Love for Life

The Hidden Danger in Your Food
By Gailon Totheroh

Part One - The Hidden Danger in Your Food
Part One - The Hidden Danger in Your Food

Part Two - Your Brain's Biggest Enemy
Part Two - Your Brain's Biggest Enemy

Part Three - MSG, Cancer and Your Heart
Part Three - MSG, Cancer and Your Heart

Part Four - Avoiding the MSG Threat
Part Four - Avoiding the MSG Threat

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Part One: The Hidden Danger in Your Food

CBN News Science and Medical Reporter: http://CBNNews.com
29th May 2008

JACKSON, Mississipp

MSG has been a public buzzword since it was taken out of baby foods in the late 60s.

But most people don't know that it's in literally thousands of different processed foods, often under hidden names.

And now, science is showing us that it could be a big part of what's making us so fat.

Think you're not eating MSG? Many foods at Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, and McDonald's have it.

Wonder what the Colonel's secret ingredient was? MSG.

Oh, you don't eat fast food? Even classy restaurants throw in some.

Oh, you don't eat out? Sorry, your grocery is loaded with MSG too, and school cafeterias are just as loaded.

Well, at least your baby's safe. Guess again, almost all infant formulas are packed with it.

Dr. Russell Blaylock has studied these common flavor enhancers that many experts believe are hazardous to your health. He calls them
http://www.amazon.com/Excitotoxins-Taste-Russell-L-Blaylock/dp/0929173252/sr=1-2/qid=1172003526/ref=pd_bbs_sr_2/103-0686795-7114258?ie=UTF8&s=books>Excitotoxins:

The Taste that Kills. And he says you're more exposed to them than you realize. www.russellblaylockmd.com

"One of the misconceptions is that -- 'Well, I don't eat Chinese food, so I'm not really exposed to MSG,'" Blaylock said. "Well, if you look at almost all processed foods, the vast majority of them have one or more forms of this high glutamate content in it."

Since the 1950s, the Food and Drug Administration has considered MSG to be safe and the agency has not changed that position despite a large volume of research -- especially in the last 10 years.

In other words, the government currently has no restrictions or warnings on MSG.

Yet, numerous scientists from around the world have repeatedly confirmed that glutamate in the diet can cause a range of problems in animals -- including obesity.

But those who say MSG is safe argue that people don't consume as much MSG as animals are given in experiments. So they say people don't face glutamate damage.

Blaylock says that's not so.

"These foods, particularly in a child, are certainly of a dose equal to what you're seeing in animals. Now the thing that's peculiar about the child -- they're four times more sensitive than an adult, pound for pound."

And adults themselves are about five times more sensitive than the most glutamate-sensitive creature -- the mouse.

What that means is when people consume MSG, their blood levels of glutamate rise much higher and stay in the blood much longer than any other creature. The result is that humans are more easily exposed to toxic levels of glutamate.

And babies in the womb and young children up to age three are the most threatened. That means expectant mothers may need to be mindful of their diets. And when the babies are born, moms may want to watch out for what's in their formula.

Nearly all formulas contain high levels of highly processed milk and soy protein. The processing breaks down those two proteins, releasing high levels of glutamate and aspartate. Both are excitotoxins.

An unprotected part of the brain can then be damaged. That damage can permanently damage the body's ability to control obesity.

As children grow up, they do become less susceptible to MSG damage, but still very vulnerable to an obesity that is hard to get rid of.

Ultimately, the science indicates that all ages -- in varying degrees -- can face this type of hard-core obesity.

So is the public getting enough MSG in their food to trigger obesity at all ages? Estimates for MSG production and consumption vary widely, but almost everyone acknowledges significant and steady
increases in the diet since 1960.

And that may relate directly to government figures on excess pounds.

Over the last 40 years, the government says adult obesity has jumped from 13 percent to 34 percent. And the number of overweight youth has quadrupled to almost 20 percent , with a steady rise for 40 years.

Of course, that doesn't necessarily prove the MSG has caused the increased obesity.

But Dr. John Olney, a pioneer in brain research, first found MSG caused obesity in lab animals in the 1960s. Olney wonders why no one was listening.

Olney even coined the term that describes this whole category of substances like MSG, aspartame and other glutamates - "excitotoxins."

And Blaylock says that the MSG theory makes much more sense than other causes, such as lack of exercise.

"The other curious thing about exposing animals to MSG early in life is that they prefer sweet foods, foods with sugar in it, carbohydrate foods, and they stay away from the foods that are healthier,"
Blaylock explained.

