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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.
473 Questions
Fruit should not have MSG in it unless it is added in canned fruit. Fresh fruit often has MSG on it however. The wax coating that makes it look pretty usually contains about 40% MSG.
It is best to wash fruit if it is the type of fruit you eat the skins. Wash apples, etc. like you would wash a dish. Use dish soap and the scrubby side of a sponge. This includes vegetables too.
Has anyone experienced bad side-effect from eating MSG?
I have a severe allergic reaction to MSG which has caused me to grow my own vegetables and carefully pick my foods.
Some of the bad side effects I've gotten have included
-insomnia, as a result of the seizures which I usually get when I'm about to go to sleep.
-Creepy nightmares
-Tightness and lock of jaw
-Stiffness of joints
-headaches
These, I have found to be the result of my MSG intake...
It's a poison.
What are the different names of msg?
I think there are over 60 ingredients that contain free glutamic acid, the active part of MSG. Here's a link to a list of the ingredients that are known to, or may contain free glutamic acid. http://www.msgmyth.com/hidename.htm
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?
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?
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?
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.
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?
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?
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
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?
Butterball turkeys do not contain added MSG (monosodium glutamate) in their products. However, some of their products may contain naturally occurring glutamic acid, which is a component of MSG. It's always best to check the ingredient list on the packaging if you have concerns about specific additives or ingredients.
Why is monosodium glutamate bad for you?
While MSG was thought to be bad for you at one time recent research by Frito Lay shows this not to be the case. It turns out it was not bad for them at all as they raked in over 40 billion dollars in revenue last year alone with their MSG loaded chips products.
What are the side effects of mono sodium glutamate?
Granted I have a sampling of only a handful of people, and this was not by any means a scientific test and the side effects I note could be related to other ingredients.
Test foods: Chips, Beef snacks, general food with MSG powder added
Possible side effects so far:
Bad breath
Weird aftertaste
Dry/sore throat (starting and lasting through the next day)
More offensive bowels (You can add MSG to hunting dogs' food to make them stop eating their own)
Nothing (from my sample of ~10 people, only two volunteered any side effect)
Any foods that have the label "artificial flavors" (like capri-sun or most drinks) contain monosodium glutamate. Also the food container may just list monosodium glutamate on the back under "Ingredients".
