I used to eat Doritos when I was younger, crazy good flavors and addicting as hell. After growing up a bit and educating myself on the dangers of MSG (monosodium glutamate), now I know why they are so damn addicting. Virtually all flavored Doritos contain MSG (no, it’s not just in Chinese food, contrary to popular belief). MSG is also linked to obesity in laboratory rodents. All one needs to do is turn your products over and read the ingredients list. Today many food items contain various forms of MSG hidden in other “harmless sounding” ingredients such as Hydrolyzed Corn Protein, Autolyzed Yeast Extract or Sodium Caseinate. Please see our more complete list of hidden sources of MSG.

EXTREME MSG Dude!! Can you handle the dangerously bold brain neuron death?

List of Doritos Flavors that contain MSG:

• DORITOS® Blazin’ Buffalo & Ranch Flavored Tortilla Chips

• DORITOS® COLLISIONS® Hot Wings and Blue Cheese Flavored Tortilla Chips

• DORITOS® COLLISIONS® Pizza Cravers and Ranch Flavored Tortilla Chips

• DORITOS® COLLISIONS® Zesty Taco and Chipotle Ranch Flavored Tortilla Chips

• DORITOS® COOL RANCH® Flavored Tortilla Chips

• DORITOS® Diablo Flavored Tortilla Chips

• DORITOS® Last Call Jalapeno Popper Flavored Tortilla Chips

• DORITOS® NACHO CHEESE® Flavored Tortilla Chips

• DORITOS® Reduced Fat COOL RANCH® Flavored Tortilla Chips

• DORITOS® Reduced Fat NACHO CHEESE® Flavored Tortilla Chips

• DORITOS® Salsa Verde Flavored Tortilla Chips

• DORITOS® Spicy Nacho Flavored Tortilla Chips

• DORITOS® Spicy Sweet Chili Flavored Tortilla Chips

• DORITOS® Taco Flavored Tortilla Chips

• DORITOS® Tacos at Midnight Flavored Tortilla Chips

• DORITOS® Toro Habanero Flavored Tortilla Chips

• BAKED! DORITOS® NACHO CHEESE® Flavored Tortilla Chips

• DORITOS® NACHO CHEESE® 100 Calorie Mini Bites Flavored Tortilla Chips

• DORITOS® NACHO CHEESE® Flavored Tortilla Chips 6 Count Singles

• DORITOS® NACHO CHEESE® Flavored Tortilla Chips 12 Count Singles

List of Doritos Chips that do not contain MSG:

• DORITOS® Toasted Corn Tortilla Chips

As you can see, I only found one Doritos Chips products without MSG, those are the plain ol’ regular corn chips. Which is about the only way you can avoid MSG if you want to eat chips. In virtually 99% of flavored chips, there is MSG, even in the organic and “natural” products. Some will contain Torula Yeast or Yeast Extract, which sounds very natural and harmless, but if you do your research you will know that Tah-Dah! There is MSG in those ingredients as well. If you want to enjoy some chips nowdays, you are usually safer to eat unflavored chips, be it corn, potato, flax seed etc. A tip: buy the unflavored chips and add your own seasonings that you Know does not have MSG, like cayanne pepper, chili powder, garlic, hot sauce or dip them in a mixture of basamic vinegar and olive oil.

Almost all of the flavors that contain MSG are in the form of straight up “Monosodium Glutamate”, however there is one flavor that I saw that did not contain Monosodium glutamate persay, but does contain MSG in the form of Sodium Caseinate, that is the Last Call Jalapeno Popper Flavored Tortilla Chips. Yes, this contains MSG as well, it’s just in a different form. If you care about the dangerous health effects of MSG you may want to avoid eating these products that contain it. As always: Read the Ingredient Label!

Studies showed MSG fed rodents became Grossly Obese

In 1969 Dr. John Olney was conducting experiments on mice using MSG (monosodium glutamate). (Mice are frequently used as test animals because they react most like humans to MSG). He was studying the microscopic changes in the brains of these mice when his assistant noticed that all of the mice given MSG had become grossly obese. They first thought it was a fluke but as the experiments continued he noticed that indeed all of the mice that were fed MSG became grossly obese.

