MSG: A Very Tasty Poison

March 26, 2012 at 2:14 AM (Health, Non Toxic)
Tags: addiction, food, Health, Monosodium glutamate, MSG, Non Toxic, Simple

The Journey of a Thousand Miles begins with a Single Step

I started my health journey like most people do. By eliminating the bad, unhealthy ingredients one by one. So far I have eliminated chlorine, fluoride, high fructose corn syrup, white flour, white sugar, soy and all of its by-products, every kind of trans, hydrogenated or vegetable oil, chemicals in every beauty product and make-up (except hair spray, anybody have a good recipe for that?) chemicals in every cleaning, household and laundry product, prescription drugs, caffeine, regular table salt, pasteurized and homogenized dairy, factory-farmed meat, artificial food dye, processed lunch meat, breakfast cereal, non-stick cookware, aluminum and all products containing GMO’s.

This process can be very daunting if you are just starting out. Remember to start with ONE thing at a time. If you are new to real food, I would recommend that you start by eliminating trans and hydrogenated oils first.

And now I want to talk about MSG. That nice, slow killer.

What is MSG?

MSG is an additive that has been widely studied and proven to be a dangerous, neurotoxic substance. It causes dizziness, violent diarrhea, anaphylactic shock, Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, brain lesions, retinal degeneration, obesity and neurological damage. It has been linked to neuroendocrine disorders, obesity, reproductive disorders, stunted growth, behavioral disorders, learning disabilities, memory disorders, hyperglycemia, addiction, stroke, epilepsy, ALS, schizophrenia, anxiety and depression. MSG is an excitotoxin, which means that it over excites your cells to the point of damage, acting as a poison. Despite these dangers the FDA has labeled MSG as GRAS (generally recognized as safe). MSG is also highly addictive and tastes delicious, making it doubly dangerous.

Where is MSG?

The really scary part to me, is that MSG is not always on the label. Even seasoned Label Nazi’s like myself have a tough time avoiding it entirely. Products containing calcium caseinate, hydrolyzed vegetable protein, sodium caseinate, textured protein, hydrolyzed soy protein, and citric acid always contain MSG. If the label says “flavorings” “natural flavors” “seasonings” or the like, they usually contain MSG. The new crop spray for beans and apples, contains 30% MSG. 90% of products sold in fast-food restaurants contain MSG, even those fancy salads.

Food manufacturers are hiding MSG so you don’t know where it is. Lately, food manufacturers mention a “clean label” when referring to soy sauce and other processed flavor enhancers that already contain MSG in the form of glutamic acid.  Food manufacturers use these ingredients so they can claim “no added MSG”.  Hence a “cleaner” label.  They know it’s in there, they are just hoping you don’t.

Common Foods to avoid:

• Soy protein- used in baked goods, hot dogs, vegetarian foods
• Powdered Cheese- used in snack chips and mac & cheese and boxed dinners
• Malted Barley- used in breads, bread mixes and beer
• Hydrolyzed protein- used in canned tuna, self-basting poultry, canned and dried soups
• Powdered milk- this is used in ALL low-fat dairy products
• Seasoning mixes
• Bacon Bits
• Baking mixes
• Bouillon cubes
• Bread Stuffing
• Broth and stock
• Canned meats
• Cheese dips
• Clam Chowder
• Corn Chips
• Croutons
• Dry roasted peanuts
• Frozen dinners
• Frozen pizza
• Gelatin
• Potato chips
• Pot pies
• Processed meats
• Relish
• Salad dressings
• Salt substitutes
• Canned soup
• Soy Sauce
• Infant formula
• Baby food
• Virus vaccines
• Corn Oil
• Whey Protein

This is not a complete list by any means. MSG is literally in hundreds of thousands of products. But this will give you somewhere to start. The best way to avoid MSG is to make your own food. Throw away everything that comes frozen or boxed or canned or prepackaged and learn how to make these foods on your own. Buy your own herbs and spices to season your food. Start small, but DO start!

I don’t want anyone to think I’m perfect by any means. I still have a lot of things on my health list to cross off. I need to find a natural alternative to hair spray, I still wear mascara even though I’m sure it’s terrible, I still haven’t started grinding my own grains even though I’ve threatened to do it for 2 years. I only remember to soak grains and legumes about 50% of the time. I don’t cleanse or detox nearly as often as I should. I haven’t exercised in over a year, I work at a stressful job. I still need to study electromagnetic energy, and do something about the worst offenders (bye bye microwave). I haven’t replaced all of my plastic food containers yet. I still take birth control pills and I have a hard time resisting a good pastry! I just quit smoking recently and that was a huge hurdle for me, I procrastinated about that one for a while…. But I take it one thing at a time and learn as I go.

So what does your healthy journey look like? Are you overwhelmed? What is the next thing on your list?