MSG, a dangerous neuro-toxin commonly added to pre-packaged foods to make them taste better, causes changes in the nervous system and possible nerve damage.
It has been scientifically linked to serious health issues such as weight gain, headaches, hives, mouth eruptions, insomnia, cardiac irregularities, numbness,tingling, asthma attacks, runny nose and swelling or dryness of the mucus membranes (nose, mouth, sinuses, vagina & intestines) as well as brain damage in children.
So, watch your product labels! MSG or monosodium glutamate, has many derivatives such as ‘natural flavouring’, natural beef or chicken flavouring, hydrolyzed vegetable protein, hydolyzed protein, hydrolyzed plant protein,, plant protein extract, sodium caseinate, yeast extract, textured vegetable protein, textured protein, autolyzed yeast, hydrolyzed oat flour, and corn oil. Most popular brands of infant formula contain some form of MSG. Vaccines also contain MSG.
26 comments
i haven’t been able to comment on your blog for the longest time, but i finally set up a blogger account!!! remember me? anyhow, my husband grew up on processed foods, but even he is always on the lookout for MSG. also keep in mind, any excessive sodium is bad news! My husband is SO used to having food with a lot of salt/ salty flavor that he doesn’t always like stuff with a normal amount. SO when I cook for him, I use lots of spice… thats a great, healthy way to avoid seeking foods with too much salt or MSG. Garlic is super strong tasty, AND good for you. I am such an advocate of garlic in cooking. Chili powder, lemon grass, curry, they are all seaonings that can give us that ‘super flavor rush’ we crave without adding things we don’t need!
-shannanm
ps- check out ‘papaya enzyme’ too. i have a tummy problem (chronic) and papaya helps a lot! you can get it in chewable tablet form, it helps break down the food you’ve eatne, ,and alllows for easier digestion. I know this isn’t related, but I wanted to share cause I never knew until a doc told me!!!
Aspartame – one stick of gum can make my head feel really strange. One day I was at my second mamas, and she offered me a little thing of lemonaide flavoring to add to my bottle of water. I started drinking it and almost instantly felt strange. I tried to brush it off, then I realized after a few more sips it was like I was chewing suger-free-gum, only *INTENSIFIED*!
So I got up and checked the wrapper and sure enough. Aspartame. I haven’t always been effected by it like this; it was only after I was away from it a little while that I could feel the effects of it on my body.
We avoid MSG, too, although it’s very hard to! It’s in EVERYTHING!
Ashley
http://www.homesteadblogger.com/Jonash2004
MSG is in everything. Chips, crackers, convenience foods, etc. I wish they would make it illegal to put in food products.
*sniffsniff* But…I love my sugar-free gum 🙁 I know it has aspartame in it, and I know alot of it can be very very bad for you (I did a research paper on it once, of it’s affects on the body, I made the diabetics in class very angry) but I thought with strict moderation it would be okay. Any ideas on what I could use as a substitute? I’m an ex-smoker and chewing gum has been a lifesaver for me many times.
mrs.hester…
Yes–xylitol gum!!! It’s a natural sweetener.
http://www.homesteadmarket.com/xylitol_gum.html
Thank you!!
When I read stuff like this I just feel guilt and shame. I just don’t have whatever it is that motivates people to cook. Cooking stresses me out too. I never learned how until recently.
I rely heavily on pre-packaged foods, albeit relatively healthy pre-packaged foods like granola bars and organic burritos but still. I just wonder why everything has to be so hard and complicated. Avoiding all the bad food stuff out there is not easy for the average person, esp. someone like me.
I’ve always gone the pre-packaged food route, and wouldn’t know where to begin when it comes to eating healthfully, and I know my family wouldn’t go along. As it is, I’m the only one who really likes fruits and vegetables.
I don’t enjoy cooking that much either, Catherine R., but do it all the time. We live out in the middle of nowhere, so there is no fast food — a good thing. When we drive 50 miles to town once in a while, we treat ourselves. Lots of people eat it constantly.
I just had my infected gall-bladder out, and now CANNOT eat much fats or restaurant food, which is a blessing. I have even lost 5 lbs. because of it.
We used to live in the Orient, and people there DUMP msg in their food. Oriental food does not taste normal to me without it, but I could get used to it if I wanted to.
If MSG is really that bad, they should outlaw it, I guess, but Orientals in this country wouldn’t like that. Perhaps it should be outlawed in prepared food, and allow people to buy it for their own home-cooked food if they wanted it.
I had no idea it was in soups. I didn’t know about the aspartame, either.
Catherine R….I certainly don’t want anyone to feel guilty over these posts!!!
I was hoping they would be “baby steps” for those who just want to start improving their diet. We still make lots of unhealthy eating choices, but I feel like the more I learn, the more I can add/take out, one at a time, toward a healthier diet.
I would encourage you to see it in baby steps too…start with one or two things–don’t try to do several at once.
I started with cutting out margarine and buying real butter instead. Not hard, just a conscience choice.
Little by little…you can do it!
OK, Kelly, I have a question. In this post you said to watch the labels and then listed several things to be looking for on labels. Are you saying those are the same thing as MSG or that they contain MSG or that they are as bad as MSG. . . ?
I would really like to learn about this. I have a son with ADHD symptoms and have been trying to educate myself for the past year so that we can help him nutritionally.
An example of something I wonder about—I have a can of mandarin oranges in my pantry. It lists mandarin oranges, water, sugar, and citric acid as the ingredients. Should I worry about the citric acid?
I also have a can of pineapple chunks. It only lists pineapple and pineapple juice. Does this mean I could consider it OK?
LOL! I don’t expect you to be an expert, but I thought you might have an idea or maybe another reader had info.
