subject: What You Need to Know About Aspartame and MSG [print this page] What You Need to Know About Aspartame and MSG
By this point in time, most people are aware to some degree about the problems or dangers associated with Aspartame, MSG, and hydrolyzed vegetable proteins. Some of us know we shouldn't consume them, and that they may negatively affect their health. However, most people are unaware of the truly toxic nature of these chemicals, and that just because they are in our foods' doesn't mean we should be eating them. I would like you to have a better, more comprehensive understanding of what you are consuming every time you have a diet soda, a sugar-free gelatin dessert or how many refined, processed canned, bottled and packaged foods are adding to your toxic burden. Many health professionals have been warning for years about the dangers to the nervous system, brain and other systems. However, unless you are a researcher, the chances are good that you do not know enough to protect you from these excitotoxins.' An excitotoxin' is a substance, usually an amino acid, that acts as a neurotransmitter in the brain. Essentially it carries chemical messages from brain cell to brain cell. Glutamate is one of those amino acids, and is probably the one used most often by the brain to transmit these messages. Aspartate is another such amino acid. MSG, Aspartame and hydrolyized vegetable proteins are glutamates/aspartates. Why is this a problem if these are naturally occurring substances? Because it occurs naturally only in very small quantities in the brain, and to transmit these messages, only requires very small amounts. When quantities such as those present in the foods containing Aspartame, Equal, MSG, et al. are introduced into the body, these levels are greatly increased. This causes brain cells to overload and die. Since MSG was first introduced into the market in the 1940's, the amount in our food supplies has doubled every 10 years. By the early 1970's over 200,000 metric TONS were in our food supplies. Aspartame has also been increasingly added to foods to make them sweet, and to supposedly reduce the hazards' of too much sugar consumption. Over 800 million tons of this deadly substance has been consumed since it was first introduced into the market. Food manufacturers have become very stealthy in their ability to camouflage these substances in their food products, because they know the public has become increasingly aware of their toxic nature. As a consumer, you need to know that these chemicals are not only in just a few foods that you may think of immediately, like diet soda or chewing gum. They are in MOST REFINED, PROCESSED FOODS, and are being labeled in many creative ways such as: natural flavoring, yeast extract, soy protein extract, un-named spices, textured/texturized proteins, and more.
People who embrace vegetarianism often consume much more soy than those who eat meat because soy is high in protein and can be used as a meat substitute. Soy protein isolates are some of the foods highest in glutamates, so those who eat the most soy have the highest dementia and brain atrophy. These people are often dealing with chronic migraine, and getting off soy can stop them. Hydrolyzed vegetable protein and caseinate have lots of glutamates in them that damaged the nervous system and they are found in baby foods. This introduces our most helpless and dependent little people to brain toxicity at a very young age. Every food or drink you consume with NutraSweet and MSG accumulates in your body, and does not leave. These toxins are particularly damaging to brain and nervous system cells, often being factors in such health problems as seizures, migraines, neuritis, Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, ALS, Huntington's, ADD/ADHD, Autism, endocrine imbalances, and because of the brain centers that are affected, obesity. Additionally, they have been found to contribute to and cause heart attacks often associated with arrythmias but they are never diagnosed as the causes. Emotional challenges such as chronic, severe depression and anxiety are common from excitotoxic exposures. These chemicals also destroy the cells in the pancreas which produce insulin, leading to insulin deficiency and eventually diabetes II. These horrible toxins convert to formaldehyde in the liver. This is the fluid used to embalm the dead; it has no place in a living body. Formaldehyde causes damage to DNA and causes cancer. It also feeds cancer, promotes its growth and makes it metastasize. That means it becomes mobile and moves to other organs and systems. The body has created a mechanism to protect the brain from these toxins, called the blood-brain barrier. However, glutamates have been found to open this barrier so the brain is not protected. People with Alzheimer's have lost most of this barrier. So, to sum up, we need to know how to find the hidden glutamates and other excitotoxins in our foods. The best way to avoid them completely is to avoid processed, packaged, bottled, and canned foods. Train yourself to shop the perimeters of the grocery store, where you will avoid most of these processed foods. Begin taking Vitamin E, curcumin and ginkgo biloba to block glutamates that you may be exposed to without knowing. Teach your children about the dangers of these additives, which do nothing to preserve our food, but rather only make it taste better and sweeter. Learn to appreciate the natural tastes of foods, grow a garden, and don't let the big chemical companies decide your fate.
