posted 08-20-103 12:19 PM            

Anyway, here is a list from the book of what ingredients to avoid. It's shocking when you really start reading food labels.

These additives always contain MSG:
Monosodium glutamate (duh!!)
Hydrolyzed vegetable protein
Hydrolyzed protein
Hydrolyzed plant protein
Sodium casienate
Calcium casienate
Yeast extract
Textured protein
Autolyzed yeast
Hydrolyzed oat flour

These additives frequently contain MSG:
Malt extract
Malt flavoring
Bouillon
Broth
Stock
Flavoring
Natural flavoring
Natural beef or chicken flavoring
Seasoning
Spices

These additives may contain MSG or other excitotoxins:
Carrageenan
Enzymes
Soy protein concentrate
Soy protein isolate
Whey protein concentrate

posted 06-29-104 08:08 AM            

Dr. Blaylock, the author, is a board-certified neurosurgeon and professor of medicine at the University of Mississippi, not some kind of new age freak. You may disagree with his research, but at least read the book before you start flinging Gandalf insults at people.

Personally, I find his research very compelling. Here are a couple of points he makes just in the introduction:

1. Historical use vs. present use:

Yes, "For thousands of years Japanese cooks have added a special ingredient to their recipes to magnify the desired taste of foods. This ingredient was made from a seaweed known as 'sea tangle' or kombu." But it wasn't until the twentieth century that "the active chemical of this 'taste enhancing' ingredient was isolated" as MSG and used in great excess by American food manufacturers. At the time, just after World War II, that MSG and other excitotoxins became widely used, they were thought safe because they were "a natural substance (an amino acid)." Blaylock explains in later chapters that excitotoxins are harmful when isolated and consumed in excess, as they are today, not as Japanese cooks originally used them.

2. Hydrolyzed vegetable protein and other substances that contain MSG:

"Several of these excitotoxins [...] are found in nature, such as glutamate, aspartate, and cysteine -- all of which are amino acids. MSG is a modified form of glutamic acid in which sodium is added to the molecule. But the toxic portion is the glutamic acid, not the sodium. Often food manufacturers will mix MSG with other substances to disguise it, or use substances known to contain high concentrations of glutamate. For example, the label designation 'natural flavoring' may contain anywhere from 20 to 60 percent MSG."

"Earlier I mentioned a substance called hydrolyzed vegetable protein, also referred to as vegetable protein or plant protein. This powerful excitotoxin mixture is often portrayed as a perfectly safe and 'natural' substance. [...] Actually, this mixture is made from 'junk' vegetables that are unfit for sale. They are especially selected so as to have naturally high contents of glutamate. The extraction process of hydrolysis involves boiling these vegetables in a vat of acid. This is followed by a process of neutralization with caustic soda. The resulting product is a brown sludge that collects on the top. This is scraped off and allowed to dry. The end product is a brown powder that is high in three known excitotoxins -- glutamate, aspartate, and cystoic acid. It is then added by the food industry to everything from canned tuna to baby food."

3. Good taste but bad for the brain:

"Excitotoxins stimulate taste cells in the tongue, thereby greatly enhancing the taste of whatever food to which they are added. [...]Today they are used extensively in sauces, soups, gravy mixes and especially frozen foods. [...] To help sell them to the public, food manufactureres add excitotoxin taste enhancers to these foods to improve the taste."

However, "There is growing evidence that excitotoxins play a major role in a whole group of degenerative brain diseases. These diseases include Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease, Huntington's disease, and ALS. 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 these high concentrations of glutamate, while other neurons that use other transmitters are spared."

This was just from the intro. If you're not convinced, read the rest of the book. As Blaylock claims, the evidence is not conclusive, yet, because excitotoxins have only been used in excess for the last 50 years, and the diseases associated with them affect primarily the elderly. However, rates of Parkinson's and Alzheimer's have been steadily rising...

This isn't about a conspiracy. The food industry (including health food manufacturers) understandably took advantage of what they thought would be a great marketing tool. Add a little of this new, natural chemical, make your product taste better, sell more of your product. It would potentially cost them a lot of money to change. This is nothing new. The food industry is more concerned with their bottom line than with your body.

Don't know about you, but personally I would rather take advice from a brain surgeon than my friendly neighborhood frozen burrito manufacturer.

posted 07-22-104 03:14 PM            

Anyway, I found this info on vegsource.com (http://www.vegsource.com/articles/natural.flavors.htm). Hope it's useful.

"The exact definition of natural flavorings & flavors from Title 21, Section 101, part 22 of the Code of Federal Regulations is as follows:

"'The term natural flavor or natural flavoring means the essential oil, oleoresin, essence or extractive, protein hydrolysate, distillate, or any product of roasting, heating or enzymolysis, which contains the flavoring constituents derived from a spice, fruit or fruit juice, vegetable or vegetable juice, edible yeast, herb, bark, bud, root, leaf or similar plant material, meat, seafood, poultry, eggs, dairy products, or fermentation products thereof, whose significant function in food is flavoring rather than nutritional.'

"In other words, natural flavors can be pretty much anything approved for use in food."

This is a little disturbing if you are vegetarian or vegan, because, according to the above definition, companies don't have to specify whether the substance they're calling natural flavoring is derived from a plant or animal source.