One of the frightening effects of MSG is that it preferentially produces visceral fat. That's the harmful fat found deep in the abdomen.

"And we know that people who have a lot of visceral-type fat have an extremely high incidence of heart attack and stroke, and arteriosclerosis," Blaylock noted. "They suffer from insomnia; they're more likely to have hypertension; they're more likely to have Type 2 diabetes, metabolic syndrome, and elevated LDL cholesterol."

Blaylock says that consumers will have to pick foods not solely on taste.

"Because there's intense competition between the food companies for taste," he said, "and for customers -- and customers choose foods based on taste, mostly. So if you can add a lot of this taste - flavor-enhancing MSG, you produce this effect."

And Blaylock believes that the effects on America could be wide ranging -- from making us less competitive in world sports to the more important impact of being less mentally capable in the
international economy.

With obesity continuing to rise, ignoring the MSG component could mean there's no end in sight for the ravages of excess pounds.

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Part Two: Your Brain's Biggest Enemy

JACKSON, Mississippi - Your diet could be your brain's biggest enemy. Why?

Consider this: Could the organic yogurt granny eats send her prematurely into Alzheimer's? Could your baby's diet be putting the child on a path toward attention deficit disorder?

Or could your daily soup slam you with migraines?

Dr. Russell Blaylock says all those outcomes are possible because of the flavor enhancer known as monosodium glutamate, or MSG.

All of those afflictions happen to lab animals that consume MSG. And humans are much more sensitive, especially when consuming it over a lifetime.

Blaylock said, "And instead of just giving a few doses early in life -- we give it throughout the entire life of the animal. When we do that, we see dramatic damage to that animal's brain -- not just to the obesity centers -- but to centers that control memory, learning, social interaction, social control."

As well as pain. Terry Strouss was about 10 when the headaches began.

"I started having severe migraine headaches. The pain was just unbearable," Strouss recalls. "There were many, many days that I would come home from school, nauseous, sick, I would go straight to bed and just stay there until the next morning."

That trauma continued through his teen years, with doctors suggesting he'd grow out of it. He didn't.

Eventually they put him on a drug.

Strouss said, "That at least made the headaches bearable, it took away the pain -- but the light array and depth perception problem was still there."

He could work, but it was far from a normal life. Things began to change when he saw a news program on how MSG could cause migraines. He began avoiding anything he knew might contain MSG.

"I noticed that, within a month, the headaches had subsided," Strouss said. "They were not there. And they were not as severe when I did get them later. My wife was amazed. She said, 'You were right, we need to continue this.'"

Headache specialist Dr. David Buchholz is certain that MSG causes migraines for literally millions of people:

Buchholz said, "That's exactly right. It's an excitotoxin, and it turns on this headache mechanism and makes you hurt like heck."

An excitotoxin is any substance that overexcites cells to the point of damage -- it acts as a toxin.

And there may be more to this public poison.

MSG can directly worsen autism, attention deficit disorder, and hyperactivity.

And MSG can cause the brain to be miswired, especially in the womb and the first few years of life.

That damage to brain connections can mess up nearly any aspect of brain function, from the control of hormones to behavior and intelligence.

That's what happens with infant mice.

After being fed MSG, they show no signs of mental damage -- until they're older and began to fail at complex tasks.

Bluntly put, they become stupid.

And humans are five times more sensitive to MSG than mice -- infants even more so. Blaylock believes the entire education system suffers as a result, even the ability to for students to get along with each other.

Blaylock said, "So the brain is still forming its connections, particularly the most important social part of our brain, the prefrontal cortex, continues up to age 25, 26, even 27."

But what about MSG's impact on brain afflictions in older adults?

Blaylock says MSG may only be a contributing factor in starting brain diseases, but it definitely can make major neurological afflictions worse:

* Alzheimer's disease
* ALS, sometimes called Lou Gehrig's disease
* Multiple Sclerosis
* Strokes
* Parkinson's disease

They all involve excitotoxins doing harm.

Blaylock has written the only book on excitotoxins for the general public. He has updated that information in a book on health and nutrition secrets.

He says the key is staying away from MSG, but that's not as easy as it sounds.

"It's in all sorts of commercially processed food products that wouldn't taste like much if they didn't have this flavor enhancer added to them," Dr. Buchholz said. "And it's not always labeled as MSG or monosodium glutamate. It's labeled as hydrolyzed protein or natural flavors, and you'd never suspect it."

But Strouss does suspect it -- he and his wife have learned the names that hide MSG… and "how to do the grocery shopping -- reading labels, knowing what types of food to choose, what types of foods not to choose," Strouss said.

