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Russell L. Blaylock
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Excitotoxins: The Taste That Kills Paperback – January 1, 1997

by Russell L. Blaylock (Author)
4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 343 ratings
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Ex-ci'-to-tox-in: a substance added to foods and beverages that literally stimulates neurons to death, causing brain damage of varying degrees. Can be found in such ingredients as monosodium glutamate, aspartame (NutraSweet®), cysteine, hydrolyzed protein, and aspartic acid.

Citing over five hundred scientific studies, Excitotoxins explores the dangers of aspartame, MSG, and other substances added to our food. This is an electrifying and important book that should be available to every American consumer.
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Previous page
  1. Print length
    297 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Health Pr
  4. Publication date
    January 1, 1997
  5. Dimensions
    6.25 x 1 x 9.25 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    0929173252
  7. ISBN-13
    978-0929173252
  8. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

Review

''Detailed and well-researched, yet is written in such a fashion the non-medical person will come away with a good understanding of the subject.'' -- Medical Sentinel

''Excitotoxins is a valuable contribution to the understanding of the brain, and the need to protect it from assaults that result in various health problems and diseases.'' --Townsend Letter for Doctors

''Upsetting, yet it is responsibly researched and well argued. It opens a fresh view on the hazardous relationship of food (in this case, the wrong food) and brain health.'' --Alternative Medicine's Reviews

''This is an electrifying and important book that should be available to every American consumer.'' -- Wilson Library Bulletin

''This text will be of most interest to those serious about protecting their health, as well as to medical professionals.'' -- Biosis

''Blaylock releases a well-researched bombshell.'' --Book News

About the Author

RUSSELL L. BLAYLOCK, MD, board certified neurosurgeon, recently retired as a clinical assistant professor of neurosurgery at the Medical University of Mississippi. He has practiced neurosurgery for the past twenty-four years and runs a successful private nutritional practice.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Health Pr; 1st edition (January 1, 1997)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 297 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0929173252
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0929173252
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.05 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.25 x 1 x 9.25 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 343 ratings

About the author

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Russell L. Blaylock

Russell L. Blaylock

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Dr. Russell Blaylock, a board-certified neurosurgeon, combines many years of medical practice with study of thousands of research studies to create this monumental book. Author of Excitotoxins: The Taste that Kills, one of the first books to address the hazards of food additives, he has also written several other medical books and numerous scientific articles. He currently resides in Mississippi with his family.

Customer reviews

4.6 out of 5 stars
4.6 out of 5
343 global ratings
This book has eye opening, life changing information.
5 Stars
This book has eye opening, life changing information.
If you are interested in health, fitness, nutrition, anything to do with your well being, the information in this book will help your life choices.
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Top reviews from the United States

BigHeart
5.0 out of 5 stars The link between neurological disorders and excitotoxins, a food additive
Reviewed in the United States on October 3, 2013
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I'm giving this book a 5-star rating even though it's very difficult to read. Excitotoxins has way too much scientific material for the average reader, but it's extremely important and relevant to people who are interested in the nutritional connection to neurological disorders such as alzheimer's, parkinsons and ALS. It's truly unfortunate that author Russell Blaylock chose a lame subtitle "the taste that kills," instead of specifically targeting a neurologically-oriented audience.

Blaylock points the finger straight at excitotoxins, a family of food-born amino acids that have the capability to excite brain neurons to death. Excitotoxins are the common underlying culprit in many neurological disorders. They build up in the brain and have been conclusively shown to either precipitate or aggravate many neurological problems. Food additives such as aspartame, MSG and hydrolized vegetable protein are the primary sources of excitotoxins in our diet.

Blaylock claims "the FDA has failed in its stated purpose of protecting the public from harmful substances being added to the food supply...People must be warned." In a nutshell, that's what this book is about. Consider it a knowledgeable warning from a highly accredited, passionate source.

We can no longer count on our government to protect us from questionable substances produced by big chemical or food companies. The word "questionable" means that the substances do not make us sick or kill us right away; rather, they have to accumulate over time to trigger or reveal disease. The smartest personal survival/protection strategy is to get educated. This book is part of your essential education. Plough through it or at least skim through it to the parts that interest you.

