by Neil Bauman, Ph.D.
May 18, 2016
There are many causes of tinnitus. Some are well-known and obvious such as exposing your ears to excessive noise. Others are not so well-known and insidiously work behind the scenes to cause or exacerbate tinnitus. Two of these culprits are the artificial sweetener Aspartame and the flavor-enhancer monosodium glutamate (MSG).
Both of these chemicals are neurotoxins. Let’s look at how they cause tinnitus (and other damage to our bodies). But before we do this, here’s some background to help you understand their actions.
Our brains and nervous systems are comprised of neurons (nerve cells). In order for electrical signals to flow up and down our nerves, or around to various parts of our brains, something has to allow one neuron to pass a message (electrical signal) on to a neighboring neuron. That “something” is called a neurotransmitter.
There are two kinds of neurotransmitters—excitatory neurotransmitters and inhibitory neurotransmitters. If the first neuron releases an excitatory neurotransmitter (resulting in increased electrical activity), the receiving neuron will transmit this information to the next neuron. However, if the first neuron releases an inhibitory neurotransmitter, (resulting in reduced electrical activity) the signal is suppressed and not passed on.
When a neuron receives a signal and wants to pass it on to other neurons it releases an excitatory neurotransmitter into the microscopic space between neurons, called a synapse. The neurotransmitter chemical released from the first neuron then binds with a receptor on the next neuron and thus the signal is passed on.
As Barry Keate, the head honcho at Arches Natural Products, Inc. wrote in his excellent article, 2 Hidden Toxins to Avoid if You Have Tinnitus,
There are many neurotransmitters in the brain, but the workhorses are GABA (gamma-amino butyric acid) and glutamate. GABA is an inhibitory neurotransmitter and glutamate is an excitatory neurotransmitter. Both types are necessary for proper nervous system operation, and they must be balanced.
Too much GABA, and electrical activity decreases. Benzodiazepine medications such as Valium and Klonopin activate GABA in the brain, causing sluggishness, incoherent thinking, and drowsiness.
Too much glutamate, and electrical activity increases. The brain becomes very excitable. This can lead to anxiety, stress and many neurodegenerative conditions, one of which is tinnitus. (1)
Therefore, if you have too much glutamate (that gets the neurons all revved up and “talking out of turn”) and not enough GABA (essentially telling all of them to “shut up”) things get out of hand. This excess neuronal activity can result in tinnitus. This is because people with tinnitus have elevated levels of glutamate and the hyper-excitability that goes along with it in their auditory cortex.
How does this relate to Aspartame and monosodium glutamate? Barry continues,
Aspartame is itself an excitatory neurotransmitter, and it is a precursor to another, glutamate. Excesses of these in the nervous system cause neurons to become overly excited and fire too frequently, which raises calcium levels. High calcium levels trigger excessive amounts of free radicals. (1)
These unwanted free radicals then “zap” nearby neurons, typically killing them. Thus, you could say that the excitatory neurotransmitters excite the neurons to death. The result? Hearing loss and the tinnitus that so often accompanies hearing loss.
Therefore, you want to watch for and eliminate as many excitatory neurotransmitter chemicals that are added to processed foods as you can. Specifically, watch out for any foods that contain artificial sweeteners such as Aspartame and/or foods that contain any forms of glutamate such as MSG. Be warned, these additives are found in most processed foods. Therefore, the easy way to do this is to eat natural, unprocessed foods. Then you won’t have to worry about getting tinnitus from this cause. Furthermore, you will feel calmer in the process. Talk about a win-win solution.
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(1) Keate, Barry. 2016. 2 Hidden Toxins to Avoid if You Have Tinnitus. Arches Natural Products, Inc. https://www.tinnitusformula.com/library/2-hidden-toxins-to-avoid-if-you-have-tinnitus/.
Hello Dr.Neil,
What happens once that vodka cranberry works its way through your bloodstream and hits the control center behind your eyes?
We hear many different things about how alcohol affects the brain and body, most notably that it is a depressant. That’s only part of the story. Alcohol is a depressant, but it’s also an indirect stimulant, and plays a few other roles that might surprise you.
Alcohol directly affects brain chemistry by altering levels of neurotransmitters — the chemical messengers that transmit the signals throughout the body that control thought processes, behavior and emotion. Alcohol affects both “excitatory” neurotransmitters and “inhibitory” neurotransmitters.
An example of an excitatory neurotransmitter is glutamate, which would normally increase brain activity and energy levels. Alcohol suppresses the release of glutamate, resulting in a slowdown along your brain’s highways.
An example of an inhibitory neurotransmitter is GABA, which reduces energy levels and calms everything down. Drugs like Xanax and Valium (and other benzodiazopenes) increase GABA production in the brain, resulting in sedation. Alcohol does the same thing by increasing the effects of GABA. This, by the way, is one reason you don’t want to drink alcohol while taking benzodiazopenes; the effects will be amplified, and that can slow your heart rate and respiratory system down to dangerous levels.
So what we just discussed accounts for the depressant effects of alcohol: it suppresses the excitatory neurotransmitter glutamate and increases the inhibitory neurotransmitter GABA. What this means for you is that your thought, speech and movements are slowed down, and the more you drink the more of these effects you’ll feel (hence the stumbling around, falling over chairs and other clumsy things drunk people do).
I read the above in an article.
Does it mean drinking moderate(safe) levels of alcohol not excite neuro transmitter?
Alcohol have other impact on tinnitus as given by you in many blogs.
Kindly reply your thoughts.
I have constant music that I hear.
I have been told by the professionals it is common in the older people with hearing loss. Even when I was in
possession of my wonderful hearing aids I still hear this constant music.
During the day I can tolerate it, but at night it keeps me awake and wakes me up. I have for years
been drinking diet sodas and using an artifical sweetner in my one cup of tea in the morning…… thank you.
For Neil Bauman, Ph.D
Any complaints about clobetasol propionate .05% and ringing in the ears?
Hi Lew:
I have seen nothing to indicate that Clobetasol is ototoxic, so it should not affect your tinnitus.
Cordially,
Neil
Hello Doctor
Yesterday i ate too much msg (i live in Thailand and some vendors still sneak it into their food). I woke up and my left ear is ringing and i cannot hear much at all. Is this permanent and is there any fix? Please send me an email for the reply. Regards, Peter
Hi Peter:
I’m sure by now that your tinnitus from taking the MSG has gone away. as far as I know, MSG only gives temporary tinnitus.
Cordially,
Neil
I Have a constant hissing in ears. I do drink diet pop which I believe is the culprit.