Those MSG-laden foods can be found when you see any labeled ingredient with the word "glutamate." And for the public, Blaylock says there's a simple truth: Avoiding MSG could be the best thing you'll ever do for your brain.

And he adds, don't be surprised when medical organizations and government agencies defend MSG as safe. He says that they simply don't understand the complex vulnerability of the brain.

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Part Three: MSG, Cancer and Your Heart

Recently we covered the first two segments of our series on MSG, or monosodium glutamate, and the related food additives that contain MSG.

Those segments covered MSG's impact on obesity and brain health.

Today we're looking at the effect these largely hidden additives have on the nation's two main killers -- heart disease and cancer.

Monosodium glutamate is adding flavor to your food, but many researchers believe it's also subtracting years from your life.

Jack Samuels wonders how he's dodged the MSG bullet for 35 years.

"I began to collapse toward the end of certain meals at restaurants," he said. "And frankly, I thought I was dying."

And frankly, he could have -- a physician diagnosed him with atrial fibrillation.

"That is, my heart becomes like Jell-O," said Samuels, "and just beats all over the place. It sometimes takes me five to six days to get over the attack."

But how could MSG be responsible? Dr. Russell Blaylock says it's because glutamate gets into the blood quickly and stays there. So a person eating MSG throughout the day can raise glutamate blood levels dangerously high.

He explained, "In other words, with each meal, it rises, it stays elevated -- you eat another meal, then it rises even further, -- and you eat another meal and it rises even further. It stays elevated through a good portion of the night."

Blaylock says even moderate blood levels of MSG can cause harm because specific organs have actual biological triggers called "glutamate receptors."

A group of them in the heart controls heart rhythm.

"You can induce a fatal arrhythmia," Blaylock warned. "That is, the heart beats abnormally and people could die from it. Well, arrhythmia is the number one cause of death with heart attack. It's been noted in the medical literature for decades that people who die of sudden cardiac death frequently do so after a meal."

And Samuels, a retired hospital administrator, says that ER doctors "immediately recognize that this may be an MSG reaction. Sadly that knowledge has not gone up beyond the first floor."

In other words, most cardiologists don't know about the connection to MSG.

This can even happen to teen football players. Blaylock says glutamate, especially combined with magnesium deficiency, can produce this sudden death. Magnesium deficiency is very common.

And 2006 animal research shows that MSG damages blood vessels with substances known as free radicals. That can lead to weak, clogged arteries and blood clots:

Blaylock said, "With humans consuming it every day -- not just a single injection -- but every day, they're constantly increasing the free radical generation inside the walls of their blood vessels."

That's how most heart attacks and strokes come about.

Research shows that MSG attacks over 40 percent of the population in some obvious way -- migraines, throat swelling, diarrhea, vomiting, or irregular heartbeats.

But what about the less obvious, even silent damage?

Glutamate receptors on the lungs could explain the rising affliction of juvenile asthma.

"This is one of the things everybody agrees on -- that it will produce worsening of asthma, even fatal asthma," Blaylock said.

And don't forget the nasty plague of diabetes affecting tens of millions of Americans. There are glutamate receptors on the pancreas that can lead to diabetes or loss of diabetic control, once the disease is present.

Blaylock has also studied cancer extensively and written a book for cancer patients, Natural Strategies for Cancer Patients."

In the last five years, researchers have found many cancers have -- glutamate receptors.

He said, "The total picture is -- if you're consuming a diet with glutamate in it, particularly high levels, you're making your cancer grow very rapidly. I refer to it as cancer fertilizer."

The cancers of this type include several brain cancers, colon cancer, breast cancer, and others as well.

With all these afflictions, Jack Samuels felt he had to get the word out -- with a Web site called TruthinLabeling.org responding to questions from around the world.

For Samuels and others who are concerned about avoiding MSG's impact on health, there is hope. And as hard as navigating the grocery store to avoid hidden MSG is -- safe shopping is doable.

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Part Four: Avoiding the MSG Threat

SAN DIEGO, Calif. -- Most people know that MSG makes their food taste better, but they don't have a clue what it does to their body.

As we've been learning more about MSG's impact -- on obesity, the brain, the heart and even cancer -- consumers are wondering what to do.

What do you choose at the grocery or restaurant -- or better yet, what do you avoid?

Keeping monosodium glutamate off the table is no easy task. Your waiter or chef rarely knows anything about hidden MSG or what food ingredients contain it.

In the grocery, there are dozens of hidden names for MSG.

