MSG - the tasty poison

Monosodium Glutamate is the sodium salt of glutamic acid, an amino acid found naturally in protein-containing foods and in your body. “Bound” glutamic acid is the natural form found in the body which acts as an excitatory neurotransmitter. Processed “Free” glutamic acid is found primarily in processed foods. When ingested, it may actually over stimulate the nervous system causing a wide range of adverse effects in people who are sensitive to it.

Where is MSG found? It is found in many foods including packaged food, canned food, restaurant food, drinks, candy, many of the foods you eat in restaurants or sold in the spice section of the grocery store. MSG alone has no flavor, but enhances the flavor of other foods by exciting our taste buds. It can be masked under a variety of names. Here are some common ingredient names that contain MSG: Autolyzed yeast, Calcium caseinate, Gelatin, Glutamate, Hydrolyzed protein (any protein that is hydrolyzed), Monopotassium glutamate, Yeast extract, and Yeast food. Here are some common names that MAY contain MSG: Bouillon, Broth, Malt extract, Maltodextrin, Smoke flavoring, Soy protein, Soy sauce extract, Yeast extract, Whey extract, and flavorings- including “natural flavoring.”

What are some adverse reactions to MSG? In sensitive persons, MSG may trigger an allergic reaction. Some of the common adverse reactions associated with MSG sensitivity are: anxiety, arrhythmias, chest tightness, cramping, depression, diarrhea, dizziness, flu-like symptoms, flushing, hives/rash, hyperactivity, migraines, nausea/vomiting, numbness, rapid heartbeat (tachycardia), runny nose/sneezing, shortness of breath, vision disturbances, and weakness. If food seems to sktick to your teeth after you eat, kind of makes you feel like you need to brush your teeth, you likely got some MSG!

How do I avoid MSG? Ask anyone who is MSG sensitive and he or she will tell you it is quite difficult. Cutting MSG out of your diet primarily means cutting out processed foods. It also means asking questions about ingredients when you dine out. The restaurant may not “add” MSG to their foods while preparing them. However, if you are eating at a restaurant which uses a lot of ready-made sauces, soups, and other items, the chances are good they contain MSG.

How To Get Obese - Fast
The following article was written by Dr David Eldredge: This article is currently circulating the world via email. When you have read it, please send this URL to ALL your friends, family and associates. They desperately need to read it.

Slow Poisoning of America
I wondered if there could be an actual chemical causing the massive obesity epidemic, so did John Erb, a friend of mine. He was a research assistant at the University of Waterloo, and spent years working for the government. He made an amazing discovery while going through scientific journals for a book he was writing called The Slow Poisoning of America. In hundreds of studies around the world, scientists were creating obese mice and rats to use in diet or diabetes test studies.

No strain of rat or mice is naturally obese, so the scientists have to create them. They make these morbidly obese creatures by injecting them with MSG when they are first born. The MSG triples the amount of insulin the pancreas creates, causing rats (and humans?) to become obese. They even have a title for the race of fat rodents they create: "MSG-Treated Rats" MSG? I was shocked too. I went to my kitchen, checking the cupboards and the fridge. MSG was in everything! The Campbell's soups, the Hostess Doritos, the Lays flavored potato chips, Top Ramen, Betty Crocker Hamburger Helper, Heinz canned gravy, Swanson frozen prepared meals, Kraft salad dressings, especially the 'healthy low fat' ones. The items that didn't have MSG had something called Hydrolyzed Vegetable Protein, which is just another name for Monosodium Glutamate. It was shocking to see just how many of the foods we feed our children everyday are filled with this stuff. They hide MSG under many different names in order to fool those who catch on.

But it didn't stop there. When our family went out to eat, we started asking at the restaurants what menu items had MSG. Many employees, even the managers, swore they didn't use MSG. But when we ask for the ingredient list, which they grudgingly provided, sure enough MSG and Hydrolyzed Vegetable Protein were everywhere. Burger King, McDonalds, Wendy's, Taco Bell, every restaurant, even the sit down ones like TGIF, Chili's', Applebee's and Denny's use MSG in abundance. Kentucky Fried Chicken seemed to be the WORST offender: MSG was in every chicken dish, salad dressing and gravy. No wonder I loved to eat that coating on the skin, their secret spice was MSG!

Why is MSG in so many of the foods we eat? Is it a preservative or a vitamin? Not according to my friend John. In the book he wrote, an expose of the food additive industry called The Slow Poisoning of America, [go to http://www.spofamerica.com] he said that MSG is added to food for the addictive effect it has on the human body.