Studies on laboratory animals fed MSG soon after birth also showed that they preferred foods that were high in carbohydrates and low in nutritional value^.1 Researchers also found that this fat could not be exercised off and was extremely difficult to remove through dieting, no matter how stringent.² Research shows that out of all mammals, humans are the most sensitive to the physical damage from ingested MSG. Humans possess a sensitivity five times greater than the mouse and twenty times greater than the rhesus monkey.³ Other studies have also confirmed that MSG causes gross obesity in animals.⁴ Taking into consideration that most of these laboratory experiments with MSG involve rodents, you can see how humans are much more susceptible to the damages of MSG laced food additives in our diet, not to mention the gross obesity linked to MSG consumption.

References:

1. Kanarek RB, Marks-Kaufman R. Increased carbohydrate consumption induced by neonatal administration of monosodium glutamate to rats. Neurobehavioral Toxicology Teratology 3(1981): 343-350
2. Nikoletseas MM. Obesity in exercising, hypophagic rats treated with monosodium glutamate. Physiology & Behavior 19(1977): 767-773
3. Blaylock R. M.D., Food Additives That Can Kill, Health & Nutrition Secrets that can Save your Life. (2002): 179
4. Bunyan J, Elspeth A, Murrell A, Shah PP. The induction of obesity in rodents by means of monosodium glutamate. British Journal of Nutrition 35(1976): 25-39

In 1968 Dr. John Olney started conducting experiments on mice using MSG. (Mice are frequently used as test animals because they react most like humans to MSG.) Obsessed with the microscopic changes in the brains of the mice he overlooked something quite dramatic first noticed by his assistant. She pointed out to him that all of the mice were grossly obese. At first he thought it was just a fluke, but as the experiment progressed he noticed that indeed all the mice fed MSG became grossly obese.

MSG fed rodent

Since his early observation, other studies have confirmed that MSG causes gross obesity in animals. At an international neuroscience meeting, Dr. Olney was asked if he thought the reason AMericans were so obese was, inf act, due to their high consumption of MSG additives. The question was never answered, but since that conference in the 1970′s, America has undergone this virtual epidemic of gross obesity, especially among its youth.

While most will attribute the problem to children’s couch-potato lifestyles or diets high in sugar and other forms of carbohydrate and fat, other research has been conducted that sheds further light on the theory of MSG-induced obestity. One study discovered that animals fed MSG soon after birth preferred foods that were high in carbohydrates and low in nutritional value. They also ate less, but ate rapidly. In other words, they were eating like teenagers.

Researchers also found that this fat could not be exercised off and was extremely difficult to remove through dieting, no matter how astringent. Again, this is reminiscent of the problem in our population. Today, most processed foods contain signifcant amounts of glutamate, enough to produce injuries to our children’s brains similar to those seen in experiemental animals. This is extremely important when you consider that, of all the mammals, humans are the most susceptible to physical damage from ingested MSG. We possess a sensitivity five times greater than the mouse and twenty times greater than the rhesus monkey.

With this enormous consumption of foods laced with MSG additives, it is no wonder that we have an obesity problem in this country, especially when you combine the hyptothalamic lesion caused by MSG to the high-fat and carbohydrate diets of young people. Of particular concern is the suggestion that MSG ingested by pregnant women may actually cuase this lesion in children while they are still in the womb.

One of the worst offenders is pizza, especially commercial pizza. The tomato sauce is high in naturally derived free glutamate alone. When you add this to a liberal helping of MSG additive, you have a very neurotoxic mix. Add to that a twenty-once diet drink and you can see why we are having problems with obesity. Our children have become lab rats.

Excerpts from: Russell Blaylock M.D., Health and Nutrition Secrets that can save your life.

Sources:

1. Bunyan J, Elspeth A, Murrell A, Shah PP. The induction of obesity in rodents by means of monosodium glutamate.   British Journal of Nutrition 35(1976): 25-39.
2. Kanarek RB, Marks-Kaufman R. Increased carbohydrate consumption induced by neonatal administration of monosodium glutamate to rats. Neurobehavioral Toxicology Teratology 3(1981): 343-350
3. Nikoletseas MM. Obesity in exercising, hypophagic rats treated with monosodium glutamate. Physiology & Behavior 19(1977): 767-773.

