A somewhat lengthy, but quite worthwhile essay on posture, movement, gravity, and awareness:
http://www.learningmethods.com/statlect.htm
Thanks Pauliina
Monday, March 5, 2007
Learning Methods
A somewhat lengthy, but quite worthwhile essay on posture, movement, gravity, and awareness:
http://www.learningmethods.com/statlect.htm
Thanks Pauliina
Sunday, March 4, 2007
MSG and Brains
A well meaning relative, who is also a fantastic cook, sent the following to me.
Take a good look at the line in red. This statement is completely false.
The person who wrote this is simply going by wht he has heard and what he believes, and is not trying to deceive or harm anyone.
The recipe is taste great, I've eaten a lot of it. I've also had a lot of physical and neurological issues that may have been exacerbated by consumpton of MSG. I know that I have noticed dramatic improvements in mTBI related issues now that I have made it a point to eliminate as much MSG from my diet as possible. It is nearly impossible to eliminate completely without going strictly Organic/Vegan, but it can be reduced dramatically by careful purchasing and label reading.
Here is the recipe:
Hundreds of my adoring fans have asked me to share my mighty meat (steak/pork chop/hamburger/etc) marinade recipe.
Take a good look at the line in red. This statement is completely false.
The person who wrote this is simply going by wht he has heard and what he believes, and is not trying to deceive or harm anyone.
The recipe is taste great, I've eaten a lot of it. I've also had a lot of physical and neurological issues that may have been exacerbated by consumpton of MSG. I know that I have noticed dramatic improvements in mTBI related issues now that I have made it a point to eliminate as much MSG from my diet as possible. It is nearly impossible to eliminate completely without going strictly Organic/Vegan, but it can be reduced dramatically by careful purchasing and label reading.
Here is the recipe:
Hundreds of my adoring fans have asked me to share my mighty meat (steak/pork chop/hamburger/etc) marinade recipe.
Since I am approaching retirement and want to share good things with the rest of the world, I will let this secret out of the bag. It is very simple and quick to make and guarantees a fantastic flavor for meat you broil on a grill.
Combine and mix together in a shallow dish (glass pie plate, deep plate, platter, etc) the following ingredients:
1/2 cup oil (I use peanut oil, but other cooking oils will do)
1/2 cup paprika (I use sweet paprika that I buy at Sam's)
2 heaping tablespoons of dried or fresh basil (sweet, if possible)
1 tablespoon of garlic powder
2 tablespoons of MSG (Accent) -- This really is a natural ingredient and won't hurt you.
2 tablespoons of Worchestershire Sauce (even the cheap stuff works in this marinade)
2 tablespoons of Dale's Steak Seasoning liquid. (I think this is available in all grocery stores?)
DIRECTIONS:
You can apply this 15 minutes before grilling -- but it is best to marinade the meat several hours before cooking.
Put the meat in the marinade mixture and turn it over several times. Spoon up the "paste" on the bottom of the dish and rub it on the top side of the meat.
Turn the meat several times during the marinade process.
Do not drain the marinade when you start to grill.
CAUTION: The marinade will cause big flame ups for the first two or three minutes of grilling -- you will have to move the meat around until the flaming dies down. But, the final results are worth it.
DO NOT SAVE OR RE-USE MARINADE -- THROW IT AWAY AND MAKE A FRESH BATCH NEXT TIME YOU GRILL. (Unless you enjoy being sick from a food borne illness.)
FINAL THOUGHTS:
Individualize your marinade. Maybe you like more garlic or want to add soy sauce, ginger, etc, etc. Whatever -- try it and develop your own distinct grilling marinade and maybe you'll have hundreds of fans, like I do, begging for your recipe!
Good luck.
It would still be a good recipe without the MSG, and I'm pretty sure that the brand of Steak Seasoning mentioned also contains MSG, and would need to be substituted. It might not get the "rave reviews" without these ingredients, and based on animal studies, the people that ate meats marinated in this recipe would probably be satisfied portions about 30% smaller. In a country that has an amazing obesity problem, I think recipes that satisfy you with smaller portions are probably a very good idea. Here is some info on MSG that you may find useful: http://www.truthinlabeling.org/l-append.html
The above link discusses the way the FDA defines MSG, and undr what conditions it can be called "Natural" and under what conditions it can't. As you can see, it is a word game, it is the same substance whether it is called "natural flavoring" ,"hydrolyzed vegetable protein", "sodium caseinate" or anything else from the long list of psuedonyms.
