Magnesium glutamate and aspartate supplement forms may be neurotoxic
Magnesium glutamate and aspartate supplement forms may be neurotoxic
Aspartate and glutamate are excitatory
neurotransmitters
(i.e.brain chemicals that stimulate neurons to fire) - At high doses (consumed
either independently or in excess of other protein-containing foods. E.g. as
components of food additives or nutritional supplements like magnesium
aspartate), they can potentially stimulate neurons to the point of injury or
death, called excitotoxicity. In animal studies, neuroscientists found that
aspartic acid loads on the same brain receptors as glutamic acid, to cause
identical brain lesions and neuroendocrine disorders as glutamic acid, and to
act in an additive fashion with glutamic acid. (Similar brain-receptor "overload" results from consuming mono sodium
glutamate (MSG) and the artificial sweetener aspartame, which contains aspartate)
Aspartame - Excitoxin
MSG - and other forms of neurotoxic
free glutamic acid
- Brain
damage in mice from voluntary ingestion of glutamate and aspartate - When glutamate and aspartate were added to the water of laboratory
mice, the mice voluntarily ingested enough of these substances to cause brain
(hypothalamic) damage
-
Aspartame (containing asparate) exacerbates EEG spike-wave discharge in
children with generalized absence epilepsy: a double-blind controlled study
-
Relief of fibromyalgia symptoms following discontinuation of dietary
excitotoxins.
- Adverse reactions to aspartame: double-blind challenge in patients from
those with depression and mood disorders -"Although the protocol required the recruitment of 40 patients with
unipolar depression and a similar number of individuals without a psychiatric
history, the project was halted by the Institutional Review Board after a total
of 13 individuals had completed the study because of the severity of reactions
within the group of patients with a history of depression ."
- Rapid recovery from major depression using magnesium treatment.
Magnesium asparate worsened depression symptoms, in contrast, magnesium glycinate and taurinate forms markedly benefited depressive
symptoms
Quote from study:
"Magnesium glutamate and magnesium aspartate greatly worsened the
59-year old man's depression. . .These magnesium compounds should be considered as
neurotoxic to depressives, and perhaps all people, and should not be used during
treatment of depression, anxiety or similar hyperemotional disorders."
The blood brain barrier (BBB) only partially
protects the brain against neurotoxicity.
The BBB is a selective filter,
which regulates the level of excitatory amino acids in the brain to a degree.
However, some structures of the brain, and in particular the hypothalamus, which is involved in regulating appetite, emotions, energy levels, and
hormonal balance, are not protected by the BBB. It is ironic that those who most
need magnesium to counter neuronal excitation, suffering from such as migraines,
depression, anxiety, fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue, epileptics, should then
suffer neuronal damage from the chelate part of the magnesium supplement.
