Book contents
- Diet Impacts on Brain and Mind
- Diet Impacts on Brain and Mind
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Tables
- Preface and Acknowledgements
- Chapter 1 Introduction
- Chapter 2 Pregnancy, Infancy and Development
- Chapter 3 Acute Effects of Food Intake
- Chapter 4 Chronic Effects of Food Intake
- Chapter 5 Dietary Neurotoxins
- Chapter 6 Neuroprotective Effects of Diet
- Chapter 7 Food-Related Drugs and Food as a Drug
- Chapter 8 Starvation and Caloric Restriction in Adults
- Chapter 9 Essential Nutrient Deficiencies in Adults
- Chapter 10 Implications and Conclusions
- References
- Index
Chapter 5 - Dietary Neurotoxins
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 02 February 2023
- Diet Impacts on Brain and Mind
- Diet Impacts on Brain and Mind
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Tables
- Preface and Acknowledgements
- Chapter 1 Introduction
- Chapter 2 Pregnancy, Infancy and Development
- Chapter 3 Acute Effects of Food Intake
- Chapter 4 Chronic Effects of Food Intake
- Chapter 5 Dietary Neurotoxins
- Chapter 6 Neuroprotective Effects of Diet
- Chapter 7 Food-Related Drugs and Food as a Drug
- Chapter 8 Starvation and Caloric Restriction in Adults
- Chapter 9 Essential Nutrient Deficiencies in Adults
- Chapter 10 Implications and Conclusions
- References
- Index
Summary
This chapter examines acute and chronic dietary neurotoxins. One group of acute neurotoxins are plant alkaloids, with ergot poisoning from rye the most notable. Others include the marine neurotoxins, which cause hundreds of thousands of poisonings from seafood that have ingested toxic diatoms/dinoflagellates (e.g., amnestic shellfish poisoning) and from seafood itself (e.g., fugu). Acute neurotoxins also arise from processing, flavourants (e.g., absinthe) and contaminants (e.g., milk sickness). Chronic neurotoxins are diverse, common and sometimes lethal. Prions are one group, in the form of kuru, and mad cow disease. Another is BMAA found in cycad seeds, leading to parkinsonian-like diseases. Reliance on cassava can be problematic if poorly prepared, alongside many bush foods eaten during famine (e.g., grass pea and lathyrism). Lead, aluminium, arsenic and especially mercury can all be ingested, with some tragic examples (e.g., Minamata). Interactions between neurotoxins, vulnerability from poor nutrition and the link to neurodegenerative diseases are also considered.
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- Diet Impacts on Brain and Mind , pp. 126 - 180Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2023