MSG Exposed (Monosodium Glutamate)

The following is a list of ingredient names that you may find on your food labels that contain enough MSG to serve as common MSG-Reaction triggers, not to mention the free glutamate (L-Glutamate) in MSG stimulates brain cells to death. This list should be printed out and brought along with you to the gr0cery store. You will be amazed at how many food labels you will find these hidden sources of MSG lurking on. This is the same list (with a few additions) that’s included in Dr. Russell Blaylock’s book Excitotoxins: The Taste that Kills. Please study and pass this crucial list on to your friends and family.

These ALWAYS contain MSG:

• Glutamate
• Glutamic Acid
• Monosodium Glutamate
• Monopotassium Glutamate
• Yeast Extract
• Yeast Food
• Yeast Nutrient
  
• Autolyzed Yeast
• Autolyzed Yeast Extract
• Torula Yeast
  
• Autolyzed Soy Protein (any protein that is autolyzed)
  
• Hydrolyzed Protein (any protein that is hydrolyzed)
• Hydrolyzed Whey Protein
• Hydrolyzed Pea Protein
  
• Hydrolyzed Corn Protein
  
• Hydrolyzed Corn Gluten
  
• Calcium Caseinate
• Sodium Caseinate
• Textured Protein
• Textured Vegetable Protein (TVP)
• Natrium Glutamate (natrium is Latin/German for sodium)
• Gelatin
  

These OFTEN contain MSG or create MSG during processing:

• Carageenan
• Malt Extract
• Malt Flavoring
• Barley Malt
  
• Maltodextrin
• Citric Acid¹
• Soy Protein Isolate
• Soy Sauce
• Soy Sauce Extract
• Soy Protein
• Soy Protein Concentrate
• Bouillon
• Broth
• Stock
• Spices* (may contain between 30% to 60% MSG)
• Natural Beef Flavoring
• Natural Chicken Flavoring
• Natural Pork Flavoring
• Ultra-Pasteurized
• Whey Protein
  
• Whey Protein Isolate
• Whey Protein Concentrate
• Protein Fortified Anything
• Flavor(s) & Flavoring(s)* (may contain between 30% to 60% MSG)
  
• Natural Flavor(s) & Flavoring(s)* (may contain between 30% to 60% MSG)
• Pectin
• Protease
• Protease Enzymes
• Enzymes Anything
  
• Anything Enzyme Modified
• Anything Protein Fortified
• Anything Fermented
• Seasonings (the word “seasonings”)
• Fish Sauce²
  
• Fish Sauce Extract

1.)  Most of the “citric acid” used today is made from corn rather than from citrus fruits. “Citric acid” is produced by fermentation of crude sugars. When “citric acid” is produced from corn, manufacturers do not take the time or undertake the expense to remove all corn protein. During processing, the remaining protein is hydrolyzed, resulting in some processed free glutamic acid (MSG). “Citric acid” also interacts with any protein in the food to which it is added, freeing up more glutamic acid.

2.)  Some fish sauce manufacturers use cheaper techniques to cut the fermentation times very short and these techniques typically utilize MSG. Fish sauce typically takes 1 year to ferment properly and create a good quality sauce. This time is cut extremely short by some manufacturers that choose not to ferment the fish this long and instead add MSG to make up for poorer quality fish sauce.

Note: Soybean milk naturally contains a high content of glutamate. Kombu, miso, and soy sauce all contain MSG.

I’m sure you’re aware that KFC (Kentucky Fried Chicken) isn’t health food, but regardless, the chain is still around, therefore people must still be eating at this grease bucket. I’ve gone through their ingredient list from their website and it only confirms what we already know. That basically EVERYTHING at KFC has Monosodium Glutamate and not only that but it contains multiple versions of MSG layered on top of one another, essentially creating a plate of excitotoxin health nightmare delight.

The Secret Recipe is...MSG. Shhhh, don't tell anybody

I’m just going to comment on a couple of the regular staples of KFC.

Mashed Potatoes with Gravy
Gravy: Food Starch-Modified, Maltodextrin, Enriched Wheat Flour (Niacin, Reduced Iron, Thiamine Mononitrate, Riboflavin, Folic Acid), Chicken Fat, Wheat Flour, Salt, Partially Hydrogenated Soybean Oil, Monosodium Glutamate, Dextrose, Palm And Canola Oils, Mono and Diglycerides, Hydrolyzed Soy Protein, Natural and Artificial Flavor (with Hydrolyzed Corn Protein, Milk), Caramel Color (Treated With Sulfiting Agents), Onion Powder, Disodium Inosinate*, Disodium Guanylate*, Spice, Spice Extractives, With Not More Than 2% Silicon Dioxide Added As An Anti-caking.
Contains Wheat, Soy and Milk.

