Ok, I am moderator in the nutrition board - until DK demods me - and I am tired os seeing the same myths posted over and over again. Here are some nutritional myths which I am busting:
Myth: Aspartame causes blindness and brain damage
Fact: Aspartame is an amalgamated molecule of methanol, l-aspartic acid and l-phenylalanine. Methanol causes blindness by damaging the optic nerve, true, but the amount required is of the order of a quarter liter. Methanol is also present in most fruits in small amounts, but greater than that which is present in Aspartame. A glass of orange juice has 4 times more methanol than a can of soda, and yet I have never heard of anyone going blind from drinking orange juice.
As for l-phenylaline and l-aspartic acid being excitotoxins that destroy brain cells, it is not true in normal circumstances and they are present in the diet. So you will be getting some l-phenylalaine anyway. Even medical doctors who treat patients with phenylketonuria have not figured out hwo to eliminate l-phenylalanine completely from a diet because it is present in so many foods.
Both l-phenylalanine and l-aspartic acid can excite brain cells to death, but this doesen't happen to healthy people because of the blood-brain barrier. It blocks too much of certain amino acids - as well as germs and virii =-m from entering the brain in amounts that would be excitotoxic to neurons. And remember that l-phenylalanine is an essential amino acid, so you need to get it anyway and your body is ready to deal with any excess.
Myth: MSG causes brain damage
Fact: Free form Glutamate is present in many foods that we have evolved to eat over the past tnes of thousands of years like cheese. It is not a toxic substance although free form glutamte is unusual in Nature - being present mostly in cheese and seaweeds.
Now, glutamate is implicated as responsible for a lot of the damage that amd neuronal destrouction that happens after strokes, but there is no indication that exogenous glutamte causes any harm to neurons. Again, the blood-brain brrier protects the brain from any excess glutamate you might eat barring gigantic amounts. Glutamate can, however, damage or destroy neurons not protected by the blood-brain barrier, like those of the hypothalamus and retina. You would need to eat a pound of pure MSG at once to get any damage to your retina and hypothalamus, and even then no damage will happen to your cortex the thinking part of the brain...
Soy Is Estrogenic:
Fact: The isoflavones in soy are very weak in their estrogenic activity and not even remotely comparable to real estradiol and estrogen in their abiliy to stimulate estrogen receptors. There is no observable estrogen-like effect from soy eaten in normal amounts. Also, soy contains compounds that block real estrogen from latching on to receptors, which given it's low estrogenic activity means that soy is anti-estrogenic. You shouldn't eat soy because soy protein is an allergen to many people and because the polynsaturated fats in soy increase inflammation and oxidative stress, but not because it will tiurn you into women.
Myth: Protein stimulates muscle growth
Myth: Eating lots of protein will make you drink a lot of water to eliminate all the ammonia and uric acid of protein metabolism and make you fat, but won't put single ounce of muscle in your body. Muscles grow via a stimulus, mechanical or chemical, and not because you are overfeeding it protein. Actually, eating lots of protein will cuase you to lose muscle, as protein takes more calories to digest than it contains. If you wwant mass, then youi should eat lots of carb to spare protein. Protein is only used for muslce maintance and the amount of growth that happens day-to-day requires very little protein ok.
SUCKMYMUSCLE
