Excitotoxins - The Taste That Kills-(a review of chapters 1 and 2)

Dr. Russell l. Blaylock, M.D. has written a compelling book detailing the results of numerous studies of the effects of what he calls "excitotoxins" in the brain. "Excitotoxins", such as (monosodium glutamate, commonly called MSG) glutamate and aspartate (such as the artificial sweetener, NutraSweet) are among the more than 70 special types of amino acids present in the brain that are known to be largely present in foods processed more available packaged today.

By defining precisely what are called "excitotoxins" in Excitotoxins: The Taste That Kills, (health Press, 1997) Dr. Blaylock leads the reader in an intensive course of brain in Chapter 1.Most of this chapter can be omitted truthfully from descriptions are very detailed and repeated once more chapters siguientes.Sin however, with a brief description of the parts of the brain (of frontal lobes, the parietal lobes, occipital lobes, temporal lobes, the cores arranged inside of brains, mother brain, pituitary gland and hypothalamus) and the composition of the neuron (Dendrite, Council of Cell, Axon and final terminal) we won a great appreciation for complexity and balances yet delicate operate within the human brain.

Chapter 1 Dr. Blaylock inform us that the brain consumes 20% of oxygen need body and 25% required glucose in the body to normal operations.Interestingly, this is the one piece of information we need to remember to Chapter 3. problem is that this tremendous need of oxygen and glucose circulating in the blood makes the brain vulnerable to ingested to toxins. In a section that describes the "blood/brain barrier" that we learned that this first line of defence against toxins-borne blood brain barrier and really can be filtered in certain circumstances that introduces another problem with these specific amino acids ingestion.

In Chapter 2 we received a review of aminoácidos.Esto is important since the "excitotoxins" really are amino acids which are normally present in the brain. Dr. Blaylock gives a brief overview of amino acids and how they are used to create the proteins in a process called anabolism building blocks. It is interesting to draw is collagen (the greatest body protein) which contains the amino acids of 1500.

Finally gives us an idea of what the potential problem as Dr. Blaylock explains another function of amino acids.Apparently, apart from being used to build proteins, some amino acids act as neurotransmitters.Glycine, glutamate and aspartate are examples of these types of aminoácidos.Dr.Blaylock describes in detail the neurotransmitter firing the proceso.También notes that neuroscientists have discovered glutamate is one of the most common neurotransmitters in the brain areas cerebro.muchas contain broad glutamate neuronas.A type turn, activation of cortical neurons glutamate activate other neurons within deep placed nuclei in the brain.

These connections are important to examine the effects of excitatory amino acids (such as MSG) and the origins of the neurological disease that reveal themselves in later chapters.