Thanks!
Aspartame and MSG both give me migraines. I don’t react well to chemicals in food period (I can taste the pesticides on the surface of fruit, if not washed well enough, and it irritates my throat)but those two can really do a number on me.
I like the little by little idea. That gives me hope that it can be done.
Rebekah,
I don’t think citric acid is listed as a derivative (did I miss it?) but the list I mentioned (which I found on a food site) is supposed to suggest that MSG is “disguised” as any of those names.
It is a good rule of thumb to avoid canned/pre-packaged foods when possible…of course we all use them from time to time, but cutting back is a good start!
Here is another list for hidden names for MSG…http://www.msgmyth.com/hidename.htm
A reader sent me some other good information…she mentioned some other ingredients that need to be avoided when possible…
Nitrites/Nitrates (these are in about all sandwich meat, higher in hot dogs…they do make some meats now that are “nitrite free”.)
BHT (used as a preservative in many breakfast cereals)
THBQ
vanillin (with an “n” on the end, which is artificial); pure vanilla is fine
sodium benzoate
any dyes or artificial colors such as Red Lake 40, titanium dioxide, etc (it’s amazing the things these show up in, even when you don’t buy blue cereal or red licorice)
Her son has autism, and she also mentioned a book that really helped her. It’s called “Why Can’t my Child Behave?”
Thanks, kelly. The Baby Steps concept is actually comforting. Makes it seem less overwhelming.
Kelly……..have you read the book Crazy Makers? It has a more comprehensive list about additives, and really helped me change my cooking ways.
Aspartame….grrr, but it seems to make the yogurt I eat have so much less sugar………7 grams compared to like 33 in the regular yogurt? sometimes i think the sugar is so bad too, esxp since diabetes runs in my genes, I am fearful of not being careful with my sugar.
Catherine, something that overwhelmed me too when trying to make changes in m y cooking was wrongly assuming that everyone who spoke about eating healthy was actually doing it 99.9% of the time, when it reality it was more like 75% of the time. It was my mistake to interpret it like that.
A good book I began with was Whole Foods Fpr The Whole Family….bny La leche League. I also had one called The T factor. I got it on Amazon.com for a few bucks used. It supplied me with a ton of recipes, and mostly i found the broths and sauces helpful in the beginning. It took me a day here or there of trying a new soup, to really feel comfortable doing my own broth (learning the steps) and making a wholesome, low sodium soup. I didnt start out by cooking new recipes daily. I tried something new say, every monday…..one lesson at a time.
A few easy things were like instead of frozen pizza, using english muffins (no preservatives)and adding sauce and mozzerella cheeses……baking in over 10 minutes, and giving to the kids for lunch. OR…..I bought corn tortillas and cut them with a pizza cutter….sprayed a flat pan with Pam, and staggered the corn wedges on there….topped with garlic powder, and some shredded cheese…..and baked….then used salsa to dip. Maybe not all natural, but better than the frozen pizzas, or the bagged tortilla chips or flour tortillas. Baby steps. Oh, also, I cut up red potatoes (skins on), and layed them out on a pan sprayed with Pam…sprikled with seasoning…..coated with a bit of olive oil…..french fries! I still use boxes but I try whenever i have a bit of time to make my food better for consuming. Meat , potatoes, and a vegetable steamed for dinner always works.
I am big on soups as i foudn it is a super easy way to eat healthy. You can make very hearty soups your man will enjoy too. I hide vegetables in the broth by simmering them, and then whizzing them through the blender and adding them into the broth..my kids are sometimes funny about celery or onion in chunks in the soup-so i just ‘whiz’ them in…..hahahaa. little do they know they are consuming chock cup fulls of veggies!I will tell them one day….
AM…your tip about pureeing veggies into soups is great and reminded me something I heard from some ladies a few nights ago…one of them said she pureed cauliflower and added it to mashed potatoes. She said no one knew!
Also, another lady would puree the veggies and add them to spaghetti sauce. Same thing–no taste. That is brilliant!
I’m wondering if I could choke down spinach some way like that 😉 (although I do love spinach in salad.)
When my boys were little, they were aghast at the horrible stuff in the cola drinks (“ester of wood rosin” was their favorite), and they used to have 2-man spelling bees using the 20-letter words on the back of the cola bottles. They got such a kick out of it! I’m thinking, “Why are we drinking this?” and drank it anyway 🙁
Kelly,
In the summer when we have an abundance I throw a handful of spinach in my smoothies. You would never know it is there.
I’m enjoying this series, thank you!
~Erin
This has been a good series to read. I have tried out some of the ideas found here and, as you said, in baby steps I expect my family can handle some changes.
AuthenticallyMe – I stopped buying yoghurt awhile back when I caught onto using kefir as a substitue. You likely would not like plain kefir, but a little natural honey adds the sweetness or blending it with fruit is great, too.
Thanks for all the ideas, ladies!
Thanks Kim…….kefir…have to check it out!
Cauliflower in mashed potatoes…..brilliant! I know with juicers it kinda-sorta works the same way, supposedly…..as long as there is a good base taste-like apples or carrots (something sweet), adding green vegetables should not be so hard. I have hardly experimented with my juicer though.
OOh! *whispering* are you anti-vax? *psst* I am too : )
Hail the anti-vax underground!
Wow, I have been drinking more water (about 96 oz/day and I’m nursing) but have been adding low cal flavor packets to it. Maybe the headaches I’m getting are from the aspartame??? Maybe I’m passing this to my baby.
rv in FL
Michelle,
As a matter of fact I am. Hey what about T-shirts-AVU?
Totally! I already have a bumper sticker – “are vaccines safe?” from thinktwice.com. They’ll send one to you free if you just request it : )