MSG is my issue. MSG:
the toxic cousin of toxic aspartame. But
when the greedy dairy industry proposed to hide
aspartame more deeply in “flavored milk” -- not just use
aspartame in "flavored milk" -- it was more than I could stomach.
If you’ve been following the Truth in Labeling Campaign, you
know that Jack Samuels had a life-threatening sensitivity of processed free
glutamic acid (MSG). Searching for
insight into his problem, he found that the glutamic acid portion of monosodium
glutamate kills brain cells in the area of the hypothalamus and causes
subsequent endocrine disorders;[1]
and he found that aspartic acid, a second neurotoxic amino acid, does exactly
the same.[2]
Over time, Jack found out more about the aspartic acid in
aspartame. Glutamic acid and aspartic
acid are structural analogs, they cause the same brain damage in the same
regions of the brain, and both are endocrine disruptors. Subsequently Jack found that with a single
exception[3],
MSG and aspartame cause the same adverse reactions.[4],[5]
There is something else you should know about the
relationship between glutamic acid and aspartic acid. What researchers found to be true of glutamic
acid was also true of aspartic acid. They
load on the same receptors in the brain and nervous system and cause the same
adverse reactions; and since glutamic acid was easier to work with,[6]
relatively little research on the toxic effects of aspartic acid per se was
done. Thus when you hear from the
aspartame industry (which in my thinking includes the FDA) that there is very
little research pointing to the toxic potential of aspartic acid or aspartame,
you need to realize that the abundance of research that points to the toxic
potential of glutamic acid also points to the toxic potential of aspartic acid
and aspartame.
In the blogs that follow, you will find the proposal of the
dairy industry to change the standard of identify for “flavored milk” to better hide the use of aspartame from consumers.
In the second blog, we outline the sordid history of
aspartame’s approval for use in food.
In the third blog, we present data that demonstrate that the
aspartic acid in aspartame, and aspartame itself, have toxic potential; and we take
the opportunity to tell you how Ajinomoto’s International Glutamate Technical
Committee used aspartame-laced placebos in their double-blind studies on the
safety of monosodium glutamate.
References
[2] Kizer JS, Nemeroff CB, Youngblood WW.
Neurotoxic amino acids and structurally related analogs. Pharmacological Reviews. 1978;29(4):301-318.
Olney
JW. Brain damage and oral intake of certain amino acids. In: Transport Phenomena in the Nervous System:
Physiological and Pathological Aspects. Levi G, Battistin L, Lajtha A, Eds.
New York: Plenum Press, 1976.
also: Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology. 1976;69:497-506.
Olney
JW, Ho OL. Brain damage in infant mice following oral intake of glutamate,
aspartate or cysteine. Nature. 1970;227:609-611.
Olney
JW, Ho OL, Rhee V. Cytotoxic effects of acidic and sulphur containing amino
acids on the infant mouse central nervous system. Exp Brain
Res. 1971;14:61-67.
[3] One eyed blindness, possibly caused by the methanol in aspartame
[4] Adverse reactions to MSG www.truthinlabeling.org/FDA_ARMS_MSG.1997.pdf
[5] Reactions to aspartame www.truthinlabeling.org/FDA_ARMS_Asp.1997.pdf
[6] Olney JW. Personal communication
