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361 of 366 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Sometimes it take a tragedy to open our eyes, December 20, 1999
It's weird how fate sometimes thrusts a book into your hands at just the right moment. I was in New York and visited a bookstore, and was almost about to walk out when the title Excitotoxins caught my eye. I actually picked the book up thinking it would be about mycotoxins, which are found in mushrooms, and which some WHO scientists have identified as potential carcinogens. However, upon opening Russell Blaybock's excellent book, I was surprised to find that it was in fact a mystery book - a book written by a neurosurgeon for the purpose of understanding how Parkinson's had struck down one of his parents. As the son of two parents with Parkinson's, I was entralled by the book's premise - that common food additives could cause demonstrable health problems in sensitive individuals - and shocked that because these effects did not involve the whole population, such additives were deemed to be safe by the FDA. I was also shocked that manufacturers were given the right to add them to food under the guise of "spices", "natural flavoring" and other non de plumes. When my parents first became ill, I did a large amount of research into Parkinson's and related illnesses. One of the more interesting aspects I came across was the discovery by some researchers that sebhoric dermatitis and Parkinson's may have a link. Being a recent sufferer of this annoying skin condition, my heart sunk on hearing this news. However, since reading Excitotoxins I have made an effort to rid myself of any intake of the toxic additives mentioned in the book. It should come as no surprise that my skin problem has gone. My energy level has doubled. I recently visited my parents and gave them a copy of this book. My parents, who put their trust in general practitioners early in their diagnosis and saw themselves travel quickly down hill, have long since learned to look after themselves through greater knowledge, and careful use of supplements and alternative medicines. You should know that my parents are now far better than they were some years ago, and are on the slow road to stabilisation and recovery. Such things are possible if you dig deep enough and believe that things like Parkinson's do have a cause, and then work to get back your health. I believe this is an exceptionally important book, but only for sensitive individuals. Most people will remain unaffected by neurological disorders - for them, this is not an important book at all. For the rest of us, especially those of us with a genetic possibility of such sensitivity to additives, this book could well put years on our lives. I feel it has already done so for me. Thank you, Dr. Blaylock.
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411 of 418 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
You Are What You Eat, or, Toxic Waste for the Masses, April 16, 2002
It is almost a cliche in this day and age for someone to ask the waiter at a Chinese restaurant 'no MSG, please,' as is the waiter's knowing smirk in response. MonoSodium Glutamate (MSG), or 'The essence of taste' (as coined by the Japanese), is used as a 'taste-enhancer' in nearly every form of processed food on the market today, though 'taste addiction' may be a more correct term. But what exactly does it do? And how is it harmful? Dr. Russell L. Blaylock answers these questions and poses some startling evidence as to the eventual consequences of a heavy MSG-diet in his book _Excitotoxins: The Taste that Kills_. In basic terms, MSG (and other, similar agents) pierces the blood-brain barrier and over-stimulates the neurons of a brain to a deadly degree. Habitual intake among animal experiments has shown the development of tumors, memory loss, and a whole host of neurodegenerative diseases as the end result of excess excitotoxin intake, including Alzhiemer's, Parkenson's, Lou Gerhig's etc. Walk into any gas station in the United States (or grocery store, for that matter) and, upon close investigation, you will find that 75%-90% of the available food has been 'enhanced' to some degree by excitotoxins. The chemical agents are often disguised by such ambiguous terms as 'spice' and 'natural flavors' or, my personal favorite, 'hydrolyzed vegetable protein.' A consumer society must have consumer slaves to keep it functioning; MSG is the crack cocaine of the food industry...and it is legally perpetuated by slush-fund advocates and a pork-glutted FDA. As proven again and again, money talks, ... [you can finish the maxim for me]. Blaylock's thesis is written in a technical style, but the use of repetition throughout each chapter hammer in his myriad points into the reader with precision and power. An important book for anyone concerned with the health of self and family. You are what you eat---but do you know _what_ it is you are eating, below the surface of taste/fulfillment?
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832 of 862 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Author responds to critics, September 24, 2003
By A Customer
I would like to thank the reviewers who gave a favorable review, but especially I would like to say to those who were helped by the book, God bless you. As for the harshly critical reviewers, most are from those who know little about the subject and could care less. At least one prefers hedonistic pleasures of gustatory stimulation over scientific fact and logical conclusions based on science. I direct this at the reviewer who stated, rather condescendingly, that I knew very little biochemistry and was so uninformed that I wasn't aware that Parkinson's disease occurred before the arrival of MSG and aspartame. In fact I majored in biochemistry in undergraduate school and completed with honors biochemistry in medical school. I continue to be a student of neurochemistry. My articles on these subjects are printed in peer-reviewed medical journals, which I'm sure the reveiwer would have difficulty understanding. Cysteine is a neurotoxin, as is homocysteine, phenalanine, glutamate and aspartate and a number of naturally occurring amino acids. Has the reviewer ever heard of PKU? While cysteine plays a vital role in brain protection, it is only safe as the N-acetyl product and as cystine. Cysteine, beside being an excitotoxin itself, is converted to homocysteic and homocysteine sulphinic acid, both very powerful excitotoxins. Sulfite, a metabolite of cysteine, is also a powerful neurotoxin (as in sulfate oxidase deficiency). As for the causation of Parkinson's and other neurodegenrative diseases, I never said they were exclusively caused by food born excitotoxins-in fact, in three places in the book I make this point. I do contend they exacerbate the symptoms and accelerate the progression of these diseases. An abundance of new evidence confirms what I wrote in the book and, in fact, paints an even more ominous picture. I cover some of this new information in my recently released book, Health and Nutrition Secrets. As far as making tons on money on my book sales-that is a dream in the head of my angry and confused critic. I don't mind criticism that is logical and based on careful study. These critics are not qualified and did not read the book critically and carefully. The proof of my thesis that food borne excitotoxins are dangerous to human health continues to arrive in the scientific literature.
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