Posts Tagged ‘monosodium glutamate’

If you’re health consious and always try to eat well I’m sure you are well aware of what is known as MSG, and you’re most likely very aware of food labels now boasting comments such as “MSG Free!” or “No MSG Added”. But are you certain this is true? I had thought I was doing pretty well with limiting the amount of MSG in my family’s nutrition, but after meeting someone over the holidays that is greatly allergic to MSG and her briefly enlightening me in the actual extent of its usage I dug deeper into the topic.

It is very difficult to really know whether MSG (monosodium glutamate) is in your food, because it goes by so many aliases [i.e. 'Accent' - 'Aginomoto' - 'Natural Meet Tenderizer']. To avoid ingesting this toxic additive, you’re best off choosing fresh, unprocessed foods. But becoming familiar with the hidden names of MSG can also help you determine what foods to eat.

So before we go any further, just what is MSG?

Monosodium glutamate, also known as MSG, Ve-tsin or E621 is used as a flavour enhancing agent, in many kinds of food products to enhance their original flavour. Chemically speaking, MSG is approximately 78 percent free glutamic acid, 21 percent sodium, and up to 1 percent contaminants.

The origin of MSG comes from a very nutritious sea vegetable called “kombu”— Laminaria japonica. In 1908 a Japanese scientists, Dr. Kikunae Ikeda, identified what it was in the seaweed that was enhancing flavour, creating monosodium glutamate or MSG. Like many foods today monosodium glutamate is produced through fermentation, a process used in making beer, vinegar, soy sauce and yogurt. The process begins with natural products such as molasses from sugar cane or sugar beets and food starch from tapioca or cereals, which are fermented in a controlled environment.

Though it is a “natrual product” MSG is not a naturally occurring “substance”. It is man-made from glutamic acid, which is an amino acid found in all complete proteins.  These amino acids occur naturally in many plant and animal tissues. Artificially created MSG involves processes, such as fermentation, that break down and change natural bound glutamate (usually from corn, grain starches, molasses) into various free forms of glutamate. One form, d-glutamic acid is never found in nature. Free glutamates can enter the blood stream 8-10 times faster than bound or natural glutamate which is found in tomatoes, milk, and mushrooms. Commercial processes used today to manufacture MSG weren’t in use until the 1960s. There’s nothing “natural” about the MSG in wide use today.

Why is it considered bad?

The isolated “flavor enhancer” chemical MSG has no nutritional value and is not a preservative. It does nothing to food, but it does affect the person using it, some much more that others. It’s actually the glutamic acid in the MSG that is of concern for most people and in 1959 the FDA classified MSG as “generally recognized as safe.”

MSG is a neurotoxin, which is a poisonous protein complex that acts on the brain and the nervous system.  Neurons are over stimulated to the point of exhaustion and cell death. MSG goes to the brain through membranes in the mouth and throat, and it also enters the blood stream as MSG laden foods are digested. It tricks the brain into thinking that it’s getting something tasty. Very little use of MSG takes to create widely diverse and dramatic effects on the human body. Since separate parts of the brain govern different body functions. The body function that is affected will depend on the part of the brain that is attacked by the neurotoxin. If a person has a genetic weakness in a specific part of the brain or had an injury or a stroke, the damaged area will be the part that is easily affected and vulnerable to toxins.

[From Mercola.com]

Examples of physical adverse effects that have also been linked to regular consumption of MSG include:

• Obesity

• Eye damage

• Headaches

• Fatigue and disorientation

• Depression

The FDA admits that “short-term reactions” known as MSG Symptom Complex can occur in certain groups of people, namely those who have eaten “large doses” of MSG or those who have asthma.

According to the FDA, MSG Symptom Complex can involve symptoms such as:

• Numbness

• Burning sensation

• Tingling

• Facial pressure or tightness

• Chest pain or difficulty breathing

• Headache

• Nausea

• Rapid heartbeat

• Drowsiness

• Weakness

How do I know if what I’m about to eat/buy has MSG?

Food manufactures have become privy to the fact that a great number of the population does not want MSG in their foods and have gotten quite slick in labeling their products. While some have actually reduced or removed MSG from their products altogether, most have simply changed the wording on the ingredients, have used alternate names for MSG or have begun using ingredients which contain MSG. MSG is listed on the label only if it is a separate ingredient in the food.  In most cases, MSG is hidden by being included as part of other ingredients on the label. It can make up as much as 60% of these other ngredients.

