People get excited about food. And people get especially excited (even defensive and agitated) when we start talking about what’s in their food. At least that is what I experienced from my last post, MSG by Any Other Name. Perhaps it is because they are unknowingly consuming hidden neurotoxins or excitotoxins in the form of monosodium glutamate (MSG) and MSG-related additives. So, let me clear some things up by providing definitions and scientific evidence about what MSG is, exactly, and why it is so bad for us.
What has caused much of the debate about MSG’s safety is that it is a naturally occurring substance. MSG is a sodium salt of the amino acid called glutamic acid, and a form of glutamate. Glutamate is naturally found in foods such as vegetables, milk, meat, cheese and mushrooms and when natural form it is not harmful. Some people are extremely sensitive to it and some are not at all. However, the problem comes in when MSG is manufactured. MSG is mass produced by the fermentation of starch from plants like sugar beets, sugar cane and molasses. So what’s the big deal?
The manufacturing and fermenting process is where the bad nasties come in. Manufactured MSG is in a class of chemicals called excitotoxins. These chemicals jazz up or “excite” nerve cells (neurons) throughout the body until they die. If lower amounts or concentrations are consumed, these excitotoxins fizzle out the connections, or synapses, between the neurons. In his book, Excitotoxins: The Taste that Kills, Retired neurosurgeon Russell Blaylock, MD claimed that excitotoxins are a major cause of degenerative brain diseases such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, Huntington’s, ALS and MS. Additionally, excitotoxins like MSG interact with other excitotoxins like aspartame, mercury, and aluminum to increase their toxicity.
John Erb, a research assistant at the University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada, linked MSG consumption to obesity in his book, The Slow Poisoning of America, in 2006. But shockingly, the evidence had been coming through in studies since 1978 where MSG injections were shown to cause obesity in rats. 1978! Where was the FDA back then?
Additionally, a recent study at UNC Chapel Hill has linked MSG (and it’s derivatives) to obesity. According to the study: People who use monosodium glutamate, or MSG, as a flavor enhancer in their food are more likely than people who don’t use it to be overweight or obese even though they have the same amount of physical activity and total calorie intake.
If you are still a non-believer that MSG is bad for us, you can draw your own conclusions by checking out the National Library of Medicine at: http://www.pubmed.com and key in “MSG Obese.”
For further reading about what’s in our food, check out: Get Your Gen Mo Out of My Food Yo.
Next up in MSG by Any Other Name: Part III: Why is there MSG in our food and what is the FDA is doing about it?
Read Part One:
Other posts by Amy Considine:
Get Real! Reclaiming Authenticity in an Artificial World
Eco-minded cultural creative (intellectual hippie) who truly believes that the sum total of seemingly small actions, or "eco-steps" can add up to make a huge and positive impact for our environment, our health, our happiness and our bank accounts!
[...] more about MSG and its effects here: MSG by Any Other Name: Part II. Share and [...]
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I loved your last article and appreciate the clarification here. I am a fellow migraine sufferer and while currently MSG is not one of my triggers, I’m very aware of anything that could be a potential trigger in the future. It’s well worth avoiding MSG if it will help me avoid even one migraine!
Since your last article I have taken a look at many of the labels in my cupboard – salad dressings, bbq sauce, soups, SO MANY things that contain modified food starch or MSG in some other form – scary! Thanks so much for putting this out there. Keep up the good work!
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Hi Caty,
Thanks for your feedback! It’s quite scary when we find out just how many of our pantry items have these ingredients in them. I am hoping that increased awareness of MSG and its related food additives will help people make better choices to be healthier and feel better.
Amy
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I am pleased to see that you take issue with these pathetic dummies who feel compelled to add in a pinch of Ajinomoto or MSG or
Aspartame-metabolized-as-methanol, then becomes formaldehyde!
Would you please be willing to write a letter to FDA commissioner, Dr. Margaret Hamburg, MD, backed up by one to your United States Senators, to ask them to take away or rescind their approval for aspartame containing products, thus taking it off the market permanently?
Re: Ajinomoto; Everything they make is a neurotoxic or carcinogenic poison, like Aspartame and MSG. This is one of the biggest corporate killers on the planet! Please read this article:
AJINOMOTO, ASPARTAME & BRAIN TUMORS: RECIPE FOR DEATH!
http://www.wnho.net/recipe_for_death.htm
Here is another excellent one explaining how it got approval:
Aspartame – Rumsfeld’s Bioweapon Legacy
http://www.rense.com/general67/rum.htm
Any chance you could ask your two US senators and Congressman to ask the
FDA to take it off the market by rescinding its FDA approval? You might find them very receptive.
Please reply directly to my email: stephen@santafefineart.com
Best wishes from Stephen Fox, Founder, New Millennium Fine Art
Santa Fe, New Mexico
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Hi Stephen,
Thanks so much for your input! In researching for my MSG series, I learned more about aspartame than I expected. I had seen the documentary “Sweet Misery” (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P-usbGZez40) on the dangerous effects of aspartame but until now, was not aware that aspartame and MSG increase each others’ toxicity in our bodies! As per your suggestion, in my latest post I encouraged all readers to contact their local senators and congressmen and women to ask them to take MSG off the market. So thanks again for posting and for the great suggestion!
Best regards,
Amy
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[...] where the FDA comes in. As mentioned in my previous post, shortly after MSG was introduced to the United States back in 1947, reports started showing up [...]
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[...] MSG by Any Other Name: Part II Share and Enjoy: [...]
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i read somewhere on the internet that long term consumption of Aspartame is not really good for the health. **-
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i read somewhere on the internet that long term consumption of Aspartame is not really good for the health. `”‘
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aspartame is known to cause cancer in laboratory animals so be careful.;-
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aspartame have some bad side effects too so be careful with it-.’
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For those on the fence about aspartame, I would recommend this page detailing its dangers: http://www.mercola.com/Downloads/bonus/aspartame/report.aspx
Personally I use stevia or lo han. Might be more expensive and harder to get but in the long run much better for my health.
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