I especially recommend Excitotoxins to anyone with a neurological disorder and/or their families, to physicians who treat neurological disorders, to pregnant women, and to all humans who are seriously interested in the link between food additives, health and longevity.
51 people found this helpful
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SilvaFIT
5.0 out of 5 stars This book has eye opening, life changing information.
Reviewed in the United States on June 19, 2023
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If you are interested in health, fitness, nutrition, anything to do with your well being, the information in this book will help your life choices.
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SilvaFIT
5.0 out of 5 stars This book has eye opening, life changing information.
Reviewed in the United States on June 19, 2023
If you are interested in health, fitness, nutrition, anything to do with your well being, the information in this book will help your life choices.
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2 people found this helpful
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Annie D. Wright
5.0 out of 5 stars interesting book
Reviewed in the United States on November 18, 2023
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An interesting book indeed gives you an idea about how much crap is on your plate. After you read it you may think twice about what you buy at the grocery store. it helped me indeed to lose weight as i have become more picky about the things i eat.
2 people found this helpful
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Smartypants
4.0 out of 5 stars Not easy to read, but informative
Reviewed in the United States on April 6, 2013
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This book will give you the motivation you need to wean yourself off the diet soda habit. It is not an "easy read" and I am an avid speed reader. The only downside is that ignorance "was" bliss, now I am aware of all the nasty stuff that is put into foods and drinks to make them more palatable. You really have to become very diligent about reading the fine print on ingredients in order to avoid some of the chemicals that are in foods, as they can be called by a variety of names and manufacturers are good at coming up with verbage that can be deceiving. Read with caution, as you may want to just stay in your house and eat organic bananas once you know what's out there!
11 people found this helpful
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Stephanie Giovannini
5.0 out of 5 stars Real-life experience backs this up
Reviewed in the United States on July 7, 2008
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I have had this book for many years and recently skimmed it again. I bought it during the years when my husband was having bizarre symptoms after eating almost any kind of food. He visited many doctors and specialists, and an allergist finally suggested that it might be MSG and referred him to a dietician (who was useless). Since then, we've been on our own fighting this, and this book lifted the fog of ignorance!

I'm an engineer, a conservative and a skeptic. I was not ready to believe that there is "bad stuff" in our everyday food. But based on my husband's experiences, the empirical evidence to the contrary is overwhelming. His symptoms initially only occurred after lunch but not after dinner, even if he ate the same thing. How does this make sense? Dr. Blaylock explains the mystery by pointing out how hypoglycemia exacerbates the effects of glutamate. I was ecstatic when I understood the phenomenon. My husband has a tendency, common in his family, toward hypoglycemia. With lunch being his first meal of the day, he was already in a hypoglycemic state and highly susceptible to the effects of MSG. By dinnertime, his brain had more glucose and was better able to clear the glutamate. Based on this theory, when he accidentally eats MSG and starts to experience the effects, he consumes a candy bar or sugared soda and it lessens the symptoms. (Dessert can be good for you!)

The explanations in this book are the only ones that satisfactorily explain what I see my husband go through every day. He has an immediate and recognizable response to glutamate, which makes confirmation of those theories simple, if not painless.

There is one hypothesis in the book that is contradicted by my husband's experience. He can consume aspartame (diet soda) with none of the effects that he experiences from glutamate.

