Tessa

It's believed to be a mechanism for neurodegenerative diseases occurring later in life, like Alzheimers, Parkinson's, and ALS. Especially with a deficit of supporting brain food (omega 3s and glutathione were a few of the things he highlighted). At the time of it's writing (1997), Blaylock states that the available research doesn't fully understand how these diseases occur and that there are also cases of inherited sensitivity to MSG, so he's pointing out a correlation, not necessarily a direct influence. There's a lot more current research on MSG toxicity that basically supports these claims though. MSG is probably one of many causes, IMO. I have also recently become a fan of going back to the fats I grew up with...butter and steak and all that other awesome good stuff that has been touted as bad for so long. I still moderate it to a degree but I'm pretty sure it doesn't hinder my weight loss. I got fat from eating processed crap, tons of simple carbs and very low fiber. Changing that has made a big difference for me.

Russell L. Blaylock has a great book called Excitotoxins, which is entirely focused on the effects that MSG, aspartame and other similar food additives have on the brain and nervous system. He discusses how both high and low doses of MSG cause your neurons to excite themselves to death through a mechanism that keeps the neurons essentially locked in an open position, biochemically. Lots of prepared foods and fast foods have MSG and aspartame in them, although MSG can be named many things (like hydrolyzed vegetable protein or natural flavors).

Thanks PGP that is good to know. I will check out info on activated charcoal. I've used broken cell wall chlorella to remove heavy metals from my system and that worked really well. If you want to get rid of traditional deodorant there is a great product called Primal Pit Paste-has very few ingredients and no aluminum. Works very well-I think mostly because of the baking soda and arrowroot powder in it. I did not know that the USDA organic label was so bad. I figured it was less stringent than other standards, but I didn't think I could be getting exposed to more pesticides I heard a story on NPR about organic apple farms being allowed to apply antibiotics to their apples to stave off some type of blight, but I guess it didn't register that that type of allowance applied to other chemicals as well.

This is some great information! Thank you all for sharing. I've made similar changes over the past 10 years in my life as well. I just recently threw away all my perfume and most of my makeup too. PGP mentioned taking turmeric which is an AWESOME supplement. Some older research suggests that taking it with black pepper increases its bioavailability. http://www.uta.edu/faculty/sawasthi/Publications/References/2000%20Publications/Journal%2068/Document%2068.43.pdf Waterwise makes some excellent water filtration products. I have used their shower filters before and have wanted to get one of their stainless steel distillers for a long time. Steam distillation is great because it combines multiple types of contaminant removal in one system. From what I read, it's not as good as reverse osmosis purification, but it's almost as good http://www.waterwise.com/productcart/pc/lc_distillation_process.asp For drinking water I almost always use a stainless steel water bottle. I got an Eco Vessel bottle with a silicone mouth piece and replaced the straw inside the bottle with food grade silicone tubing. Silicone supposedly doesn't leach into food or water, although substances can adsorb onto it. I don't know if that applies to colored silicone products though. I've read anecdotes of color leaching onto food from these products. Anyone have any info on how to get plastics out of your system? I have been told that lemon oil helps to dissolve plastics.