Even the propaganda website sponsored by the food manufacturers lobby group supporting MSG [at http://www.msgfactscom/facts/msgfact12.html] explains that the reason they add it to food is to make people eat more. A study of elderly people showed that people eat more of the foods that it is added to. The Glutamate Association lobby group says eating more benefits the elderly, but what does it do to the rest of us?

Betcha can't eat just one', takes on a whole new meaning where MSG is concerned! And we wonder why the nation is overweight? The MSG manufacturers themselves admit that it addicts people to their products. It makes people choose their product over others, and makes people eat more of it than they would if MSG wasn't added.

Not only is MSG scientifically proven to cause obesity, it is an addictive substance!

Since its introduction into the American food supply fifty years ago, MSG has been added in larger and larger doses to the prepackaged meals, soups, snacks and fast foods we are tempted to eat every day. The FDA has set no limits on how much of it can be added to food. They claim it's safe to eat in any amount. How can they claim it is safe when there are hundreds of scientific studies with titles like these?

The monosodium glutamate (MSG) obese rat as a model for the study of exercise in obesity. Gobatto CA, Mello MA, Souza CT, Ribeiro IA.Res Commun Mol Pathol Pharmacol. 2002

Adrenalectomy abolishes the food-induced hypothalamic serotonin release in both normal and monosodium glutamate-obese rats. Guimaraes RB, Telles MM, Coelho VB, Mori RC, Nascimento CM, RibeiroBrain Res Bull. 2002 Aug

Obesity induced by neonatal monosodium glutamate treatment in spontaneously hypertensive rats: an animal model of multiple risk factors. Iwase M, Yamamoto M, Iino K, Ichikawa K, Shinohara N, Yoshinari Fujishima Hypertens Res. 1998 Mar

Hypothalamic lesion induced by injection of monosodium glutamate in suckling period and subsequent development of obesity. Tanaka K, Shimada M, Nakao K, Kusunoki Exp Neurol. 1978 Oct

Yes, that last study, written in 1978, was not a typo. Both the medical research community and food manufacturers have known MSG's side effects for decades! [Does MSG cross the placental barrier or become a constituent of breast milk?]

If you are one of the few who can still believe that MSG is good for us, and you don't believe what John Erb has to say, see for yourself. Go to the National Library of Medicine, at: http://www.pubmed.com Type in the words "MSG Obese", and read a few of the 115 medical studies that appear.

Many studies mentioned in John Erb's book link MSG to diabetes, migraines and other headaches, autism, ADD-HD and even Alzheimer's.

But what can we do to stop the food manufactures from dumping fattening, addictive and brain damaging MSG into our food supply and causing the obesity epidemic we now see? And, perhaps causing or contributing to the coinciding epidemic of depression, remember the studies above that mention serotonin and hypothalamic lesions.

Even as you read this, George W. Bush and his corporate supporters are pushing a Bill through Congress. Called the "Personal Responsibility in Food Consumption Act", also known as the "Cheeseburger Bill". This sweeping law bans anyone from suing food manufacturers, sellers, and distributors, even if it comes out that they purposely added an addictive chemical to their foods.

The Bill has already been rushed through the House of Representatives, and is due for the same rubber stamp at Senate level. It is important that Bush and his corporate supporters get it through before the media lets everyone know about MSG, the intentional Nicotine for food.

Several months ago, John Erb took his book and his concerns to one of the highest government health officials in Canada. While sitting in the Government office, the official told him "Sure I know how bad MSG is, I wouldn't touch the stuff!" But this top-level government official refused to tell the public what he knew.

The big media doesn't want to tell the public either, fearing legal issues with their advertisers. It seems that the fallout on the fast food industry may hurt their profit margin. So what do we do? The food producers and restaurants have been adding addicting MSG to their products for years, and now we are paying the price for it. Our children should not be cursed with obesity, and maybe brain damage causing depression, caused by an addictive food additive.

MSG goes by several names, if you see the following, assume it has MSG:

· Monosodium Glutamate
· Hydrolyzed Vegetable
· Protein Hydrolyzed Protein
· Hydrolyzed Plant Protein
· Plant Protein Extract
· Sodium Caseinate
· Calcium Caseinate
· Yeast Extract
· Textured Protein (Including TVP)
· Autolyzed Yeast
· Hydrolyzed Oat Flour
· Corn Oil

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