Migraine Triggers --

Excitotoxins

Do you know that one of the worst toxins and one of the biggest migraine triggers is an excitotoxin? Read this article to find out what excitotoxins are, how they hurt you, and how you can avoid them and their damage.

What Are Excitotoxins?
(Migraine Triggers That Zap Nerve Cells.)

An excitotoxin is a substance that literally stimulates or excites a nerve cell (neuron) until it is damaged or dies. One of the most common and most damaging excitoxins is GLUTAMATE (one form of glutamate that is well known is MSG.)

Why Not Avoid All Glutamate?
(YOU CAN'T LIVE WITHOUT THESE POTENTIAL MIGRAINE TRIGGERS.)

Excitotoxins are usually amino acids -- the building blocks of proteins like eggs, meat, fish, and cheese. Glutamate is an amino acid found in many foods. It is also the primary messenger between neurons in the brain. It is necessary for thinking, memory, movement, and our senses (particularly taste, sight, and hearing.) How can this be? Here is the secret: glutamate is used in very tiny amounts by the brain. Larger amounts than this could give you a migraine

What Turns Glutamates Into Migraine Triggers?
(TYPE And AMOUNT.)

TYPE of glutamate: Not all glutamates are the same. All glutamate found in the human body, and in all unprocessed food (both before and after you digest it) is exclusively L-glutamate. This is the form that the body has developed enzymes for, in order to metabolize it.

However, when glutamate is produced by processing a protein source with heat, acid, etc., a mix is produced. This mix consists of L-glutamate, D-glutamate, and some other chemicals. This mix is typical of MSG and MSG-like additives.

Since D-glutamate is foreign to the body, it is not recognized by the enzymes that work on the L-glutamate. It may be largely ignored; even bypassing the liver after it is consumed and going straight into body tissues.

(Note: L-glutamate and D-glutamate molecules are mirror images of each other, like your two hands. The two forms are identical, except that they cannot be superimposed. However, inside a human body, their actions are very different.)

AMOUNT of glutamate: Tiny amounts of L-glutamate help neurons communicate with each other; large amounts kill neurons. However, even tiny amounts of D-glutamate are migraine triggers.

How To Identify Migraine Triggers
(PROCESSED GLUTAMATE Is The Culprit.)

Eating the protein in foods does not cause the death of neurons or adverse reactions in your body. However, ingesting the processed glutamate found in MSG-type substances can lead to nerve death and many negative reactions -- like migraines.

So Why Are MSG-Type Additives Put In Food?
(The Multi-Million Dollar Question.)

These additives are flavor enhancers. They stimulate the taste buds, so that the brain thinks your food tastes better than it actually does. They are also addictive, so that you want to eat more and more of the foods that contain them.

What If MSG-Type Additives Do Not Bother You?
(The Answer? They Do.)

Excitotoxins hurt everyone. (Even if it isn't one of your migraine triggers. ) The damage done by them is not optional. They hurt and kill neurons. They have also been linked to degenerative nerve diseases, like Alzheimer's. (A neurosurgeon, Dr. Russell Blaylock, wrote a book detailing how excitotoxins kill neurons and are linked to disease.) There is no winning with them.

Avoiding Migraine Triggers Can Be As Easy as............
If You Check Ingredients Before You Eat

Do you know that there are well over five dozen ingredients that can hide MSG-like additives? Chances are, you are eating one or more of them every day. Just by eliminating these additives from your diet, you may eliminate migraine from your life.

Avoid processed foods that contain MSG and MSG-type additives. These additives are allowed to go by a number of benign-sounding names in the list of ingredients in your processed foods. These names include: 'flavorings,' 'spices,' 'broth,' 'hydrolyzed vegetable protein.' A simple rule, if you cannot remember all of these names: If a manufacturer will not tell you specifically what an ingredient is, do not eat it.