MSG Monosodium glutamate

[Wing]

HB, did you say autolyzed yeast extract is MSG?  I found it on the back of Wolfgang Puck's organic soups.

[nexis777]

The very first post on this thread mentions autolyzed yeast as always containing msg *argh*..... some of the others she mentioned I TOTALLY didn't know. Here I thought I was avoiding it altogether 

[makingchanges]

I just got an email from Dr. Mercola. He had this video on it about exotoxins- MSG. It is one hour long, but it really help me sort out MSG.

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2007/07/10/why-you-do-not-want-to-eat-processed-foods.aspx

[purewellspring]

Wow...fascinating video.

Here's a question...the list on the first post says MSG is ALWAYS present in Gelatin...Beeyoutiful's CLO has gelatin. This video makes me really cautious, being pregnant (his argument against excito-toxins and babies/kids is really compelling). Any idea whether there's MSG in beeyoutiful's gelatin used in the CLO pills?

[StephTallent]

Here's a question...the list on the first post says MSG is ALWAYS present in Gelatin...Beeyoutiful's CLO has gelatin.  Any idea whether there's MSG in beeyoutiful's gelatin used in the CLO pills?

People have talked about (not necessarily here on WTM) how difficult it is to identify and eliminate every single form of MSG from their diets and the foods that they eat.  I think perhaps a lot of people do not understand that MSG is a naturally occurring in several foods.  For example, it is naturally occurring in beef gelatin.  If you were to make your own, homemade, from organic beef bones stock following Nourishing Traditions guidelines it would have some small amount of MSG in it.  He mentions in the beginning of the video that it is naturally occurring in some types of sea weed. 

Because Beeyoutifuls CLO Gel Caps are made from beef gelatin there is some very small, naturally occurring traces of MSG  the same way there would be if you made your own beef gelatin or stock.  It would require a lot of refining and chemically altering of the the gelatin to remove naturally occurring MSG from the gelatin used in the Gel Caps.  To give some perspective of the actual amounts we are talking about here, if you go out to eat even ONCE at an average fast food place you will probably consume many times the MSG that is present in even an entire bottle of natural beef gelatin capsules.

Has anybody done any research on the differences between MSG that is in a form that can be artificially added to foods vs. the MSG that is naturally occurring in certain foods?     I want to do some more research into it because I suspect like many other things in it's "Natural" form MSG does not cause the harm that it can when it is being used in contexts it is not designed for.   

[StephTallent]

Just did a bit of researching and came across this article from Sally Fallon http://www.westonaprice.org/foodfeatures/broth.html

This paragraph was particularly interesting to me:

Why do consumers react to factory-produced MSG and not to naturally occurring glutamic acid found in food? One theory is that the glutamic acid produced by hydrolysis in factories contains many isomers in the right-handed form, whereas natural glutamic acid in meat and meat broths contains only the left-handed form. L-glutamic acid is a precursor to neurotransmitters, but the synthetic form, d-glutamic acid, may stimulate the nervous system in pathological ways.

[healthybratt]

Just speaking from experience (no research here), artificial MSG makes me sick to the extent of vomitting if I consume too much.  I have to avoid ramen noodles from the Asian market because of this.  However, we consume large amounts of naturally fermented soy sauce which I believe contains the natural form of msg and I never have any problems with it physically or otherwise that I'm aware of.

[hi_itsgwen]

interesting article says that MSG causes weight gain:
http://health.yahoo.com/experts/weightloss/2200/the-surprising-ingredient-causing-weight-gain/

My Mom used to buy generic foods when I was a kid, and there was a BIG difference in taste...but about 15 years ago, I discovered that generic foods now taste 'good'.  I think I found out why when I first started trying to eliminate MSG.  It's in SO much stuff!  I found it in:
canned soups,
prepared salad dressings
processed meats
canned pastas or meals

And it's the actual main ingredient in a bunch of stuff too:
bullion cubes
dressing mix packets
noodle, rice, and even soup 'seasoning' packets
many of the seasoning mixes on the spice aisle.

I decided (after getting the OK from hubby) to clean out anything in my kitchen that had either MSG or Hydrogenated fats in it.  HOURS later, my cupboards were almost bare except for basic cooking supplies (flour, sugar, corn meal), plain dry spices (no mixes), and plain canned veggies and beans. 

It has been an adventure to make my own salad dressing and seasoning mixes for chili and tacos...but well worth it!

[YoopreMama]

OH, for SURE...always eating like mad after a trip to the Chinese buffet.   

I recall studies of rats getting fat after eating it...does something to you, no doubt.   

