Rating: 
Summary: Chronicles dangerous ingredients in your foods
Review: Excitotoxins are substances added to foods and beverages that literally stimulates neurons to death, causing brain damage of varying degrees. They can be found in such ingredients as monosodium glutamate, aspartame (Nutrasweet®), cysteine, hydrolyzed protein, and aspartic acid. Dr. Blaylock's book describes what excitotoxins are, where they are found, and how they react in the body. Dr. Blaylock, a board-certified neurosurgeon, presents the latest research findings to demonstrate how exposure to excitotoxins will damage nerve cells in the brain.
The use of aspartame, hydrolyzed vegetable protein, and monosodium glutamate in prepared foods and beverages continues to increase on a yearly basis. Dr. Blaylock clearly demonstrates that the neurotoxic potential of excitotoxins such as MSG and aspartame is so overwhelming that it can no longer be ignored.
The message contained in this book is of particular importance to members of high-risk groups; the elderly, young children and those people at risk of or with a family history of neurodegenerative diseases.
Rating: 
Summary: Excellent Review of Excitotoxicity
Review: I am not a medical professional, but have studied neuroscience extensively, especially relating to neurodegenerative diseases. Whenever I see a book like this I always look to see if the author has his facts straight--Dr. Blaylock definitely does! Second, I look to see if everything is a nail because all the author has is a hammer. I would say "no", the author has logically connected neurotoxicity to neurodegenerative conditions. Final comment: I have bought a lot of books on medicine, anti-oxidants, neurology, etc. I turn down the corner of any important page. I have turned down the corner of more pages on Dr Blaylock's book than any other I bought
Rating: 
Summary: Very weak science
Review: I bought this book because it mentions cysteine as an "excitotoxin," which is very much in contrast to cysteine being recommended as a dietary supplement (antioxidant) by other sources. My concern was that the dietary supplement industry is pushing substances that more knowledgeable researchers have found to be harmful. The good news is that there is almost no information in this book about cysteine, and certainly nothing that persuades me that it is toxic. Overall, the book presents a very weak and incoherent argument. The author seems to have become interested in research on animals showing harmful effects of monosodium glutamate (injected directly into the body in enormous amounts), and then collected everything he could over 25 years that might confirm that it is harmful to humans. The result: lots of information, a number of interesting ideas, and many rounds of repetition of loose connections between facts, but no conclusion. Examples: the blood-brain barrier protects the brain from chemicals in the blood that can harm it, and the author repeats about five times that the blood-brain barrier can be compromised under various circumstances. Is monosodium glutamate the only substance you need to worry about in that situation? It would probably be the least of one's worries. He points out that parts of the brain are not protected by the blood-brain barrier. Well then, where is the evidence that those parts of anyone's brain have been harmed by monosodium glutamate? If baby food had MSG in the fifties and sixties, what effect did it have on the children who consumed it? The author doesn't examine the logical implications of his own ideas. He suggests that MSG plays a part in Parkinson's disease, but it doesn't occur to him that Parkinson's has been around a lot longer than MSG food additives. Finally, there is evidence that this M.D. is somehow ignorant of basic physiology: on page 88 he refers to phenylalanine as "this toxic amino acid." In fact, phenylalanine is one of the essential amino acids, needed for basic human health. I'm not so worried, then, when he says on page 183 that cysteine is "an especially dangerous environmental toxin." The glaring errors in this book make me wonder about the glowing statements of Amazon reviewers. Are these people really so gullible? If there is a story here about gradual harm to the brain caused by MSG or aspartame, it will take real scientist and a better writer to dig it out.
Rating:
Summary: A Book Long Overdue
Review: I have been in the nutritional counseling field over six years and have counseled multitudes whose health and quality of life could be improved greatly by the information contained in this book. The people in this country have trusted the FDA and medical establishment to guard their health and neglected to take responsibility for it themselves. "Excitotoxins The Taste That Kills" makes it painfully obvious that we can not trust the FDA and the Food Giants when it comes to our health and qualtiy of life. The information contained in this book, if taken to heart and applied will prevent tens of thousands from suffering some of the major debilitating physical problems of this century. If we would get back to eating a plant bassed diet and eliminate the processed foods with all of the toxic additives we could reverse most physical problems. Thank you Dr. Blaylock for daring to expose the truth.
Rating:
Summary: A Book that will change your life for better, for ever.
Review: I have known for years that MSG played a factor in my health and as such have tried to avoid it. Now that I understand (with disgust) that the FDA allows MSG to be masked by any number of different names I am successfully avoiding a large amount of Excitotoxins (aka POISON) in my diet. In addition, the suggestions to help combat the effects of EXCITOTOXINS have been a life saver. I feel 100% better. For the first time in five years I had a day where I had no headache. I had almost completely forgotten what it felt like to be headache / migraine free.You have given me back my life... Thank you Dr. Russell L. Blaylock!