Animal studies indicate that monosodium glutamate (MSG) can induce hypothalamic lesions and leptin resistance, possibly influencing energy balance, leading to overweight. This study examines the association between MSG intake and overweight in humans. We conducted a cross-sectional study involving 752 healthy Chinese (48.7% women), aged 40–59 years, randomly sampled from three rural villages in north and south China. The great majority of participants prepared their foods at home, without use of commercially processed foods. Diet was assessed with four in-depth multipass 24-h recalls. Participants were asked to demonstrate MSG amounts added in food preparation. Amounts shaken out were weighed by trained interviewers. Overweight was defined as BMI 25.0 or 23.0 kg/m²(based on World Health Organization recommendations for Asian populations). Eighty-two percent of participants were MSG users. Average intake was 0.33 g/day (s.d. = 0.40). With adjustment for potential confounders including physical activity and total energy intake, MSG intake was positively related to BMI. Prevalence of overweight was significantly higher in MSG users than nonusers. For users in the highest tertile of MSG intake compared to nonusers, the multivariable-adjusted odds ratios of overweight (BMI 23.0 and 25.0) were 2.10 (95% confidence interval, 1.13–3.90, P for trend across four MSG categories = 0.03) and 2.75 (95% confidence interval, 1.28–5.95, P = 0.04). This research provides data that MSG intake may be associated with increased risk of overweight independent of physical activity and total energy intake in humans.

***************************************************************

Ka He^1,2,3,4, Liancheng Zhao⁵, Martha L. Daviglus⁶, Alan R. Dyer⁶, Linda Van Horn⁶, Daniel Garside⁶, Liguang Zhu⁷, Dongshuang Guo⁸, Yangfeng Wu⁵, Beifan Zhou^5,* and Jeremiah Stamler⁶ for the INTERMAP Cooperative Research Group

1. ¹Department of Nutrition, School of Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA
2. ²Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA
3. ³Department of Nutrition, School of Medicine, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA
4. ⁴Department of Epidemiology, School of Medicine, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA
5. ⁵Department of Epidemiology, Fu Wai Hospital and Cardiovascular Institute, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing, China
6. ⁶Department of Preventive Medicine, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, Illinois, USA
7. ⁷Guangxi Medical University, Nanning, China
8. ⁸Yu County Hospital, Shanxi, China
   http://www.nature.com/oby/journal/v16/n8/abs/oby2008274a.html

Animal tests were conducted by Dr. John Olney in 1969 testing the brain destruction of the hypothalamus in a small group of cells called the arcuate nucleus. These are a tiny group of neurons that control the release of the regulating factor for growth hormone, which may also be responsible for other pituitary hormones. Dr. Olney discovered that animals fed MSG not only produced less growth hormone but they also lacked the normal release pattern seen in nearly all other mammals, including humans. The pituitary glands normally secrete growth-regulating hormone in spurts, with an extra blast occurring when we fall asleep or take a nap, this is one reason why it is so important for children to get plenty of sleep.

Studies found that this nucleus connected to all the other nuclei of the hypothalamus, and was therefore given a special status. We’ve also learned that the most important neurotransmitter in the hypothalamus is glutamate. As a result, high doses of glutamate given to newborn animals could damage several of the important nuclei in the hypothalamus. This was reflected in observations that many of the regulating hormones secreted by the pituitary and controlled by the hypothalamus were deficient in these animals.

Numerous studies using immature mice have shown that LH, FSH and prolactin (the reproductive hormones), HGH (growth hormone), ACTH (adrenal regulating hormone), and TSH (thyroid regulating hormone) were all decreased following exposure to MSG. These hormone deficiencies were reflected in the animals by small size, low reproductivity ability, gross obesity and low metabolism.

Source: Health & Nutrion Secrets that can Save your Life, pg 186, Russell Blaylock M.D.