There's an article here:  http://www.welltellme.com/articles/natural-health/toxins/monosodium-glutamate

And this is a good post re: the ways it's disguised in labeling:

http://www.welltellme.com/discuss/index.php/topic,3903.msg20151.html#msg20151

[floydian]

We've pretty much cleaned it out of our house also.  I found that if I ate copious amounts of MSG, I wake up with a horrible headache the next morning.  Big incentive!!!!!!

BTW....Sams now has spices with no MSG in them.   They are labeled and easy to find.

[HeyMom]

Just speaking from experience (no research here), artificial MSG makes me sick to the extent of vomitting if I consume too much.  I have to avoid ramen noodles from the Asian market because of this.  However, we consume large amounts of naturally fermented soy sauce which I believe contains the natural form of msg and I never have any problems with it physically or otherwise that I'm aware of.

our family watched "the beautiful truth" about a month ago and it was an eye opener in many areas....MSG being found in SO many things was one of the "truths" exposed to me personally.

I had no idea that there was an "artificial" MSG and a natural form of it.

Is there anyway of knowing what type of MSG the product contains when reading labels?

[homeschooling madre]

I was amazed to find out many of Newman's Own Salad Dressings, and Kettle Chips (both touted to be "healthy" even though there's no such thing as a healthy chip) have MSG. Sad. I used Follow Your Heart Veganaisse for years and I sent in a request to know if there was MSG, even naturally occuring and they said they could not say for sure... This stuff was so delicious, made with Grape Seed Oil... well, needless to say, we make our own homemade mayo now using the Nourishing Traditions recipe. My dh says it tastes better anyhow...

I've been using Neuman's own because I thought it didn't have MSG! Where did you see that it does?

I was just researching Newman's Own Salad Dressings because DH just had a major MSG reaction.  Here's the link that says, among others, the Ranch does have MSG:
http://www.newmansown.com/foodQA.aspx

[ArmyWife]

We've pretty much cleaned it out of our house also.  I found that if I ate copious amounts of MSG, I wake up with a horrible headache the next morning.  Big incentive!!!!!!

My dad has found that MSG gives him bad headaches, and it doesn't have to be in a large amount, either.  He still has headaches sometimes from other things, but it sure has been nice to know what to avoid!

[mommie]

So I guess whey protein is out?
What about whey powder?

[hi_itsgwen]

So I guess whey protein is out?
What about whey powder?

http://www.msgmyth.com/cgi-bin/discus/discus.cgi?pg=prev&topic=3&page=609

[mommie]

Hmmm...so all of them have natural glutamates which are essentially bad for you?

[hi_itsgwen]

If you read through the thread, you'll see that some people who are sensative to factory made MSG can consume naturally occuring MSG without any negative side effects.

You'll need to come to your own conclusion from research, but glutamates occur naturally in small amounts in lots of foods.  Possibly the processing methods of whey protiens would concentrate the natural glutamates   not sure on that one.   Again, that is a personal call based on your research.

[Pastorswife2B]

My reaction to MSG is Insomnia, hunger, low grade headache, and Paranoid Depression (I think everybody hates me and is trying to make my life harder) and they last about 24-36 hours.  I recently got a pretty concentrated dose and my mom suggested I take an amino Acid called Phenylalanine.  I noticed my symptoms abating after about 1/2 hr and after 3 I felt normal.  It was amazing to have the reaction short circuited like that. 

Here's the Wikipedia article on it: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phenylalanine

[mattcan]

I knew someone who was violently allergic to MSG, and the list of foods she had to avoid was disturbingly long. She told me that not all processed foods have it, but the number that do is so high that it was actually just easier not to eat anything processed, ever. It sucked because she couldn't even really go to restaurants.

[hi_itsgwen]

My reaction to MSG is Insomnia, hunger, low grade headache, and Paranoid Depression (I think everybody hates me and is trying to make my life harder) and they last about 24-36 hours.  I recently got a pretty concentrated dose and my mom suggested I take an amino Acid called Phenylalanine.  I noticed my symptoms abating after about 1/2 hr and after 3 I felt normal.  It was amazing to have the reaction short circuited like that. 

Here's the Wikipedia article on it: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phenylalanine

"L-Phenylalanine is produced for medical, feed, and nutritional applications, such as aspartame, in large quantities by utilizing the bacterium Escherichia coli, which naturally produces aromatic amino acids like phenylalanine. The quantity of L-phenylalanine produced commercially has been increased by genetically engineering E. coli, such as by altering the regulatory promoters or amplifying the number of genes controlling enzymes responsible for the synthesis of the amino acid."

eesh!  These two things sort of scare me.  Wonder if there's a homeopathic remedy for the MSG?