What is MSG and why do they put it in our food?
Monosodium glutamate (MSG) was discovered in 1908 by Japanese chemist Kikunae Ikeda. Professor Ikeda was trying to isolate a chemical in seaweed: kombu, a flavor enhancer. What he came up with was glutamic acid combined with a sodium molecule, which resulted in MSG.
The component glutamate, or glutamic acid, is an excitatory amino acid neurotransmitter in the brain. These neurotransmitters in the brain are normal, but when there is an excess of them, cells will be over-stimulated and die.
According to neurosurgeon Dr. Russell Blaylock’s book Excitotoxins: The Taste that Kills, these excitotoxins will stimulate neurons in the brain until the neurons die as a result. This causes various degrees of brain damage, according to Dr. Blaylock. Children and infants are especially vulnerable to this chemical.
Professor Ikeda’s new product was a huge hit because it enhanced the flavor of food. The Japanese used it in many foods, including the food rations they gave to US prisoners of war. The US military was curious about why the American soldiers loved the food rations they received as prisoners of the Japanese. After the US military found out about MSG in 1948, the US Armed Forces met with the largest food companies in the United States and discussed how MSG could be added to various food products.
MSG has since been added to almost all processed foods, including the sweeteners NutraSweet and aspartame. It is found in foods at almost all fast-food restaurants and other restaurants you might not suspect. MSG has become such a huge part of the food industry because it works on the brain as a pleasure trigger, making you think food tastes better. So, food that normally tastes bland may taste great with MSG added to it. The diet food industry has especially benefited from using MSG.
However, MSG can send pleasure impulses to the brain until it kills that part of the brain. Dr. Blaylock has tried for many years to educate people about the toxicity of this additive in our food supply.
The FDA has no limit on how much MSG can be added to food. Theoretically, in children, the long-term effects can be attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), autism, and other learning disabilities. In adults, conditions such as Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, and Lou Gehrig’s disease, multiple sclerosis, autoimmune disease, sleep disorders, migraines, and the inability to lose weight may be linked to excitotoxin damage. Over the years, more and more MSG has been added to foods.
Hydrolyzed proteins, also used as flavor enhancers, are proteins that have been chemically broken down into amino acids. When they are digested, the result can be the creation of free glutamate, which joins with free sodium in the body to form MSG. This means that while the ingredient label will list only “hydrolyzed protein,” the effect on the body is the same as if the product contained MSG.
Free glutamate can cause the body to react as if a drug had stimulated the nervous system. It can affect insulin metabolism, leading to excessive insulin secretion by the pancreas. Some common symptoms of a reaction to free glutamate are anxiety attacks, asthma-like symptoms, attention deficit disorder, burning sensations, carpal tunnel syndrome, chest pains, depression, diarrhea, disorientation and confusion, dizziness, drowsiness, fatigue, flushing, gastric distress, headaches and migraines, hyperactivity in children, infertility and other endocrine problems, insomnia, irregular or rapid heartbeat, joint pain, mood swings, mouth lesions, nausea and vomiting, numbness of parts of the body such as the fingertips, seizures, shortness of breath, skin rash, slurred speech, stomachaches, tremors, and weakness.
In my travels around the world, I found MSG in many foods you would not normally expect. My daughter was living in a remote village in Mali, Africa when she was in the Peace Corps. Someone from a corporation had been there and convinced the villagers that if they didn’t use this “spice” called MSG in their food, then it wouldn’t taste good. The villagers would sell their healthy fresh produce from their meager gardens of garlic, onions, and tomatoes to get money to buy this “spice.” I was simply horrified at this situation.
Then, when my daughter was working with the United Nations on trials of the Khmer Rouge in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, I went to spend the holidays with her. I took cooking classes there and in Thailand. The teachers informed us of the incredible amount of MSG used extensively throughout Cambodia, and I found the same in Thailand. People use it in restaurants and in their home-cooked food. Be aware of the extensive use of this chemical, no matter where you are in the world. You may think MSG is not used in non-Asian restaurants today, but it is prevalent in almost all restaurants. You will want to ask.
Here is a partial list of hidden sources of MSG that Dr. Blaylock includes in his book Excitotoxins: The Taste that Kills. Some of the ingredients aren’t MSG when they are put in food, but they create MSG when they touch saliva.
Many of these look just like “normal” food ingredients. Many of them are added to alternative meat products sold as vegetarian foods. That is why it is becoming more and more important for your health to buy whole, fresh foods and make meals yourself.
Additives that always contain MSG:
Additives that frequently contain MSG:
Additives that may contain MSG or excitotoxins:
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Excerpt from How to Be a Healthy Vegetarian, pages 75 -76 by Nancy Addison
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