mellowsong
08-14-11, 03:51 PM
By Bette Dowdell on 08/14/2011
Every day of every year, people across the fruited plain engage in do-it-yourself brain damage. Sadly, we have no idea what we’re doing.
How can this be? I’m so glad you asked.
First, some background: Along the bottom of the brain is a small, sort of pancake-shaped thingy called the hypothalamus. And although it’s considered part of the brain, it’s not protected by the blood-brain barrier that keeps most of the bad stuff out of our brains. So it’s vulnerable.
Small and vulnerable though it may be, the hypothalamus is mighty. It controls the endocrine system, our glands that manage metabolism, sex and reproduction, immunity and so on. It also controls the nervous system, which is the rest of us. In short, the hypothalamus controls pretty much everything that happens in our bodies. Getting it out of whack lets the bad times roll!
So what gets the hypothalamus out of whack? Well, most of the problem comes from what we eat and drink, which we can control, so let’s talk about that.
One problem is excitotoxins. This is not a word that trips off too many tongues, so let me explain. An excitotoxin is something that damages the hypothalamus and causes brain inflammation–and lets loose all kinds of chaos in our endocrine and nervous systems, usually slowly and silently.
Read more: http://www.healthiertalk.com/death-hypothalamus-4479
Every day of every year, people across the fruited plain engage in do-it-yourself brain damage. Sadly, we have no idea what we’re doing.
How can this be? I’m so glad you asked.
First, some background: Along the bottom of the brain is a small, sort of pancake-shaped thingy called the hypothalamus. And although it’s considered part of the brain, it’s not protected by the blood-brain barrier that keeps most of the bad stuff out of our brains. So it’s vulnerable.
Small and vulnerable though it may be, the hypothalamus is mighty. It controls the endocrine system, our glands that manage metabolism, sex and reproduction, immunity and so on. It also controls the nervous system, which is the rest of us. In short, the hypothalamus controls pretty much everything that happens in our bodies. Getting it out of whack lets the bad times roll!
So what gets the hypothalamus out of whack? Well, most of the problem comes from what we eat and drink, which we can control, so let’s talk about that.
One problem is excitotoxins. This is not a word that trips off too many tongues, so let me explain. An excitotoxin is something that damages the hypothalamus and causes brain inflammation–and lets loose all kinds of chaos in our endocrine and nervous systems, usually slowly and silently.
Read more: http://www.healthiertalk.com/death-hypothalamus-4479