Excitotoxins: The Taste That Kills. - book reviews

Nutrition Health Review, Wntr, 1995

Russell L. Blaylock, M.D., has written a book that, if true, should bring down the entire present structure of food additive regulation. He accuses the makers of aspartame, the food processors who use it, and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of allowing the product to "pollute" the processed food industry while knowing that it contains many inherent hazards. The case against the marketers of monosodium glutamate (MSG) is equally disturbing.

Since George R. Schwartz, M.D., first exposed the dangers of MSG in his book In Bad Taste; The MSG Syndrome, and H.J. Roberts, M.D., P.A., performed similar surgery on aspartame in his book Sweetn'er Dearest, Dr. Blaylock brings up-to-date meticulously detailed information that once again implicates both of these substances in the spread of neurodegenerative conditions such as Alzheimer's disease, Lou Gehrig's disease (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS), and others.

Dr. Blaylock shows how these excitotoxins can affect a developing brain. George Schwartz has often raised the question: Is there a relationship between these deleterious substances in our foods and the dimunition in educational test scores? Blaylock makes a strong case for this assumption.

The nervous system has many brain cell receptors. Dr. Blaylock reveals how excitotoxins can cause excitation, enough to destroy nerve cells. He also sets off an alarm warning that toxic substances are being permitted to permeate the brain, often and profusely.

"What if someone were to tell you that a chemical added to food could cause brain damage in your children, and that this chemical could affect how your children's nervous system formed during development so that in later years they may have learning difficulties? What if there was scientific evidence that these chemicals could damage a critical part of the brain known to control hormones so that later in life your child might have endocrine problems? How would you feel?

"Suppose evidence were presented to you strongly suggesting that the artificial sweetener in your diet soft drink may cause brain tumors to develop, and that the number of brain tumors reported since the widespread introduction of artificial sweeteners has risen dramatically? Would that affect your decision to drink these products and especially to allow your children to drink them? What if you could be shown overwhelming evidence that one of the main ingredients in the sweetener (aspartame) could cause the same brain lesions as MSG? Would that affect your buying decisions?"

With the above introduction to his book, Dr. Blaylock begins to make his case for the charges that excitotoxins could "possibly aggravate or even precipitate" many of the neurodegenerative brain diseases, such as Parkinson's and Huntington's disease.

The author explains that when neurons (brain cells) are exposed to these substances, they become very excited and fire their impulses very rapidly until they reach a state of extreme exhaustion. Several hours later, these neurons suddenly die, as if the cells were excited to death.

Dr. Blaylock emphasizes, as did Dr. Schwartz and Dr. Roberts before him, that labels can be deceptive where the excitotoxins are concerned. The description "natural flavors" is legally permitted to be used even if the additive contains MSG. Like glutamate, he writes, aspartame is a powerful brain toxin which can produce similar brain damage.

What all of these diseases have in common is a slow destruction of brain cells that are specifically sensitive to excitotoxin damage. Neurons that use glutamate for a transmitter are destroyed by high concentrations of glutamate, while other neurons that use other transmitters are spared, Dr. Blaylock reports.

A recent development, the author notes, is that tobacco marketers are alleged to be using excitotoxins to add taste to their cigarettes. If this claim is proven true, he declares, these substances could conceivably pass through the absorptive surfaces of lung tissue and enter the bloodstream.

The author's criticisms are always accompanied by documented references to scientific papers. Of interest to both laymen and professionals are the informative studies of brain function provided.

EXCITOTOXINS: The Taste That Kills By Russell L. Baylock, M.D. Published by Health Press P.O. Box 1388 Santa Fe, New Mexico 87504 Price: $27.00 Hardcover