Slow Poisoning By Food Additives

“Aspartame is a drug masquerading as an additive. It interacts with other drugs, has a synergistic and additive effect with MSG, and is a chemical hyper-sensitization agent” says a press release from World Natural Health Association which announced recent lawsuits filed in California against twelve companies who either produce or use the artificial sweetener aspartame in their products. It cites the work of a number of researchers such as Dr. John Olney, who in the 1970’s found lesions in the brains of mice exposed to aspartic acid and in 1996 made the aspartame/brain tumour connection. It cites as well Dr. Ralph Walton’s research into the psychiatric problems triggered by aspartame-caused depletion of serotonin.

“Aspartame causes headache, memory loss, seizures, vision loss, coma and
cancer. It worsens or mimics the symptoms of such diseases and conditions as fibromyalgia, MS, lupus, ADD, diabetes, Alzheimer’s, chronic fatigue and
depression. Aspartame liberates free methyl alcohol. The resulting chronic methanol poisoning affects the dopamine system of the brain causing addiction. Methanol, or wood alcohol, constitutes one-third of the aspartame molecule and is classified as a severe metabolic poison and narcotic.” Sudden death can occur from aspartame use because it damages the cardiac conduction system – (something re athletes)

Since its discovery in 1965, controversy has raged over the health risks
associated with aspartame. For 16 years the FDA denied approval for it because of unresolved questions about its toxicity. Then in 1977 the G.D. Searle company hired Donald Rumsfeld as its CEO to apply his substantial political muscle to get aspartame approved. When Rumsfeld was appointed to President Ronald Reagan’s transition team in 1981, he hand picked Arthur Hull Hayes to be the new FDA Commissioner, who over the objections of his own FDA team, approved aspartame for use in dry products. By 1983 it was approved for soft drinks, and today is found in over 5,000 foods, drinks and medicines. In 1995, the FDA was forced to release a list of 92 aspartame symptoms reported by thousands of victims.

The lawsuits allege that food companies “committed fraud and breach of warranty by marketing products such as diet Coke, diet Pepsi, sugar free gum, Flintstone’s vitamins, yogurt and children’s aspirin with the full knowledge that the artificial sweetener aspartame is neurotoxic.” Companies named in the lawsuits include Coca-cola, PepsiCo, Bayer Corp., the Dannon Company, William Wrigley Jr. Company, ConAgra Foods, Wyeth, Inc., The NutraSweet Company, and Altria Corp. (parent company of Kraft Foods and Philip Morris). Plaintiffs have asked for an injunction to stop companies from producing, manufacturing processing, selling or using aspartame.

Two recent books highlight the widespread health crisis provoked by food additives MSG (monosodium glutamate) and artificial sweetener aspartame. Following is an excerpt from Dr. Russell Blaylock’s book and a brief review of John Erb’s book on MSG. Both substances are also classified as excitotoxins and can cause neurodegenerative diseases. There is now evidence that excitotoxins play a major role in exacerbation of MS and other demyelinating disorders including trigeminal neuraliga. Because excitotoxins trigger significant elevation of free radicals in the lining of arteries, Dr. Russell Blaylock warns aspartame will increase the incidence of heart attacks and strokes.

From the book, Excitotoxins – The Taste That Kills
By Dr. Russell Blaylock, MD

What if someone were to tell you that a chemical (MSG) added to food could cause brain damage in your children, and that this chemical could effect how your children’s nervous systems formed during development so that in later years they may have learning or emotional difficulties?

What if there was scientific evidence that these chemicals could permanently 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 was 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 introduction of this widespread introduction of this artificial sweetener 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 this sweetener (aspartate) could cause the same brain lesions as MSG? Would that affect your buying decisions?

And finally, what if it could be demonstrated that all of these types of chemicals, called excitotoxins, could possibly aggravate or even precipitate many of today’s epidemic neurodegenerative brain diseases such as Parkinson’s disease, Huntington’s disease, ALS, and Alzheimer’s disease? Would you be concerned if you knew that these excitotoxin food additives are a particular risk if you have diabetes, or have ever had a stroke, brain injury, brain tumor, seizure, or have suffered from hypertension, meningitis, or viral encephalitis?

Would you also be upset to learn that many of the brain lesions caused by these products in your children are irreversible and can result from a SINGLE exposure of these products in sufficient concentration?

How would you feel when you learn the food industry hides and disguises
these excitotoxin additives (MSG and Aspartate) so they can’t be recognized? Incredulous? Enraged? The fact is many foods are labeled as having “No MSG” but in fact not only contain MSG but also are laced with other excitotoxins of equal potency and danger.

All of the above are true. And all of these well known brain toxins are poured into our food and drink by the thousands of tons to boost sales. These additives have NO OTHER purpose other than to enhance to TASTE of food and the SWEETNESS of various diet products.

Hidden Sources Of MSG

As discussed previously, the glutamate (MSG) manufacturers and the processed food industries are always on a quest to disguise the MSG added to food. Below is a partial list of the most common names for disguised MSG. Remember also that the powerful excitotoxins, aspartate and L-cystine, are frequently added to foods and according to FDA rules require NO LABELING AT ALL.

Aspartame – An Intense Source Of Excitotoxins

Aspartame is a sweetener made from two amino acids, phenylalanine and the excitotoxin aspartate. It should be avoided at all costs. Aspartame complaints accounts for approximately 70% of ALL complaints to the FDA. It is implicated in everything from blindness to headaches to convulsions.