If fried snack chips had a warning printed right on the bag that said, “Warning: these chips will make you obese,” would you still buy them? Would you still eat them? Well, in a sense, you do see that warning on chips; just read the ingredient list. Research suggests that monosodium glutamate causes obesity, making unhealthy snacks even unhealthier than you may have suspected.

MSG-laced

I’m sure you already know that tortilla and potato chips aren’t health foods, right? They’re made with fried fats, they almost always harbor hidden toxic chemicals (acrylamides), and if they’re flavored, they usually contain monosodium glutamate (MSG). This is basically a recipe for obesity.

But how does MSG cause obesity? Like aspartame, MSG is an excitotoxin, a substance that overexcites neurons to the point of cell damage and, eventually, cell death. Humans lack a blood-brain barrier in the hypothalamus, which allows excitotoxins to enter the brain and cause damage, according to Dr. Russell L. Blaylock in his book Excitotoxins. According to animal studies, MSG creates a lesion in the hypothalamus that correlates with abnormal development, including obesity, short stature and sexual reproduction problems.

Based on this evidence, Dr. Blaylock makes an interesting point about the American obesity epidemic, especially among young people: “One can only wonder if the large number of people having difficulty with obesity in the United States is related to early exposure to food additive excitotoxins, since this obesity is one of the most consistent features of the syndrome. One characteristic of the obesity induced by excitotoxins is that it doesn’t appear to depend on food intake. This could explain why some people cannot diet away their obesity.” As an increasing number of elementary school students bring snack-size bags of chips to school in their lunch boxes, the MSG-obesity link demands parental caution.

Instead of passively watching modern society become obese and then commenting on it, we need to change it at the start. That begins with you, the consumer. By avoiding foods with MSG, you are not only protecting your health and your family’s health, you are also protecting society’s health by not supporting companies that use MSG. Use your buying power to show that you don’t accept manufactured foods that use MSG or any of the other hidden forms of MSG such as yeast extract, hydrolyzed vegetable proteins and autolyzed proteins.

The experts speak on MSG and obesity:

Olney, J.W. “Brain Lesions, Obesity, and Other Disturbances in Mice Treated with Monosodium glutamate.” Sci. 165(1969): 719-271. Humans also lack a blood-brain barrier in the hypothalamus, even as adults. It is for this reason that Dr. Olney and other neuroscientists are so concerned about the widespread and heavy use of excitotoxins, such as MSG, hydrolyzed vegetable protein, and cysteine, as food additives. In his experiments Dr. Olney found that high-dose exposure to MSG caused hypoplasia of the adenohypophysis of the pituitary and of the gonads, in conjunction with low hypothalamic, pituitary, and plasma levels of LH, growth hormone, and prolactin. When doses below toxic levels for hypothalamic cells were used, he found a rapid elevation of LH and a depression of the pulsatile output of growth hormone. In essence, these excitotoxins can cause severe pathophysiological changes in the central endocrine control system. Many of these dysfunctional changes can occur with subtoxic doses of MSG. One can speculate that chronic exposure to these neurotoxins could cause significant alterations in the function of the hypothalamus, including its non-endocrine portions.
Excitotoxins by Russell L Blaylock MD, page 263

“Consuming MSG leads to obesity”

Early exposure in life to high doses of glutamate, or the other excitotoxins, could theoretically produce a whole array of disorders much later in life, such as obesity, impaired growth, endocrine problems, sleep difficulties, emotional problems including episodic anger, and sexual psycho-pathology.
Excitotoxins by Russell L Blaylock MD, page 89

The stress-induced abnormalities in blood-brain barrier permeability suggest differing MSG effects dependent on existing states of relaxation or stresses. The suggestive evidence for MSG-induced neuroendocrine effects is substantial, coupled with the observation of increased obesity in children.
In Bad Taste by George R Schwartz MD, page 39

With this enormous consumption of foods laced with MSG additives, it is no wonder that we have an obesity problem in this country, especially when you combine the hypothalamic lesion caused by MSG to the high-fat and -carbohydrate diets of young people. Of particular concern is the suggestion that MSG ingested by pregnant women may actually cause this lesion in children while they are still in the womb.
Health And Nutrition Secrets by Russell L Blaylock MD, page 180

