Since the 1970s we've known that Mono-sodium Glutamate was an exitotoxin--it overexcites the nervous system. So for a while we stopped going to Chinese restaurants. Then Chinese restaurants stopped using it. How is it that Americans are still eating 95,000 metric tons of MSG (monosodium glutamate)? The problem is that the food industry is hiding it under different names. It is in many foods that you buy in fast food restaurants and grocery stores; it's the American food industry that using the 95,000 tons of this toxin--not the Chinese restaurants!
Other names for MSG
- Glutamic Acid
- Glutamate
- Hydrolyzed Protein
- Calcium Caseinate
- Sodium Caseinate
- Hydrolyzed Vegetable Protein (HVP)
- Hydrolyzed Plant Protein (HPP)
- Textured Protein
- Monopotassium glutamate
- Yeast Extract
- Yeast food or nutrient
- Autolyzed Yeast
- Autolyzed Plant Protein
- Vegetable Protein Extract
- Senomyx (wheat extract labeled as artificial flavor)
Look at your food labels. Even if you don't see MSG, it may still be there because companies don't have to show all the ingredients. If you wonder how the food can still taste good after being in a can, box or bottle for months or years, it probably has MSG.
Diseases from MSG
There's evidence connecting MSG to fibromyalgia, diabetes, Alzheimer's, schizophrenia, epilepsy and many other diseases that have been increasing lately. Don't expect the FDA to protect you from a chemical that is selling as well as MSG. The MSG industry will make sure that it stays on the store shelves and in your favorite American restaurants.
What to Eat to Avoid MSG
Eat natural organic foods. Don't eat processed foods. On salads, ask for oil and vinegar. Never use Ranch, Thousand Island or similar creamy dressings; they will almost surely have MSG.
Research
Here's just a few studies about the effects of MSG to give you an idea; there's plenty more where these came from:
- RELIEF OF FIBROMYALGIA SYMPTOMS FOLLOWING DISCONTINUATION OF DIETARY EXCITOTOXINS, JD Smith, CM Terpening, SO Schmidt, and JG Gums. The Annals of Pharmacotherapy: Vol. 35, No. 6, pp. 702-706. DOI 10.1345/aph.10254. CONCLUSIONS: The elimination of MSG and other excitotoxins from the diets of patients with fibromyalgia offers a benign treatment option that has the potential for dramatic results in a subset of patients
- THE ROLE OF GLUTAMATE IN CHRONIC INFLAMMATORY PAIN AND PAINFUL PERIPHERAL NEUROPATHIES, Gary J. Bennett, Ph.D., Allegheny University of the Health Sciences
- MANIPULATING GLUTAMATERGIC NEUROTRANSMISSION FOR THERAPEUTIC GAIN: THE EXAMPLE OF BRAIN ISCHEMIA, Dennis W. Choi, M.D., Ph.D., Washington University School of Medicine
- GLUTAMATERGIC MECHANISMS IN THE CAUSE AND TREATMENT OF PARKINSON'S DISEASE, J. Timothy Greenamyre, M.D., Ph.D., Emory University
- ROLE OF GLUTAMATE RECEPTOR MATURATION IN PERINATAL BRAIN INJURY, Frances E. Jensen, M.D., Children's Hospital (Boston) and Harvard Medical School
- EFFECT OF GLUTAMATE BLOCKERS ON HUMAN PAIN, Mitchell B. Max, M.D., National Institute of Dental Research, National Institutes of Health
- GLUTAMATE RECEPTOR PLASTICITY IN THE HIPPOCAMPUS: IMPLICATIONS FOR AGING, John H. Morrison, Ph.D., Fishberg Research Center for Neurobiology, Mount Sinai School of Medicine
- GLUTAMATE NEUROTRANSMISSION IN EPILEPSY: NEW TREATMENT STRATEGIES, Michael A. Rogawski, M.D., Ph.D., National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, National Institutes of Health
- SCHIZOPHRENIA: A GLUTAMATERGIC PERSPECTIVE, Stephen R. Zukin, M.D., National Institute on Drug Abuse, National Institutes of Health
