© greenmedinfo.com
So, What is Monosodium Glutamate (MSG)?
Monosodium glutamate (MSG) is a commonly used "flavor enhancer," and so powerful that arguably you could spray it on roadkill and it would taste good. This omnipresent ingredient in modern mass market food takes advantage of our biologically hard-wired taste receptors, and makes it very hard to stop eating the foods "seasoned" with this ingredient. In fact, it is doubtful that without the MSG trick many of these mass market processed foods would be palatable enough to maintain their status as economically viable commodities.
Common "Tricky" MSG Synonyms
Technically MSG is the sodium salt of glutamic acid, a naturally occurring non-essential amino acid. Glutamic rich foods include wheat, dairy, corn, soy, seafood, etc. (Foods Highest In Glutamic Acid). The "YUMMY!" sensation that occurs immediately after ingesting a MSG (or various synonyms, e.g. hydrolyzed protein, autolyzed yeast) laced morsel the Japanese call umami (meaning: savoriness) and is considered one of five basic tastes. The problem is that when one isolates out of a complex food a singular amino acid, and increase the concentration to unnatural proportions (and without the hundreds of checks and balances Nature provides in the context of a whole food), glutamic acid can have devastating health effects.
MSG Synonyms:
- Glutamic Acid
- Hydrolyzed protein
- Autolyzed protein
- Textured protein
- Yeast extract
- Autolyzed yeast extract
- Protein isolate
- Soy sauce
- Modified food starch
- Modified corn starch
- Calcium caseinate
- Sodlium caseinate
- Broth
- Maltodextrin
- Seasonings
- Natural flavor
- Monopotassium glutamate
- Glutamate
- Gelatin
- Hydrolyzed vegetable protein
- Hydrolyzed plant protein
- Textured protein
- Yeast food
- Yeast nutrient
- Torula yeast
Indigo Earth
Monosodium Glutamate Causes Excitotoxicity
One of the primary adverse effects associated with excess glutamic acid is excitotoxicity, a form of neurotoxicity where neurons are stimulated to the point of cell death. Repeated excitotoxic events can result in neuronal lesions and loss of cognitive function. While there are a number of natural substances that mitigate this type of excitotoxicity, the best choice is to reduce the consumption of glutamic acid (as well as its "twin" excitotoxic non-essential amino acid aspartic acid) rich foods if there is a pre-existing neurological condition such as migraines, epilepsy or multiple sclerosis, to name but a few. John Symes has written an excellent document on the benefits of the Glutamic and Aspartic Acid Reduced Diet (GARD Diet) here.
More Than Just An Excitotoxic Agent
Recently Dr. Mercola featured the connection between MSG and obesity. While excessive food cravings caused by MSG's taste-enhancing effects figure into this relationship, research from the US National Library of Medicine indexed on our site shows that MSG may directly cause hypothalamic lesions that result in elevated insulin, insulin resistance and leptin resistance (leptin suppresses appetite). It is becoming clear that MSG can no longer be considered simply a "flavor enhancer" but an intrinsically harmful chemical with endocrine disruptive properties. Research we have collected shows that MSG actively contributes to metabolic syndrome, obesity, fatty liver, dysregulated blood lipids, as well as a wide range of neurological problems.
That years ago, friends of mine spent 6 weeks on business in Asia. One of the two men ended up in the US in a hospital for 3 weeks with life threatening reaction which the doctors TOLD HIM was due to ingesting high quantities of MSG. They knew then (early 80's) that it was toxic, but in response, they've just increased the widespread use of it.