The following is an excerpt from the article:
"Much of the argument for the safety of MSG is based on this meaningless distinction between food additive monosodium glutamate and other hydrolyzed protein products. The distinction is meaningless in a discussion of adverse reactions to processed free glutamic acid because glutamic acid that has been freed from protein or excreted by bacteria through a manufacturing process causes brain lesions, neuroendocrine disorders, and adverse reactions regardless of the method of processing, regardless of the source of the protein, and regardless of the name of the ingredient that contains it."
The article also discusses the banning of MSG in U.S. manufactured baby foods and the reasons behind it. What i can't figure out s why the same logic hasn't been applied to "adult foods".
Somone else who receive the recipe by Email wrote a response that I think is wonderful.
It also applies to the recent "Indigo" topic.
Here it is:
Dear ******,
You're scaring me here!
I have been pondering over your e-mail on Indigo Children in combination
with conjunction with some research I've been doing on excitotoxins.
Short answer:
1. "Indigo Children" are the response to 20th century environmental
assaults never before experienced in the history of the species.
2. One of these assults is MSG (and other excitotoxins such as
aspartame, NutraSweet, etc.)
Yes, glutamates are natural, but never never NEVER in the concentrations
now put in food.
They're put there because they DO create wonderful taste.
They DO that by over-exciting the braincells -- to death, hence the term
"excitotoxins."
They cross the blood brain barrier AND the placental barrier.
The hypothalamus (which controls appetite, the endocrine
system/hormones, etc.) has no blood-brain barrier at all because its job
is to monitor everything in the blood and respond accordingly.
MSG actively destroys brain neurons, and is now linked by researchers to
thyroid / endocrine problems, obesity, AND to Parkinson's, ALS,
Alzheimers (known in Europe as "the American Disease") and other
neurodegenerative diseases.
It is not a huge leap to the current autism epidemic.
Consider the pattern -- normal baby, normal developmental progress until
around age 2 when there should be an explosion of growth and neural
wiring AND when infants are graduating from baby food up to eating adult
food. And strangely the neural connections don't get made.
MSG was removed (we think) from baby food in about 1970 thanks to the
grim determination of a Dr. Olney, a neuroscientist -- over the screams
of the food industry. They (and the FDA) didn't seem to care that MSG
actively destroys the arcuate nucleus of the infant brain. So Olney went
to Congress.
Yes it is natural, tho it never occurs naturally in the quantities that
are now pumped into our food supply so that Consumers will consume more
and more and more.
The damage it causes is precisely BECAUSE of its "naturalness": the
brain, and the hypothalamus in particular, has zillions of glutamate
receptors. What the hypthalamus does not have is a blood / brain barrier
-- because its job as CEO of the body is to monitor everything in the
blood and respond accordingly.
Yes, the FDA has long said that it's safe -- but it turns out that the
pamphlet they gave out for years was actually written by the Glutamate
Council. It's one of the tragic problems of our system that the
understaffed and underfunded FDA has turned safety testing over to the
companies themselves who are hardly objective -- not with billions of
dollars in potential sales at stake. Safety testing seems to have become
an exercise in: "How can we best fudge the data before we turn in the
glowing $afety report$?"
Of all test animals, human brains are the most sensitive to glutamates
(and children's brains are at least 4x more sensitive than those of
adults).
Monkeys aren't much bothered.
Mice are closest to (tho less sensitive than) humans, therefore the test
animal of choice -- IF you are looking for REAL results.
So . . . for the definitive study for a Generally Recognized as Safe
(GRS) decision, what would you pick for study subjects?
The most-quoted safety study used MONKEYS, fed them huge amounts which
induces VOMITING, then kept them sedated during the course of the trial
with a compound which is known to be the most powerful GLUTAMATE
ANTAGONIST known. Not surprisingly, they didn't find much damage after
the chemical was vomited out and the remaining material safely
neutralized.
The definitive book on the subject is by Dr. Russell L. Blaycock,
neurologist and neurosurgeon. -- someone who actually SEES the damage
done by these compounds. You need not take his word for it: it includes
full references to all the studies so readers can make their own
educated decisions.
