dietary intake in normal amounts for mice. (Today obesity is a
growing health problem. Could this be related to the heavy consumption of
the so-called "diet sodas" containing NutraSweet®, which actually promote
obesity due to the effects of the excitotoxin?)
We know that the hypothalamus is very immature at birth. The damage to this
structure of the brain by MSG leads to severe endocrine problems later in
life, among them decreased thyroid hormone, increased tendency toward
diabetes, and higher cortisone levels than normal. A question that will be
raised is: Are children receiving enough excitotoxins to damage their
hypothalamus? They may be. A child consuming a soup containing MSG plus a
drink with NutraSweet® will have a blood level of excitotoxins six times the
blood level that destroys hypothalamus neurons in baby mice. The younger the
child, the greater the danger to the brain.
There are researchers who report that MSG has no adverse effect on
hypothalamic function. Dr. C. B. Neineroff, a primary researcher in this
field, attempted to get samples of animals purported to show no neural
damage from MSG. Every time, he was denied such requests. (Why?)
While small children are more vulnerable to the effects of excitotoxins,
there is increasing evidence that those adults who are especially sensitive
to them suffer a slow destruction of brain cells. Previous traumas to the
brain, as from a fractured skull, brain concussion, or previous illnesses
affecting the brain (such as an attack of encephalitis or exposure to
chemical toxins that affect the brain), increase vulnerability to
degeneration from excitotoxins. The elderly, whose tissues have suffered the
wear and tear of previous illnesses and physical trauma over the years, are
especially vulnerable to excitotoxin damage. While there is little evidence
that food-borne excitotoxins are the only cause of Parkinson's, Alzheimer's,
Huntington's disease, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS, Lou Gehrig's
disease), there is evidence that in excess they can aggravate these
conditions, and may even precipitate them in sensitive individuals.
In human children and adults not all neurons are affected equally by
excitotoxins, for if they were, the child or adult would soon die. Instead,
the delayed loss of a neuron here and a neuron there may occur over a
considerable period of months or years before there begins to be impairment
of function. Other toxic substances in addition to excitotoxins accelerate
the death of individual neurons. Mercury, lead, aluminum, and cadmium are
pollutants to which all of us are exposed in varying concentrations and over
many years. An example is lead poisoning in children, which causes
sufficient damage to brain neurons to permanently impair the child's
learning ability. Excitotoxins in beverages and foods will increase the
damage to the brain of lead-poisoned children.
The mode of action of excitotoxins on an individual neuron has been shown to
weaken the membrane that surrounds each living cell. While exciting the
neurons to fire repeatedly, the excitotoxin allows calcium to enter the cell
through its membrane. This causes the production of free oxygen radicals,
which are believed to be the central cause for every injury and disease,
including arthritis and cancer. Fortunately, the normal healthy body
possesses antioxidants to quench free radicals before they cause serious
damage. Vitamin C in water, and vitamin E and co-enzyme Q10 in fat, help to
quench free radicals. In addition, the healthy and adequately nourished body
produces three enzymes that trap and neutralize free radicals: superoxide
dismutase, glutathione peroxidase, and catalase. These enzymes require
magnesium, chromium, zinc, copper, and selenium. All of these essential
nutrients are marginally deficient in today's American diet of processed
foods, so they need to be supplied as supplements.
If, indeed, excitotoxins such as MSG (disguised as "vegetable protein,"
"natural flavoring," or "spices") and aspartame (NutraSweet®) cysteine and
aspartic acid may be damaging the brains of children and adults, why is the
public not being informed? Dr. Olney found when he published his research in
1969 on how MSG and similar substances could damage the brains of children
that there was a firestorm of criticism, with a multitude of papers claiming
that experiments in other labs found no toxicity for MSG. Olney found that
nearly all such studies were affiliated with and paid for by the food
industry. When he testified before a government sponsored "food protection
committee," a spokesman from the food industry testified that "even if MSG
destroys the arcuate nucleus in the hypothalamus, this doesn't matter
because it was not known to have any significance." Yet, it was already well
known then that the arcuate nucleus regulates the release of essential
hormones by the pituitary! This "food protection committee" ignored Dr.
Olney's research and believed the biased reports of the food industry. Dr.
Olney concluded that the FDA, supposedly protecting the public, is clearly
dominated by powerful and well-heeled industrial giants.
Alzheimer's disease does appear to be increasing beyond the normal rate of
aging. The evidence that Alzheimer's deterioration is associated with high
levels of excitotoxins in the brain, and that there is a strong family
history of this disease, indicates that those having had a stroke, high
blood pressure, or brain trauma should restrict or totally avoid foods
containing MSG, aspartame, and similar substances.
Since free oxygen radicals play a major role in the ultimate brain damage,
my advice is to take adequate vitamin C, vitamin E, (400 to 800
International Units). The minerals zinc, selenium, and magnesium, deficient
in the usual American diet, need to be supplemented: zinc picolinate,
containing 20 milligrams of elemental zinc, twice daily; copper sulphate,
with 5 milligrams of elemental copper, once daily; selenium, 200 micrograms
twice daily; and magnesium, 500 milligrams twice daily to assist the body to
produce superoxidase dismutase, glutathione peroxidase, and catalase.
To strengthen the immune system, take cold-pressed flaxseed or linseed oil,
one or two tablespoons daily, and a diet with plenty of complex
carbohydrates, plus avoidance of refined sugar to reduce hypoglycemic
episodes. Regular exercise by walking one to three miles daily will help to
normalize blood-sugar levels. Avoid drinking more than two cups of coffee
daily.
Incidentally, just as Excitotoxins was going to press it was learned by Dr.
Blaylock that excitotoxins are being added to cigarettes to enhance their
taste. "The Taste That Kills," indeed!
___________
This article was first published in the Summer1995 Shambaugh Medical
Research Institute Newsletter #45.
2Excitotoxins: The Taste That Kills by Russell L. Blaylock, MD, copyright
1994, Health Press, Box 1388, Santa Fe, New Mexico, 87504, 264 pages, hard
back, $27.00.
Article from NOHA NEWS, Vol. XXI, No. 3, Summer 1996, pages 2-4.