*Note: Disodium Inosinate and Disodium Guanylate are expensive flavor enhancers that are not MSG themselves but  act directly with MSG to further enhance it. So if you see these two ingredients lurking on your ingredient label, don’t eat it, it means there is MSG in it for sure. This tip is from Dr. Russell Blaylock’s books on Excitotoxins.

As you can see, in the ingredient list above we have at least 3 hard-core sources of monosodium glutamate on the label (MSG, Hydrolyzed Soy Protein and Hydrolyzed Corn Protein), as well as the peculiar “Spice and Spice Extractives” which hardly matter at this point.

Seasoned Rice
Long Grain Enriched Rice(Iron, Thiamine, and Folic Acid). Seasoned with: Dehydrated Vegetables (Carrots, Onion, Garlic, Parsley, Celery), Salt, Hydrolyzed Soy Protein, Maltodextrin, Monosodium Glutamate, Yeast Extract, Chicken Broth, Maltodextrin, Dextrose, Modified Food Starch, Sugar, Butter (Sweet Cream, Salt, Annatto Color), Partially Hydrogenated Soybean Oil, Cooked Chicken, Chicken Fat, Nonfat Milk Solids, Gelatin, Sodium Phosphate, Flavor, Lactose, Disodium Inosinate* & Disodium Guanylate*, Natural Flavor, Sodium Caseinate, Extractive of Turmeric, Spices (Including Turmeric), Lactic Acid, BHA, Propyl Gallate & Citric Acid Added To Protect Flavor, Dipotassium Phosphate, Disodium Phosphate.
Contains Milk and Soy.

I counted 6 ingredients including MSG in the Seasoned Rice. Wow, do we really need this much in rice? Speaking of which, Rice-A-Roni is a real baddie also. It the seasoning packet, the rice by itself is good, but taking away the seasoning packet from Rice-A-Roni makes it just plain fucking rice. What fun is that? It’s not.

I found these entries from NationMaster regarding KFC:

“According to the nutritional information provided on KFC’s own website, the ingredients for KFC Original Recipe Chicken are: Fresh chicken marinated with: salt, sodium phosphate and monosodium glutamate, and breaded with: wheat flour, sodium chloride and anti-caking agent (tricalcium phosphate), nonfat dry milk, dried egg whites and the Colonel’s Secret Original Recipe Seasoning.^[16]“

“In 1983, writer William Poundstone tackled the recipe in his book Big Secrets. He reviewed Sanders’ patent application, and advertised in college newspapers for present or former employees willing to share their knowledge.^[18] From the former he deduced that Sanders had diverged from other common fried-chicken recipes by varying the amount of oil used with the amount of chicken being cooked, and starting the cooking at a higher temperature (about 400°F, 200°C) for the first minute or so and then lowering it to 250°F (120°C) for the remainder of the cooking time. Several of Poundstone’s contacts also provided samples of the seasoning mix, and a food lab found that it consisted solely of sugar, flour, salt, black pepper and monosodium glutamate (MSG). He concluded that it was entirely possible that, in the years since Sanders sold the chain, later owners had begun skimping on the recipe to save costs.^[19] Sanders himself expressed anger at the changes made to the gravy, saying, “That friggin’ … outfit …. They prostituted every goddam thing I had. I had the greatest gravy in the world and those sons of bitches they dragged it out and extended it and wa­tered it down that I’m so goddamn mad.”^[20]“

And there you have it, MSG galore at KFC, but then again…you already knew that.

KFC Ingredients List

http://www.kfc.com/nutrition/pdf/kfc_ingredients.pdf

NationMaster Encylopedia
http://www.nationmaster.com/encyclopedia/KFC

No MSG...except for that in Yeast Extract...nice try Campbells.

There’s been a lot of controversy over MSG lately, especially on TV. I’m sure you’ve noticied the soup wars commercials that have been going on for a couple months now between Campbell’s and Progresso. Campbells came out with a new line of “light” soups that they say contain No MSG, however, if you notice the fine print on the bottom of the can: “except for the small amount naturally occuring in yeast extract”. I had a good laugh at that.

It’s interesting that Campbells Soup has a line of approximately 90 products that contain straight-up Monosodium Glutamate, Blamm-O in-your-face, not hidden in other ingredients, on the label. Yet they are calling out Progresso for having MSG in their soup. It doesn’t make sense that they would call so much attention to their competition’s products without their customers taking a look at their own MSG-laced products.

Screenshot of the Ingredient Glossary from the Campbells website. Where's Yeast Extract?

The Yeast Extract Situation

Let’s take a look at exactly what Yeast Extract is and find out if it does in fact have MSG and if so, how much. First I pulled info from The European Association of Specialty Yeast Products.

