Excitotoxins – Neurotransmitters in Over-Drive

Excitotoxins – Part 2 MSG, Aspartame dangers uncovered.

You will find part 1 here:

https://www.drjomd.com/2011/08/excitotoxins-part-1/

And hidden sources of MSG here:

https://www.drjomd.com/2011/08/hidden-sources-of-msg/

Turns out the original assumption that glutamate supplied energy to the brain was almost right. But rather than supplying energy to the brain glutamate, aspartate and several other amino acids carry nerve messages from one nerve to another and are thus known as neurotransmitters. With proper regulation and in the right concentration and balance these amino acids function as vital transmitters of information that regulates bodily functions.

Some of Us Are More Susceptible to the Adverse Effects of Excitotoxins

To protect the brain from toxins or toxic levels of nutrients the blood brain barrier keeps some substances from entering the brain and allows others to pass through. However, the blood brain barrier may malfunction in persons with a stroke, brain tumor, head injury, infection or degenerative disease. Some areas of the brain never develop a barrier system including the hypothalamus, pineal and a few other areas. Thus they are more vulnerable to the effects of excitotoxins. Damage to the hypothalamus causes malfunctioning in the hormonal system.

Since the developing brain of an infant or child gradually develops an effective blood brain barrier, their brains are more vulnerable to damage caused by ingested toxins.

Throughout our lives, but especially in the developmental years our amazing brains are always changing and repairing themselves, wiring and rewiring through trillions of nerve fiber pathways. This process, called plasticity, makes the brain infinitely more complex than a computer. What an amazing organ.

Of all the neurotransmitters glutamate plays the most important part in the brain development of the fetus and the plasticity in the adult. In experiments on animals too much glutamate can cause the brain to be miswired. If MSG and aspartate (NutraSweet) pass from what mama has eaten into the fetus in the womb, baby’s brain may be miswired.

Because the brain at birth is still going through an extensive rewiring process, newborns and toddlers who are fed these excitotoxins are at very high risk for abnormal brain wiring.

Also, the brain develops in a certain sequence of events with critical timing of each sequence. Over stimulation with excitotoxins “may severely interfere with this delicate process and possibly lead to learning disorders, emotional illness, or even major psychological disease later in life.”

The critical period of brain development occurs from the first week of conception to six or seven years old. Dr. Blaylock suggests that the effects of excitotoxin damage during this critical period may be subtle, manifesting as a slight dyslexia, or more obvious as outbursts of uncontrollable anger. More severe cases may result in autism, schizophrenia, seizures, and cerebral palsy or episodes of violence and criminal behavior in later years. There’s no proof that excitotoxins cause these conditions in humans, but these behavioral changes have been observed in animals exposed to excitotoxins.

In animal experiments the dose of MSG needed to damage the developing nervous system in baby animals is only one-fourth of the dose needed to damage the adult animal nervous system.

Pregnant women frequently eat large doses of MSG and other excitotoxins in their food. According to one study restaurants add as much as 9.9 grams of MSG to a single dish, enough to cause brain damage in experimental animals. In soups or other liquids, MSG is absorbed much faster and more completely, causing higher blood levels of MSG and greater toxicity to the brain. Maybe that’s why I stopped eating restaurant or canned soup. I just do not feel good after eating it.

And there’s more to this story:

https://www.drjomd.com/2011/09/excitotoxins-part-3/

https://www.drjomd.com/2011/09/excitotoxins-part-4/

Dr. Blaylock lays this information out brilliantly in his book Excitotoxins: The Taste That Kills. 

Chat with you later,

Dr. Jo