Re: [CH] alapyridaine taste booster
=Mark (mstevens@exit109.com)
Fri, 11 Jul 2003 11:01:58 -0400
Lots of complex technical jargon, but in the whole text I could find no
reference to the quantities of these substances used in the studies. Were
mice fed a hundred milligrams of excitotoxins? A gram? A pound? Also, the
term "excitotoxin" does not appear to be an accepted medical term, much the
same as "Endocrine Disruptor ."
=Mark
At 01:58 AM 7/11/2003 -0600, Bruce wrote:
>To: <chile-heads@globalgarden.com>
>Subject: Re: [CH] alapyridaine taste booster
>
>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.