This also means that, while pregnant, mothers of diabetic children also consumed very large amounts of these excitotoxin-containing foods. Also, many parents feed their babies table food from an early age—food often laced with large amounts of MSG. In addition, large numbers of babies are also fed formula, and many formulas are known to be high in excitotoxins such as caseinate. I have already cited studies showing that gross obesity is frequently linked to excessive MSG consumption in test animals.
Health And Nutrition Secrets by Russell L Blaylock MD, page 182

Particularly disturbing is the later obesity after MSG exposure during the neonatal and infant period even after only a short or limited exposure.
In Bad Taste by George R Schwartz MD, page 22

With all of these endocrine malfunctions you would expect these mice to develop abnormally, and they do. Consistently, the animals exposed to MSG were found to be short, grossly obese, and had difficulty with sexual reproduction. One can only wonder if the large number of people having difficulty with obesity in the United States is related to early exposure to food additive excitotoxins since this obesity is one of the most consistent features of the syndrome. One characteristic of the obesity induced by excitotoxins is that it doesn’t appear to depend on food intake. This could explain why some people cannot diet away their obesity. It is ironic that so many people drink soft drinks sweetened with NutraSweet® when aspartate can produce the exact same lesions as glutamate, resulting in gross obesity. The actual extent of MSG induced obesity in the human population is unknown.
Excitotoxins by Russell L Blaylock MD, page 81

“Animal studies demonstrate link between MSG and obesity”

The obesity effect of MSG in animals requires evaluation since unexplained obesity is increasing in our population, along with hypertension and diabetes. MSG-induced obesity in animals may carry long-term significance for humans.
In Bad Taste by George R Schwartz MD, page 22

Since his early observation, other studies have confirmed that MSG causes gross obesity in animals. At an international neuroscience meeting, Dr. Olney was asked if he thought the reason Americans were so obese was, in fact, due to their high consumption of MSG additives. The question was never answered, but since that conference in the 1970s, America has undergone this virtual epidemic of gross obesity, especially among its youth.
Health And Nutrition Secrets by Russell L Blaylock MD, page 180

This MSG-induced obesity was characterized by a preference for carbohydrates and an aversion for more nutritious foods, just as we are now witnessing in our youth. Also, excess weight was extremely difficult to exercise off or diet off in these experimental animals.
Health And Nutrition Secrets by Russell L Blaylock MD, page 182

http://www.naturalnews.com/009379.html

CHAPEL HILL – People who use monosodium glutamate, or MSG, as a flavor enhancer in their food are more likely than people who don’t use it to be overweight or obese even though they have the same amount of physical activity and total calorie intake, according to a University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Public Health study published this month in the journal Obesity.

Researchers at UNC and in China studied more than 750 Chinese men and women, aged between 40 and 59, in three rural villages in north and south China. The majority of study participants prepared their meals at home without commercially processed foods. About 82 percent of the participants used MSG in their food. Those users were divided into three groups, based on the amount of MSG they used. The third who used the most MSG were nearly three times more likely to be overweight than non-users.

“Animal studies have indicated for years that MSG might be associated with weight gain,” said Ka He, M.D., assistant professor of nutrition and epidemiology at the UNC School of Public Health. “Ours is the first study to show a link between MSG use and weight in humans.”

Because MSG is used as a flavor enhancer in many processed foods, studying its potential effect on humans has been difficult. He and his colleagues chose study participants living in rural Chinese villages because they used very little commercially processed food, but many regularly used MSG in food preparation.

“We found that prevalence of overweight was significantly higher in MSG users than in non-users,” He said. “We saw this risk even when we controlled for physical activity, total calorie intake and other possible explanations for the difference in body mass. The positive associations between MSG intake and overweight were consistent with data from animal studies.”

As the percentage of overweight and obese people around the world continues to increase, He said, finding clues to the cause could be very important.

“The U.S. Food and Drug Administration and other health organizations around the world have concluded that MSG is safe,” He said, “but the question remains – is it healthy?”

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-08/uonc-urf081308.php#