beets make my headaches WAAAYYY worse....

Thanks for this reminder. Am having lots of GI stuff right now and needed to be reminded of this!

Lisa,

Not sure where you get your beet juice, but MSG is a chemical and a preservative. I juice my beets and use them fresh or grate them and make salad. I am highly sensitive to MSG and do not use it in any shape form or fashion.

One thing that beet juice can precipitate is dizziness/headaches from detoxing so you have to titrate the amounts/dosages for that reason.

Check out these links for organic beet juice or beet powder in bulk or capsules.

BIOTTA
organic beet root juice
Since ancient times beet juice has been associated with human blood due to its dark crimson pigment, potent enough to color a liter of water with just a few drops.

Medieval herbalists wrote about the beneficial properties of beet juice. Modern research has since explored much of this ancient science and folk medicine through chemistry and nutritional analysis. Beets contain an abundance of Potassium, Phosphorus, Calcium, Sulfur, Iodine, Iron and Copper, as well as traces of the rare metals Rubidium and Caesium. Along with Carbohydrates, some Protein and Fat, one finds Vitamins B1, B2, niacin, B6, B12, and C in beets. http://www.rapunzel.com/products/biotta/biotta_juice_beet.html

AIM RediBeets �, - beet juice http://www.naturaltechniques.com/redibeets.htm

You got me on a roll researching this topic of beets containing MSG. While beets are used to produce MSG I am still researching exactly how beets are altered to produce MSG and if beets in their natural state do in fact produce the same effect.

As far as MSG goes most of the sites recite the same song and dance from the FDA that MSG is safe and does not produce undesirable effects.

For those of us who experience the effects of MSG we know otherwise.

You have opened up a very interesting topic of consideration here and peaked my interest.

Dr. Mercola on his site at www.mercola.com has an interesting comment about beets and all vegetables that grow underground:

"I would definitely avoid all vegetables that grow underground to avoid an increase in your insulin levels."
http://www.mercola.com/nutritionplan/juicing.htm#

Very interesting since I have lots of problems with reactive hypoglycemia exacerbated by lyme.

The author of this site specifically addresses MSG and Migraine Headaches, but I still cannot find any comments re: the alteration of the composition of beets when used to produce MSG.

Migraine Headaches and Monosodium Glutamate (MSG) http://www.vanderbilt.edu/AnS/psychology/health_psychology/msg.htm

Thanks again for bringing up this topic.

Maggie

One other comment in a separate article by Dr. Mercola:

"Not only are sugar cane and sugar beets often contaminated with fungi and their associated fungi, but they, like the other grains, fuel the growth of fungi. Fungi need carbohydrates--sugars--to thrive."
http://www.mercola.com/2003/nov/5/toxic_foods.htm

[quote]
Thought I'd write and give God thanks for making beets-yes beets.

For those who can't digest fats or a lot of protein, beets work wonders-not the digusting, processed to death and probably nutritiousless beets in a can, but either real beets or beet juice in a bottle.

You can buy the juice at a good health food store and they can order prob if they don't carry it. Biotta brand is what I use.

Beet juice is used in Ireland for instance to detox the liver. Beets stimulate the liver and are a tonic to it(stimulate to heal). I wouldn't have survived if I didn't have beet juice.

I lost 42 lbs because I couldn't digest fats or proteins. I take it every now and then when necessary. That is all I now need.

I used to drink 4-5oz w/meals, esp heavy meals, when needed. If you are really bad drink 4-8oz 2-3/x a day for the first day and about half that much the next.

You will go to the bathroom a lot at first until the toxics are out but things will go back to normal. You will see red in the bowl but that is just the excess passing through. The movements will go from a yellow or pale color to brown again.

Sorry for the graphics here but if you need help you won't care.

Then just drink about 4oz as needed. Again it worked wonders for me and I keep a bottle handy. I can now work and go to the gym because I have the energy to do so-I can now digest my protein and fats.

quote:

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Originally posted by lla2:
just don't forget that beets are loaded with MSG..and that's a neurotoxin..so it WILL affect the lyme neuro symtoms..

beets make my headaches WAAAYYY worse....

just so you know..
Lisa

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could be that the headaches are from release of toxins... as long as we are on the subject of, well, pu-pu.....

use of enemas will help get rid of those toxins especially during herxing, a.k.a. "die-off" and can be a BIG help for headaches!

I finally found this article that satisfied my inquiring mind. Although I immediately stated that beets in their natural form do NOT contain MSG when I tried to find a source to back up my claims I found a lot of interesting material.

Please check out this VERY INFORMATIVE article re: MANUFACTURED VS. NATURAL MSG

"ON THE SUBJECT OF MANUFACTURED VS. NATURAL GLUTAMIC ACID
OVERVIEW -

There are a number of straightforward bold faced lies used by the glutamate industry in defending its contention that exposure to free glutamic acid found in processed food does not cause adverse reactions including hives, asthma, seizures, and migraine headache; could not possibly cause brain damage, learning disorders, or endocrine disturbances; and could not possibly be relevant to diverse diseases of the central nervous system such as addiction, stroke, epilepsy, schizophrenia, anxiety, depression, and degenerative disorders such as ALS, Parkinson's disease, and Alzheimer's disease.

Central to their argument is the lie that the processed free glutamic acid used in processed food is identical to the glutamic acid found in unprocessed, unadulterated food and in the human body.

The truth of the matter is that the glutamic acid found in unprocessed, unadulterated, and/or unfermented food and in the human body is composed of one form of a single amino acid, L-glutamic acid, and nothing else.

In contrast, the glutamic acid that is freed from protein through a manufacturing process or through fermentation (processed free glutamic acid) which is used in processed food is always composed of L-glutamic acid and contaminants that inevitably appear during fermentation or other modes of glutamic acid manufacture or processing..

In addition to the D-glutamic acid, contaminants may include, but are not limited to, pyroglutamic acid, mono and dichloro propanols, heterocyclic amines, and peptides. Mono and dichloro propanols and heterocyclic amines are carcinogenic. The consequences of the interactions of these various chemicals are unknown.

Make no mistake. Since processed free glutamic acid (MSG) used in processed food and in plant "growth enhancers" is not identical to glutamic acid found in unprocessed, unadulterated food and in the human body, there is no reason to believe that the product called "glutamic acid" by the glutamate industry will be functionally equivalent to pure L-glutamic acid, or to believe that their excitotoxic effects will be identical."

Click here to read rest of the article.
http://www.truthinlabeling.org/manufac.html

Also, check out HOW MSG IS MANUFACTURED.
http://www.truthinlabeling.org/HowIsItManufactured.html

Hope this clears up the question of MSG naturally occurring in foods vs manufactured.