Dr. Russell Blaylock said, "The consumer needs to tell these manufacturers, 'We're not going to buy your product until that's taken out -- and don't disguise the names because we'll find out what they are.'"

And Blaylock says that science is finding more and more problems with the sneaky additive -- even infertility.

He said, "Because the male sperm cannot get to the egg, and MSG decreases the number of sperm …we know the ovary is filled with glutamate receptors."

MSG stimulates those receptors so that a woman's eggs become damaged. And with basic life issues like that, is the Food and Drug Administration sounding any alarms?

"The FDA has never walked into a flavoring house or into a food producer, and said, 'Give me that flavoring -- I want to test it for free glutamic acid.' So it's never been tested," said Blaylock.

Jack Samuels learned that MSG caused his heart spasms years ago.

"On two occasions they thought I had died because they could not get a pulse," he said.

Samuels decided to take up the MSG fight by publishing its hidden names on his Web site, truthinlabeling.org.

And for his own safety, he only shops at a natural foods store, with a specific strategy.

Here are some of his secrets:

-- Pick organic vegetables without cosmetic wax.

Samuels: And to fill in the crannies that are normal…

CBN News: …And that could be a glutamate-type?

Samuels: …they sometimes put a hydrolyzed protein into that mixture. In so doing, it breaks down some of the protein, and an individual like me will get sick.

-- Buy milk that is pasteurized, but not homogenized -- but not one that's ultra-pasteurized.

Terry Strouss blames MSG for the migraines he suffered for almost 20 years. He looks for those secret names at a regular grocery store.

"We stay away from bologna and hot dogs, and all of the cheaper processed meats," Strouss said. "This (he shows us regular meat) is all really safe for our family. The ranch dressing -- it might be fat-free, but it has MSG right in the ingredient list."

So there are definite ways to keep healthy while grocery shopping. And our careful consumers say that grocery stores shouldn't worry about losing business.

Strouss says that his family actually spends a little more -- yet eats much healthier. So everybody wins.

But what about those restaurants? Some chains, like Pizza Hut, list their ingredients online.

Pizza Hut even has five food items they officially warn as having MSG, such as their wings and salad dressings.

Unfortunately, CBN News found at least nine other food items from Pizza Hut with hidden forms of MSG.

But Pizza Hut is not alone. All of the major chains we investigated had items with hidden MSG.

When deciding what to order, be aware that salad dressing, sauces, meat products and toppings are common offenders.

Classier restaurants are generally safer because they often cook from scratch and add real spices instead of flavor enhancers. But to be sure, you may have to talk to the chef to find out what he or she uses.

So, what should you do in general? Blaylock says, go for the fruits and vegetables.

He has a DVD on nutrition so families will know the good things that counteract MSG's effects. He also warns about aspartame -- the diet sweetener -- which is a related compound.

Blaylock especially recommends dark green vegetables because they are high in antioxidants to defuse MSG damage. They're also high in magnesium, which can actually block MSG from those glutamate receptors and damage.

"Name something that it doesn't affect," he said, "because there are receptors in the spleen, they're in the liver, they're in the heart, in the GI tract, in the immune system -- they're in the brain, in peripheral nerves, in the vagus nerves, in the heart, and all the arteries."

For centuries, the Japanese have used a flavor enhancer that was seaweed. It had a little glutamate, but it didn't seem to cause any problems.

Then, 100 years ago, they started manufacturing it -- laying the foundation for today's problems: massive worldwide use of MSG, improper labeling, and a federal agency that refuses to label MSG so consumers can make intelligent decisions.

To order books and videos by Dr. Russell Blaylock, you can go to www.RussellBlaylockMD.com.

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http://www.cbn.com/CBNnews//cbnnews/HealthScience

Part One: http://www.cbn.com/CBNnews/383613.aspx - The Hidden Danger in Your Food

Part Two: http://www.cbn.com/CBNnews/383629.aspx - Your Brain's Biggest Enemy

Part Three: http://www.cbn.com/CBNnews/383630.aspx - MSG, Cancer and Your Heart

Part Four: http://www.cbn.com/CBNnews/383643.aspx - Avoiding the MSG Threat

__________________________________________________________________________________More

Information on MSG, www.truthinlabeling.org

More information on aspartame
www.mpwhi.com
www.dorway.com
www.wnho.net

Aspartame Toxicity Center: www.holisticmed.com/aspartame
Aspartame Information List: www.mpwhi.com

Dr. Betty Martini, D.Hum, Founder
Mission Possible International
9270 River Club Parkway
Duluth, Georgia 30097
770 242-2599