[From Mercola.com]

Here is a list of ingredients thatALWAYS contain MSG:

Autolyzed Yeast	Calcium Caseinate	Gelatin
Glutamate	Glutamic Acid	Hydrolyzed Protein
Monopotassium Glutamate	Monosodium Glutamate	Sodium Caseinate
Textured Protein	Yeast Extract	Yeast Food
Yeast Nutrient

These ingredients OFTEN contain MSG or create MSG during processing:

Flavors and Flavorings	Seasonings	Natural Flavors and Flavorings	Natural Pork Flavoring	Natural Beef Flavoring
Natural Chicken Flavoring	Soy Sauce	Soy Protein Isolate	Soy Protein	Bouillon
Stock	Broth	Malt Extract	Malt Flavoring	Barley Malt
Anything Enzyme Modified	Carrageenan	Maltodextrin	Pectin	Enzymes
Protease	Corn Starch	Citric Acid	Powdered Milk	Anything Protein Fortified
	Anything Ultra-Pasteurized

Below is an excerpt from “Excitotoxins: The Taste That Kills” by Russell Blaylock, M.D. which lists possible sources of MSG:

Additives that always contain MSG:

- Monosodium Glutamate

- Potassium Glutamate

- Hydrolyzed Vegetable Protein (HVP)*

- Hydrolyzed Protein*

- Hydrolyzed Plant Protein*

- Hydrolyzed [Anything else]*

- Plant Protein Extract

- Sodium Caseinate

- Calcium Caseinate

- Yeast Extract

- Textured Protein

- Autolyzed Yeast

- Hydrolyzed Oat Flour

Additives that frequently contain MSG:

- Malt extract

- Malt Flavoring

- Bouillon

- Broth

- Stock

- Flavoring

- Natural Flavoring

- Natural Beef or Chicken Flavoring

- Seasoning

- Spices

[From MSGtruth.org]

Free glutamate content of foods (mg per 100g)

roquefort cheese 1280
parmesan cheese 1200
soy sauce 1090
walnuts 658
fresh tomato juice 260
grape juice 258
peas 200
mushrooms 180
broccoli 176
tomatoes 140
mushrooms 140
oysters 137
corn 130
potatoes 102
chicken 44
mackerel 36
beef 33
eggs 23
human milk 22

So if you do eat processed foods, please remember to be on the lookout for these many hidden names for MSG.

Go into your kitchen, check the cupboards and the fridge. MSG is likely in everything: Campbell’s soups, Hostess Doritos, Lays flavoured potato chips, Top Ramen, Betty Crocker Hamburger Helper, Heinz canned gravy, Swanson frozen prepared meals, Kraft salad dressings, especially the ‘healthy low fat’ ones. [Luckily none of these foods are ever in my kitchen-but they are in the average household in America.]

Again, be careful for even items that are not listed with MSG as an ingredient on the product label may have ”Hydrolyzed Vegetable Protein”, which is just another name for Monosodium Glutamate.

If you really want a shocker, when you go out to eat ask for an ingredient list from a manager and check for the above. Nearly any food chain you can think of [fast food and sit down alike] uses MSG in massive amounts.

Is this all hub-bub?

With all the uproar against MSG from organic eaters and those not wanting additives in their food, there are others that argue this is all hog-wash, exaggeration, false information.

While I agree there are very strong arguments that MSG is fine [one of my faves and you'll understand why at the end: http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2005/jul/10/foodanddrink.features3]

I myself will continue to avoid MSG as much as possible due to I wish to eat pure food without tricking my brain into thinking it tastes fantastic and that I need to eat more of it. My wish is that you educate yourself and make your own decision and if you feel the concern over MSG is “hog-wash” I ask that you at least try to minimize your intake.

Best wishes!

Additional Reading & Sources:

Dr. Russell Blaylock:  “Excitotoxins: The Taste that Kills.”

John Erb: “The Slow Poisoning Of America”

National Library of Medicine, at http://www.pubmed.com. Type in the words “MSG Obese”

http://www.truthinlabeling.org/Dang.html

http://www.holisticmed.com/msg/msg-mark.txt

http://journalofhealthyliving.com/why-is-msg-bad-for-you.htm

http://www.yelp.com/topic/washington-food-detectives-makes-an-interesting-statement-about-msg

http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2005/jul/10/foodanddrink.features3

http://www.msgtruth.org

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2009/04/21/MSG-Is-This-Silent-Killer-Lurking-in-Your-Kitchen-Cabinets.aspx