tymoteusz3 said:

the1sttofall said:

Great. Now I have leukemia. Thanks coca cola.

---

LunarEclipse said:

MSG gets sensed by your taste buds.  It is a flavor enhancer of other flavors, and this is largely why it is used.  There is a distinction in this case between adding a spice such as black pepper for purely flavor, versus adding MSG that makes your taste buds think that hamburger helper really tasted good when it really wouldn't have.

---

Technically all spices are "flavor enhancers". MSG is a source of umami (it's one of the five basic tastes, the others being salty, sweet, bitter, and sour) - umami is "savory" and is the reason why cooked tomatoes add a savory-ness to dishes, or Parmesan cheese, or wine, or broccoli, etc. MSG doesn't "fool your taste buds" anymore than spices do.

Quote:

As to the argument that it is good for you therefore more is always better, aspartate in the brain in high amounts is not good.  It goes right through the blood brain barrier and excitoxins your brain.  Methyl alcohol is NEVER good and absolutely will cause blindness in large enough amounts and visual issues long before that.  Why hasn't anyone touched on the formaldehyde that aspartame also breaks down into?  Embalming fluid main component...

---

Aspartatic acid is regulated by the body - excess will be converted into fumarate - I covered that here. Besides, no one is talking about excess - ingesting anything in excess can be harmful including water.
The methanol metabolized from aspartame (which is then converted into formaldehyde and then formic acid) is in such small quantities that it's harmless, and is MUCH less than the methanol produced from fruits. But it's funny - I always see people screaming about the formaldehyde from aspartame, yet enjoy eating fruit.

---

HippieChick8 said:

How do you know that excess aspartic acid is always converted to fumarate?  Some people have genetic polymorphisms that prevent them from breaking down toxins efficiently.

---

Quote:

Dr. Russell L. Blaylock, a professor of neurosurgery at the Medical University of Mississippi, published a book (Excitotoxins: The Taste That Kills) thoroughly detailing the damage that is caused by the ingestion of excessive aspartic acid from aspartame. Blaylock makes use of almost 500 scientific references to show how excess free excitatory amino acids such as aspartic acid and glutamic acid (about 99 percent of monosodium glutamate (MSG) is glutamic acid) in our food supply are causing serious chronic neurological disorders and a myriad of other acute symptoms.

---

Quote:

If you're going to ask for scientific studies or at least imply that one should argue with scientific studies, it makes no sense to turn around and say, "that's an appeal to authority" when a scientist's name is mentioned. 

---

Quote:

Free glutamic acid can quickly over excite the brain cells.

---

Quote:

So what if MSG tastes like "umami" and aspartame tastes sweet?  Ethylene glycol tastes sweet also.  That doen't mean it's not toxic.

---