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Monosodium Glutamate (MSG)
MSG or Mono-sodium Glutamate is food flavoring additive, which is used to make some processed foods taste more appealing. This category would contain questions on MSG and its effects.
500 Questions
Who has MSG sensitivity?
Asked by Wiki User
From http://www.msgmyth.com/brochure.pdf
Monosodium Glutamate, MSG, is called a "flavor enhancer". It is not a preservative and it has no nutritional value. It does nothing to food, but it does affect the person using it. It's called an "excitotoxin" or neurotoxin by leading neuroscientists because of its degenerative and deadly effects on the brain and nervous system. Neurons are over stimulated to the point of exhaustion and cell death. MSG first goes to the brain through membranes in the mouth and throat, and also enters the blood stream as MSG laden foods are digested. It tricks the brain into thinking it's getting something tasty.
MSG is not a naturally occurring substance. It's 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 that break down and change naturalbound 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. Aspartame (NutraSweet®) is another widely used excitotoxin.
MSG came into wide use in the mid-1970s and gained in popularity with food producers through the 1980s. MSG and aspartame are two powerful excitotoxic food additives that flooded the food industry by the mid-1980s. MSG is linked to numerous diseases, symptoms, and complaints. It affects the neurological systems of the body. These same ailments are being researched and reported to be on the rise, often unexpectedly and without explanation.
Here is a brief list of common effects of MSG and some curious statistics published by national organizations.
Heart maladies- More than 70 million Americans have one or more forms of cardiovascular disease and 43% of all deaths in the U.S. are related to these problems. The number of cardiovascular operations went up 287% from 1980-1990.
Alzheimer's disease, not an identifiable healthcare cost in 1980, now ranks third after cancer and heart disease among the most costly health problems in America. Four million people afflicted at a cost of $47,000/person/year, is $188 billion/year in healthcare costs.
Headaches & Migraines- $2.2 billion/year are spent on drugs to treat headaches, with a 74% increase in these chronic conditions between 1980-1990.
Asthma, which was on the decline until the mid-eighties, now shows a 100% increase in the death rate among children and seniors. Incidence has increased 600% in the last 10 years. The FDA recognizes that "uncontrollable asthma" can be caused by MSG, but stops there, unfortunately.
Tumors- There has been an 88% increase in tumors since 1982.
Birth Defects and Reproduction Disorders - MSG is a known "mutagen" (mutates fetuses) and causes significant damage to intellectual development, growth patterns, reproduction and gonadal
functions.
Neurological/Emotional Disorders - Lab studies show devastating effects on brain development including dyslexia, autism, attention deficit disorder, hyperactivity, schizophrenia, violent episodes (rage), panic attacks, seizures, paranoia, depression, and cerebral palsy. Humans are 5 times more
sensitive to MSG than rats which were used in tests.
Obesity is one of the most consistent effects of excitotoxin exposure and is a growing problem, nationwide, that knows no age or sex boundaries. In fact, scientists feed glutamate to young laboratory animals as a reliable way of inducing obesity. MSG triggers an insulin/adrenalin/fat storage/food craving response. This depletes seratonin levels which trigger headaches, depression, fatigue, and leads to more food cravings.
Fibromyalgia is a growing epidemic. Fibromyalgia patients who eliminated MSG and aspartame during a study conducted by the University of Florida reported complete relief of symptoms (2001).
Parkinson's, ALS, MS, and Huntington's diseases, like Alzheimer's, are all progressive neurogenic diseases showing brain/nerve cell damage.
Other symptoms of MSG sensitivity include: swollen throat and tongue, racing heart, joint pain, vertigo, skin disorders, sleeping disorders, burning, tightness or redness on face, and gastrointestinal complaints.
What are Elements found in monosodium glutamate?
Asked by Wiki User
There are three (3) chiral carbons in monosodium glutamate (C5H8NO4Na), namely the two carbons on either end, alpha and epsilon, and amino-carbon, beta.
What is soy and is it the same as monosodium glutamate?
Asked by Wiki User
Soy is a kind of bean from which we get liquids, oils, meal, paste, etc. MSG - Monosodium Glutamate - is a flavour enhancer usually industrially fermented by bacteria. The constituents of MSG, Glutamate, are found in nearly all foods as a protein amino acid.
Free Glutamate, that provides the same flavour enhancement as MSG, is found in high concentrations in fermented bean products, like Soy sauce, and other foods such as yeast, sharp cheeses, fish sauce etc...
What can you take to counteract an allergy to MSG?