Here is the Amazon link:
http://www.amazon.com/Excitotoxins-Taste-Russell-L-Blaylock/dp/0929173252/sr=8-1/qid=1172762698/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/002-8905431-1491263?ie=UTF8&s=books
I know what MSG does to me.
What really scares me is what I don't know about what it does or has
done to me -- or what it will do. It's almost impossible to avoid in any
processed food.
I hope you will look at this.
When you do your consulting, when you write your book, when you feed
your grandchildren, you of all people are in a wonderful position to
save so many people so much grief and pain.
Blessings!
***** *********
It would still be a good recipe without the MSG, and I'm pretty sure that the brand of Steak Seasoning mentioned also contains MSG, and would need to be substituted. It might not get the "rave reviews" without these ingredients, and based on animal studies, the people that ate meats marinated in this recipe would probably be satisfied portions about 30% smaller. In a country that has an amazing obesity problem, I think recipes that satisfy you with smaller portions are probably a very good idea. Here is some info on MSG that you may find useful: http://www.truthinlabeling.org/l-append.html
The above link discusses the way the FDA defines MSG, and undr what conditions it can be called "Natural" and under what conditions it can't. As you can see, it is a word game, it is the same substance whether it is called "natural flavoring" ,"hydrolyzed vegetable protein", "sodium caseinate" or anything else from the long list of psuedonyms.
The following is an excerpt from the article:
"Much of the argument for the safety of MSG is based on this meaningless distinction between food additive monosodium glutamate and other hydrolyzed protein products. The distinction is meaningless in a discussion of adverse reactions to processed free glutamic acid because glutamic acid that has been freed from protein or excreted by bacteria through a manufacturing process causes brain lesions, neuroendocrine disorders, and adverse reactions regardless of the method of processing, regardless of the source of the protein, and regardless of the name of the ingredient that contains it."
The article also discusses the banning of MSG in U.S. manufactured baby foods and the reasons behind it. What i can't figure out s why the same logic hasn't been applied to "adult foods".
Somone else who receive the recipe by Email wrote a response that I think is wonderful.
It also applies to the recent "Indigo" topic.
Here it is:
Dear ******,
You're scaring me here!
I have been pondering over your e-mail on Indigo Children in combination
with conjunction with some research I've been doing on excitotoxins.
Short answer:
1. "Indigo Children" are the response to 20th century environmental
assaults never before experienced in the history of the species.
2. One of these assults is MSG (and other excitotoxins such as
aspartame, NutraSweet, etc.)
Yes, glutamates are natural, but never never NEVER in the concentrations
now put in food.
They're put there because they DO create wonderful taste.
They DO that by over-exciting the braincells -- to death, hence the term
"excitotoxins."
They cross the blood brain barrier AND the placental barrier.
The hypothalamus (which controls appetite, the endocrine
system/hormones, etc.) has no blood-brain barrier at all because its job
is to monitor everything in the blood and respond accordingly.
MSG actively destroys brain neurons, and is now linked by researchers to
thyroid / endocrine problems, obesity, AND to Parkinson's, ALS,
Alzheimers (known in Europe as "the American Disease") and other
neurodegenerative diseases.
It is not a huge leap to the current autism epidemic.
Consider the pattern -- normal baby, normal developmental progress until
around age 2 when there should be an explosion of growth and neural
wiring AND when infants are graduating from baby food up to eating adult
food. And strangely the neural connections don't get made.
MSG was removed (we think) from baby food in about 1970 thanks to the
grim determination of a Dr. Olney, a neuroscientist -- over the screams
of the food industry. They (and the FDA) didn't seem to care that MSG
actively destroys the arcuate nucleus of the infant brain. So Olney went
to Congress.
Yes it is natural, tho it never occurs naturally in the quantities that
are now pumped into our food supply so that Consumers will consume more
and more and more.
The damage it causes is precisely BECAUSE of its "naturalness": the
brain, and the hypothalamus in particular, has zillions of glutamate
receptors. What the hypthalamus does not have is a blood / brain barrier
-- because its job as CEO of the body is to monitor everything in the
blood and respond accordingly.
