What Makes Me MSG Sensitive?

MSG affects nearly everyone in some way because free glutamic acid - the business end of MSG and the amino acid that increases in blood concentration when MSG is eaten, is used throughout the body as a chemical messenger and neurotransmitter. However, some people are more sensitive to excess amounts of free glutamic acid in the body than the average person, who may not even notice symptoms of excess free glutamic acid until after many years of MSG ingestion. We think of these persons as "canaries in the coal mine". They are more at risk of damage from eating MSG than the rest of us - but it is simply a matter of degree. The following are possible reasons for this increased MSG sensitivity:

Autism - affects 1 in 94 children in NJ

	Genetic errors "miswire" the nervous system for glutamate receptors and synapses
	Genetic error of sulfur metabolism - which affects taurine production and cysteine metabolism.
	Cysteine is used to make glutathione - which is the body's way of removing toxic mercury. Glutathione is low in autistic children making them more sensitive to mercury toxicity from all other sources.
	Inflammation present which lowers defense of the blood-brain barrier

Gilbert's Syndrome - affects mainly boys - 2% of population

	Inability of liver to detoxify the blood
	NMDA glutamate receptors become sensitized
	Inflammation

Alcohol use which may cause:

	Increased sensitivity of NMDA receptors
	Vitamin B6 deficiency
	Compromised liver

Compromised liver, (which handles transamination of amino acids) due to:

Taurine deficiency

Caused by error of metabolism for sulfur containing amino acids

Caused by excess estradiol

Caused by vitamin B6 deficiency

Gilbert's syndrome

Vitamin B6 deficiency

Transamination difficulty due to errors of metabolism

Physical damage

	Physical Injury (car accident, etc.)
	Cirrhosis
	Vitamin A toxicity - Note: Accutane (isotretinoin) drug to treat acne side effects are similar to Vitamin A Toxicity. Unfortunately, teen boys most likely to use Accutane are most likely to be eating too much MSG.

CoQ10 Deficiency - nerve cells in the brain and elsewhere may not have the ability to withstand the overstimulation caused by excess glutamate.

	Caused by lack of other vitamins (like Vitamin B6) the body needs to manufacture CoQ10.
	Caused by stress

Epilepsy – MSG can induce seizure

Caused by autism related genes (20% of autistic children have epilepsy)

Fibromyalgia - increased nervous system sensitivity

Caused by autism

Hypoglycemia which causes a defiency of fuel to protect the blood/brain barrier

Magnesium Deficiency - Magnesium is used by the nervous system to close calcium channels. MSG is a calcium channel opener.

Parkinson’s Disease –

	Leads to Vitamin B6 deficiency as some medications require a patient to limit B6 intake.
	Parkinson's patients already have low dopamine levels. MSG lowers dopamine levels further - counteracting the medication.

Pre-existing allergies which cause:

	Sensitization of the nervous system due to Nerve Growth Factor (see recent John’s Hopkin’s study on asthma and the nervous system)
	Leaky blood vessels – edema associated with inflammation response.

Type I Diabetes -

	Caused by antibodies against GAD glutamic acid decarboxylase (85% of those with Type I Diabetes were found to have antibodies against the enzyme that turns excess glutamate into GABA.)
	Autism genes - Type I diabetes is associated with autism spectrum

Vitamin B 6 deficiency caused by poor nutrition, alcohol use, or limiting this vitamin due to food/drug interactions.

Vitamin B12 deficiency - Vitamin B12 protects against glutamate neurotoxicity.

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