Asked by Wiki User
The symptoms people get from MSG consumption are not due to an allergy. The active componet of MSG is glutamic acid which is used as an excitatory neurotransmitter in the brain and is used in many other parts of the body as well. And it's the overstimulation of these nerve cells, including brain cells, by the excess glutamic acid that cause most of the symptoms.
Some people are extremely sensitive to MSG, such as myself, and therefore can have more problems with MSG than other people. There are many causes for this increased sensitivity, such as nutritional deficiencies, excess calcium intake, and a damaged or immature blood brain barrier.
Some supplements that can reduce sensitivity to MSG:
Theanine
Taurine
Magnesium (Magnesium Gluconate on empty stomach)
Zantac may also help as it's an h2 antihistamine which can reduce blood brain barrier permeability and therefore reduce the amount of MSG(glutamic acid) that enters the brain.
Another possibility is that many MSGish ingredients contain higher histamine from production and cause symptoms in people with histamine intolerance and in that case a supplement called Histame may help. It contains a natural enzyme that breaks down histamine in foods.
While I have listed some supplements that provide some protection against excitotoxicity, I recommend trying to avoid products that contain MSG as well. Excess glutamate in the brain, including that from MSG, can cause cumulative brain damage.
MSG has become unpopular and so in many cases other ingredients, which contain free glutamic acid, are used in place of MSG. A few examples include hydrolyzed proteins and natural flavors, but there are many more.
Why is MSG in food?
Asked by Wiki User
MSG tricks your body into thinking that the food you are consuming is nutritious, even if it is not. It also causes brain damage to some extent. It damages or kills some of the neurons in your brain. Although there are about 100 billion neurons in your brain your not able to remake them like you are blood cells.
What is the chemical formula for msg?
Asked by Wiki User
The food additive monosodium glutamate has a chemical formula of C5H8NO4Na. MSG is the salt of the non-essential amino acid glumatic acid.
Does Panda Express use MSG in its food?
Asked by Wiki User
nope, just rice vinegar...
you can make your own rice vinegar or sushi seasoning by
mixing sugar, water, vinegar and bit of salt :)
and remember to wash your hands... you don't to mix it with sweat :D
Does yeast contain MSG?
Asked by Wiki User
Unpressed yeast does not. However, "autolyzed yeast" or "yeast extract" is subject to processing. During the processing, protein is broken down, and glutamic acid is freed. The finished autolyzed yeast product will contain processed free glutamic acid (MSG).
Do butterball turkeys contain MSG?
Asked by Wiki User
They most likely contain MSG since most turkeys do, but you won't see it listed in the ingredients, (even though it's the law) and here's why. A company can, and many times will, use MSG as a secondary ingredient in things such as Maltodextrin, Modified Food Starch or when you read the words "natural flavorings". Let me break it down here. Our bad example of an FDA allows MSG in a product as a secondary ingredient and it doe not have to be posted on the ingredients label since it was within the Maltodextrin. For some time, turkey companies have included an (approx) 12% solution of Maltodextrin. They say it's so your Turkey will taste better after being frozen. In other words, it's a flavor enhancer (aka - MSG). Here are the other items that the food industry use to get MSG in their product.
annatto, artificial flavorings, Auxi-gro (yep- they'respraying it in the soil), B vitamins from yeast, barley malt (beer) scary thought mixing msg with alcohol, beef flavoring, bouillon, broth - all types, buttermilk powder, carrageenan, casein, cheese culture, chicken flavoring, citric acid (where you would not normally find it naturally), clam broth concentrate, corn syrup (soda - need we say more), cornstarch, cream of tarter, cream powder, cultured whey, disodium guanylate, disodium inosinate, all encapsulated drugs, vitamins, minerals, enzyme modified butter, enzyme modified parmesian cheese, enzymes, flavorings (too many to number), gelatin, guar gum, malt extract, malt flavoring, maltodextrin (solutions for frozen turkeys and chickens), modified corn starch, modified food starch, molasses, monoammonian glutamate, mushroom powder, natural flavorings, nonfat dry milk, paprika oleoresin - not paprika itself, pasteurized part skim milk, pork flavoring, protein, phosphoric acid, seasonings and season mixes, selenium from yeast, smoke flavoring, sodium citrate, soy extract, soy protein, soy protein concentrate, soy protein isolate, soy sauce, soy starch, spices (any time you see the word), stock - all types, tapioca, textured protein, torula yeast, vegetable gum
waxes on fruit and vegetables, whey protein, whey protein concentrate, whey protein isolate.