Yes, the FDA has long said that it's safe -- but it turns out that the
pamphlet they gave out for years was actually written by the Glutamate
Council. It's one of the tragic problems of our system that the
understaffed and underfunded FDA has turned safety testing over to the
companies themselves who are hardly objective -- not with billions of
dollars in potential sales at stake. Safety testing seems to have become
an exercise in: "How can we best fudge the data before we turn in the
glowing $afety report$?"
Of all test animals, human brains are the most sensitive to glutamates
(and children's brains are at least 4x more sensitive than those of
adults).
Monkeys aren't much bothered.
Mice are closest to (tho less sensitive than) humans, therefore the test
animal of choice -- IF you are looking for REAL results.
So . . . for the definitive study for a Generally Recognized as Safe
(GRS) decision, what would you pick for study subjects?
The most-quoted safety study used MONKEYS, fed them huge amounts which
induces VOMITING, then kept them sedated during the course of the trial
with a compound which is known to be the most powerful GLUTAMATE
ANTAGONIST known. Not surprisingly, they didn't find much damage after
the chemical was vomited out and the remaining material safely
neutralized.
The definitive book on the subject is by Dr. Russell L. Blaycock,
neurologist and neurosurgeon. -- someone who actually SEES the damage
done by these compounds. You need not take his word for it: it includes
full references to all the studies so readers can make their own
educated decisions.
Here is the Amazon link:
http://www.amazon.com/Excitotoxins-Taste-Russell-L-Blaylock/dp/0929173252/sr=8-1/qid=1172762698/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/002-8905431-1491263?ie=UTF8&s=books
I know what MSG does to me.
What really scares me is what I don't know about what it does or has
done to me -- or what it will do. It's almost impossible to avoid in any
processed food.
I hope you will look at this.
When you do your consulting, when you write your book, when you feed
your grandchildren, you of all people are in a wonderful position to
save so many people so much grief and pain.
Blessings!
***** *********
Something I have never seen discussed extensively amid the concerns
over excitotoxins in the diet (primarily glutamates from MSG and
aspartates from aspartame)is the effect of elevated glutamate/aspartate
levels on TBI, either immediately following an injury or during
recovery.
Fortunately, high plasma levels of these excitotoxins are blocked from
entering the brain by a healthy blood/brain barrier (except at the
hypothalamus, but that's another discussion)
How about when the blood/brain barrier isn't healthy...TBI or stroke?
Would getting into a car accident on the way home from an MSG loaded
Chinese Buffet result in a more severe brain injury?
How about damage to the HPE axis?
More severe if loaded up with nacho cheese tortilla chips and diet
soda?
And what about recovery?
Can an existing injury be exacerbated and recovery slowed by an
excitotoxin loaded diet?
just random thoughts.
From Wikipedia (which is has become an amazingly handy source of quick
info in the last couple of years):
"Excitotoxicity can occur from substances produced within the body
(endogenous excitotoxins) . Glutamate is a prime example of an
excitotoxin in the brain, and it is paradoxically also the major
excitatory neurotransmitter in the mammalian CNS.[10] During normal
conditions, glutamate concentration can be increased up to 1mM in the
synaptic cleft, which is rapidly decreased in the lapse of
milliseconds. When the glutamate concentration around the synaptic
cleft cannot be decreased or reaches higher levels, the neuron kills
itself by a process called apoptosis.
This pathologic phenomenon can also occur after brain injury. Brain
trauma or stroke can cause ischemia, in which blood flow is reduced to
inadequate levels. Ischemia is followed by accumulation of glutamate
and aspartate in the extracellular fluid, causing cell death, which is
aggravated by lack of oxygen and glucose. The biochemical cascade
resulting from ischemia and involving excitotoxicity is called the
ischemic cascade. Because of the events resulting from ischemia and
glutamate receptor activation, a deep chemical coma may be induced in
patients with brain injury to reduce the metabolic rate of the brain
(its need of oxygen and glucose) and save energy to be used to remove
glutamate actively. (It must be noted that the main aim in induced
comas is to reduce the intracranial pressure, not brain metabolism). "
On a related note:
The symptoms of brain wave slowing are part of a continuum. In the
extreme how are they different from a lowered GCS score other than in
degree?
Can severe apraxia be viewed as a loss of the ability to multi-task
taken to the extreme?
Taken to the point that the client is unable to cordinate the multiple
muscles involved in a complex movement?
Too much coffee on a quiet, snowy, Pittsburgh Sunday,
Wiley
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