I wonder how many people are capable of making the lifestyle changes required to avoid glutamate? If you don't have a detector (like my poor husband) to tell you what food does and does not have glutamate in it, you must avoid all prepared food that doesn't have an ingredient list. Yes, sadly, glutamate is that prevalent in our food.
36 people found this helpful
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pat
5.0 out of 5 stars What happens when eating msg
Reviewed in the United States on January 31, 2022
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I am very sensitive to msg. My husband will have an irregular heartbeat, while my reaction is blood pressure to 230/125. This book explains what happens when ingesting msg which is an exciting. This is an excellent book but scientific so one has to read slowly. Msg is a horrible thing to put into foods but is in about 95 percent of food offered in stores. Homecoming is best with nothing packaged used.
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Amazon カスタマー
5.0 out of 5 stars This book has changed my perspectives forever.
Reviewed in Japan on March 3, 2023
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Published 30 years ago, secondhand, average condition, but good price and perfectly acceptable. Discusses the excitotoxicity of MSG and Aspartame in detail. Some sections are a little technical but the author's own drawings of nerve cells and other structures are helpful for non-professionals. As other readers have noted, I now know why we still continue to be exposed to these toxins. Highly recommended.
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VJP
5.0 out of 5 stars Definitely an eye opener as to what the food industry ...
Reviewed in Canada on March 7, 2017
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Definitely an eye opener as to what the food industry is doing to the products they sell us. To keep us addicted!! Crazy! This book pushed me to eat more whole foods and shop on the outside lanes of the grocery shop avoiding the aisles!
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Stéphanie
5.0 out of 5 stars Je le recommande aux courageux (pour la lecture et les infos qu'il contient)
Reviewed in France on September 18, 2014
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Ce livre me fait penser à une thèse scientifique médicale.
Il se lit facilement dans ses débuts si vous avez l'habitude de lire des rapports/thèses scientifiques.
Ensuite, il s'étale beaucoup sur certaines maladies : alzheimer, parkinson... Un peu plus dur à suivre car il est très complet.

Points forts :
- vous allez enfin comprendre ce que font les excitotoxines dans votre cerveau !
- il est très référencé et donc très professionnel !! Il est donc possible de retrouver les études sur lesquelles s'appuient le livre.
- vous pourrez enfin comprendre sur quoi se base Corinne Gouget pour dénoncer les excitotoxines.
5 people found this helpful
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Mrs. M. F. Pearson
5.0 out of 5 stars I always had my suspicions about aspartame
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 20, 2011
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I suppose for people without post-A level Biology this book would be somewhat hard going. "Weak science" I think not; Dr Blaylock is an eminent neurosurgeon, although the book is a bit repetitive;it might be aimed at people who already have memory problems.

Aspartame was approved by the UK government so quickly that I assumed that HMG had shares in Searle. I soon discovered that aspartame did not assist weight loss & caused me headaches & lack of concentration. I gave it up & eventually switched to sucralose, but I had symptoms of Lupus & gave that up as well.

MSG & its fellow poisons were less familiar to me, but having read Harmony Clearwater Grace's book  HCG Diet Made Simple: Your Step-By-Step Guide Beyond Pounds and Inches , I saw the connection between these products & damage to the diencephalon (pituitary, thalamus & hypothalamus. She points out that there is a connection between childhood obesity & MSG consumption in China, that even my husband noticed. On a trip to China recently, he noticed that the children he saw were significantly fatter than they were 10 years ago.

Dr Blaylock suggests that patients with disorders associated with neural damage "should eat a low-fat diet"; excuse me, but doesn't a low-fat diet mean MORE carbohydrates? not a good thing for these patients. He does so to reduce prostaglandins, which are produced from omega-6 fats e.g. sunflower, rapeseed oils. Better choices are saturated fats such as coconut oil & grass-fed butter; also supplementation with omega-3 oils such as fish oil & flaxseed oil are recommended. Coconut oil combined with a low-carb diet produces ketones, which are considered beneficial for Alzheimers' sufferers.
7 people found this helpful
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James
5.0 out of 5 stars A timely book
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 5, 2008
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I think this should be sent to every MP in the land with the first one going to the Prime-minister. It is time we stopped treating the symptoms of illnesses and put a greater effort and money into the causes.
We should put greater restrictions on industry for they will do anything if it increases their profits - a good comparison is what happened with smoking: the companies knew of the dangers before the greater public did.
And so with "excitotoxins". Every time you sweeten your tea with nutrasweet, you are in effect frying your brain, as it contains the excitotoxin aspartame; or take a bite of some crisps - check the label it could contain MSG(monosodium glutamate), another excitotoxin.
These excitotoxins need to be banned immediately. They are totally unnecessary - a lot of the time these flavour enhancers are used to disguise the awful quality of the food that is produced. Here is a thought - without these artificial flavour enhancers we would be forced to eat properly, as our taste buds would be awakened to the reality of what we are ingesting.
4 people found this helpful
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