Rating:
Summary: 5 stars for exposing the FDA propaganda
Review: I havn't read this book yet, but different drugs can cause the same type of symptom to disease to arise. In some, or most cases quite severe. In reading these comments, to the ones that left negative reviews its clear that you believe that there is only one way to become ill, this book from what I gather is covering how msg and whatever other food drug, negatively affects the Neuro-system in the same way that sniffing cocaine, ammonia inhaling, bad air, would. Read the authors response. Mr. Blaylock, take these negative responses with a grain of salt, this occurs a lot on Amazon, I refer to these angry critics as p.c moles, and p.c bullies. It's obvious that they need to cut back on the Nutrasweet lmao! p.i
Rating:
Summary: Author responds to critics
Review: I would like to thank the reviewers who gave a favorable review, but especially I would like to say to those who were helped by the book, God bless you. As for the harshly critical reviewers, most are from those who know little about the subject and could care less. At least one prefers hedonistic pleasures of gustatory stimulation over scientific fact and logical conclusions based on science. I direct this at the reviewer who stated, rather condescendingly, that I knew very little biochemistry and was so uninformed that I wasn't aware that Parkinson's disease occurred before the arrival of MSG and aspartame. In fact I majored in biochemistry in undergraduate school and completed with honors biochemistry in medical school. I continue to be a student of neurochemistry. My articles on these subjects are printed in peer-reviewed medical journals, which I'm sure the reveiwer would have difficulty understanding. Cysteine is a neurotoxin, as is homocysteine, phenalanine, glutamate and aspartate and a number of naturally occurring amino acids. Has the reviewer ever heard of PKU? While cysteine plays a vital role in brain protection, it is only safe as the N-acetyl product and as cystine. Cysteine, beside being an excitotoxin itself, is converted to homocysteic and homocysteine sulphinic acid, both very powerful excitotoxins. Sulfite, a metabolite of cysteine, is also a powerful neurotoxin (as in sulfate oxidase deficiency). As for the causation of Parkinson's and other neurodegenrative diseases, I never said they were exclusively caused by food born excitotoxins-in fact, in three places in the book I make this point. I do contend they exacerbate the symptoms and accelerate the progression of these diseases. An abundance of new evidence confirms what I wrote in the book and, in fact, paints an even more ominous picture. I cover some of this new information in my recently released book, Health and Nutrition Secrets. As far as making tons on money on my book sales-that is a dream in the head of my angry and confused critic. I don't mind criticism that is logical and based on careful study. These critics are not qualified and did not read the book critically and carefully. The proof of my thesis that food borne excitotoxins are dangerous to human health continues to arrive in the scientific literature.
Rating: 
Summary: Let's get something straight...
Review: I'm not here to comment on the validity of what the author is claiming because I don't really know. However, when Su said "Blaylock has nothing to gain by informing patients about the dangers he describes in this book", I have to jump in. Of course he has something to gain! The sale of his book! Fear sells! Fearmongers make lots of money all the time by selling books because so many people are so eager to believe awful stuff. Maybe this describes Mr. Blaylock, maybe not. However, it's always good to be suspicious about what you read and entertain arguments from both sides.
Rating: 
Summary: good to know
Review: I'm thinking of that song by Joe Jackson with the line "Everything causes cancer, everything..." While I do not subscribe to the usual alarmist perspectives on what causes us harm (for there are truly so many things in modern society practically unavoidable, that it would make one insane to dwell on it), it is refreshing to experience a work that intelligently places blame on the not so usual suspects. Governments that have profited for years on tobacco and foods that are engineered with questionable tactics are still pushing forward this notion that it is only illegal drugs and foods (and not the FDA variety) that are harmful. Just as preaching about the so-called evils of marijuana only made more kids go out and do a variety of drugs - because they knew they were being lied to - it is "high time" to start learning the facts about the products commonly accepted as "safe." This way, you can once again circumvent the propaganda and make decisions for yourself. You are what you eat.
Rating:
Summary: good to know
Review: I'm thinking of that song by Joe Jackson with the line "Everything causes cancer, everything..." While I do not subscribe to the usual alarmist perspectives on what causes us harm (for there are truly so many things in modern society practically unavoidable, that it would make one insane to dwell on it), it is refreshing to experience a work that intelligently places blame on the not so usual suspects. Governments that have profited for years on tobacco and foods that are engineered with questionable tactics are still pushing forward this notion that it is only illegal drugs and foods (and not the FDA variety) that are harmful. Just as preaching about the so-called evils of marijuana only made more kids go out and do a variety of drugs - because they knew they were being lied to - it is "high time" to start learning the facts about the products commonly accepted as "safe." This way, you can once again circumvent the propaganda and make decisions for yourself. You are what you eat.
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