Sold under dozens of brand names such as NutraSweet and Equal, aspartame breaks down within 20 minutes at room temperature into several primary toxic and dangerous ingredients:

1. DKP (diketopiperazine) (When ingested, converts to a near duplicate of a powerful brain tumor causing agent)
2. Formic Acid (ant venom)
3. Formaldehyde (embalming fluid)
4. Methanol (causes blindness…extremely dangerous substance)

Common Examples:
Diet soft drinks, sugar free gums, sugar free Kool Aid, Crystal Light, childrens’ medications, and thousands of other products claiming to be ‘low calorie’, ‘diet’, or ‘sugar free’.

A Final Note…
Dr. Blaylock recounted a meeting with a senior executive in the food additive industry who told him point blank that these excitotoxins are going to be in our food no matter how many name changes are necessary…

For an indepth history and analysis of Aspartame read “The Artificially Sweetened Times” produced by Don Harkins and Ingri Cassel, publishers of Vaccination Liberation and the Idaho Observer. Print copies can also be ordered from the Idaho Observer.

Following is a review of John Erb’s book The Slow Poisoning of America

John Erb, author of the book The Slow Poisoning of America believes that MSG is added to food for the addictive effect it has on the human body. It is the food industry’s equivalent to Nicotine. “Studies have shown that people who eat food laced with MSG eat more of it, and faster than food that does not have this additive….[and]…adding MSG to certain foods, such as soup and mashed potatoes, has been successful in increasing the food intake in institutionalized elderly populations. If it makes the elderly eat more, what is it doing to our nation’s children?”

Just as the occurrence of obesity and diabetes has risen to record levels, so too has the public’s ingestion of MSG, also found in ingredients such as Hydrolyzed Vegetable Protein and Autolyzed Yeast Extract. It is being added to a huge selection of restaurant food and processed food found in supermarkets.

Glutamate is an amino acid that can excite almost every major organ in the body, especially the brain. It occurs naturally in milligram amounts in some harvested foods. Now, however, a person can get as much as a teaspoonful a day.

“When ingested by human test subjects MSG directly affects the pancreas stimulating it to triple its standard output of insulin output. This unnatural amount of insulin finds the sugar in the blood and converts it to fat. A few hours after you eat MSG, the excess insulin the MSG triggers reduces your blood sugar level so much that you become tired and even hungry again. In animal test subjects this excess insulin leads to hyperinsulinemia: the chronic overproduction of insulin. The pancreas becomes so out of control that the body starts producing killer T cells to shut it down. Is it any wonder why diabetes, obesity and lethargy in our youth is at an all time high? Junk foods, processed foods, even cafeteria foods are now laced with large amounts of exitotoxic glutamates,” reports John Erb.

“Too much glutamate in the brain overexcites the neurons until they die. Many people who suffer from chronic headaches and migraines can trace their trigger to eating too much MSG. If it can give an adult a migraine what can it do to a developing fetus?” John Erb asks. Invited to attend the Defeat Autism Now Conference in Washington, D.C., Erb, presented a report that outlined how MSG can affect a fetus before it is even a month old. The placental barrier is not developed and the embryo gets a full dose of whatever chemicals the mother has in her bloodstream, raising the possibility of altering brain development, leading to autism spectrum disorders.

“Considering that MSG has been proven to cause obesity and pre-diabetes in test subjects and is used as a food additive to make people eat more, Erb believes that glutamates should be banned as a food additive. ”

A university associate of John Erb writes the following:

“Checking the cupboards and the fridge – I was shocked to find MSG was in everything! The Campbell’s soups, the Hostess Doritos, the Lays flavored potato chips, Top Ramen, Betty Crocker Hamburger Helper, Heinz canned gravy, Swanson frozen prepared meals, Kraft salad dressings, especially the ‘healthy low fat’ ones. The items that didn’t have MSG had something called Hydrolyzed Vegetable Protein, which is just another name for Monosodium Glutamate. I was shocked to see just how many of the foods we feed our children everyday are filled with this stuff. They hide MSG under many different names in order to fool those who catch on.

“But it didn’t stop there. When our family went out to eat, we started asking the restaurants what menu items had MSG. Many employees, even the managers, swore they didn’t use MSG. But when we ask for the ingredient list, which they grudgingly provided, sure enough MSG and Hydrolyzed Vegetable Protein were everywhere. Burger King, McDonalds, Wendy’s, Taco Bell, every restaurant, even the sit down ones like TGIF, Chilis’, Applebees and Denny’s use MSG in abundance. Kentucky Fried Chicken seemed to be the WORST offender: MSG was in every chicken dish, salad dressing and gravy. No wonder I loved to eat that coating on the skin, their secret spice was MSG!”

“We do not want to be rats in one giant experiment, and we do not approve of food that makes us into a nation of obese, lethargic, addicted sheep, waiting for the slaughter. Blow the whistle on MSG!”

Resources

1. The Artificially Sweetened Times
2. Russel G. Blaylock, MD – Excitotoxins – The Taste That Kills
3. View full text of book review of The Slow Poisoning of America and more information at John Erb’s website
4. See medical articles on MSG & obesity at The National Library of Medicine type in the words “MSG Obese”, and read over 100 medical studies on the subject.
5. World Natural Health Association