Definition of Yeast Extract?

When a yeast cell is inactivated, a natural digestion process called “autolysis” starts. During this process the yeast’s own enzymes break down proteins and other parts of the cell. This causes the release of peptides, amino acids [glutamic acid - MSG*], vitamins and other yeast cell components which, once the insoluble components have been removed, is called “Yeast Extract“.

The Food Chemical Codex defines Yeast Extract as follows: ” Yeast Extract comprises the water soluble components of the yeast cell, the composition of which is primarily amino-acids, peptides, carbohydrates and salts. Yeast Extract is produced through the hydrolysis of peptide bonds by the naturally occurring enzymes present in edible yeast or by the addition of food-grade enzymes”.

Yeast Extract Production Process to bring out the MSG

So what we are looking at is not “natural” yeast in the sense of an unaltered ingredient unlike regular old “yeast” that you would use in baking and such. It is specifically called Yeast Extract because of the process they put it through to extract the amino acids (glutamic acids – *MSG) in the proteins of the yeast. This process of hydrolysis brakes the natural protein cell walls and releases the amino acids from their peptide chains, which then makes the amino acids free floating, this is the harmful type of amino acids. When amino acids are bound inside their protein properly they are harmless and the body processes and breaks them down slowly and naturally. When the amino acids are broken free from their protein they are now in a state that can cause a lot of problems. And oh yeah, they make your food taste “better”, but at the expense of your health and specifically your neurological health.

Production Process of Yeast Extract

The raw material is baker’s or brewer’s yeast. The yeast cells undergo the following treatments :

• Separation from the culture medium
• Opening of the cells : moderate heat treatment or salt addition which allows the conservation of the enzymes
• Autolysis : this step of the process is performed under mild conditions of pH and temperature ; its duration depends on the type of yeast and to what extent the proteins have to be broken down
• Separation of the insoluble part such as Yeast Cell Walls from the water soluble components of yeast (mainly proteins, peptides, amino-acids, etc…) which constitute the Yeast Extract
• Concentration and pasteurisation of the Yeast Extract solution
• Packaging in pails, drums or totes for the liquid and paste forms (resp. 50 – 65 % and 70 – 80 % dry matters)
• or Spray drying and Packaging in bags, boxes, big bags for the powder forms, which can be in fine or granulated particles, or even oil coated to prevent the emission of dust.

With the production process we can confirm they use Autolysis which brakes down the proteins to release the amino acids (glutamic acid which is MSG). So you want to know exactly what Autolysis is to ensure this process is releasing the Glutamic acids? Here is a definition of Autolysis from the web:

“In biology autolysis may refer to the destruction of a cell through the action of its own enzymes. It may also refer to the digestion of an enzyme by another molecule of the same enzyme. The term derives from the Greek words αυτό (“self”) and λύσις (“splitting”).”

“In the food industry, autolysis involves killing the yeast and encouraging the breakdown of the cells by enzymes. It is used to give different flavors. For yeast extract, this process is triggered by the addition of salt.”

The Two Main Application of Yeast Extract

• Natural aromatic ingredient for savoury foods

Yeast Extracts are increasingly used for their unique taste, which is the result of amino acids and small peptides formed out of the yeast protein by the autolysis process. They constitute a natural flavour ingredient, imparting delicate bouillon, meaty or cheesy notes and enhancing the flavour for a wide range of food products : soups, sauces, meat and fish preparations, savoury mixes, etc.

• Source of nitrogen & growth factors for culture media

Yeast Extracts are rich in nitrogen, vitamins and other growth stimulating compounds and therefore are used as an ingredient in media for the cultivation of microorganisms. These organisms are for example used in the production of antibiotics, biopharmaceuticals, vitamins, organic acids, dairy cultures, probiotics, etc.

Flavor Enhancer Chart from JT Seasoning World, a producer of Yeast Extract

The following is a FAQ from the EURaSYP (European Association of Specialty Yeast Products):

Does Yeast Extract Contain MSG (Monosodium Glutamate)?

“The amino-acids contained in the Yeast Extracts result exclusively from the proteins present in food grade Yeasts (baker’s or brewer’s or lactic) which are used to manufacture the Extracts. Those amino-acids contain a large proportion of essential amino-acids, particularly lysine, together with glutamic acid. The Yeast Extracts contain a maximum of 18 % glutamic acid on the basis of the total protein content (total glutamic acid refers to both free glutamic acid and glutamic acid in small peptides). The free glutamic acid content is between 6 % and 13 % of the total protein content. This free glutamic acid, which is a natural component of Yeast Extract, plays a major role in its aromatic power. Glutamic acid, also referred to as monosodium glutamate (MSG) has flavor enhancing capabilities and is associated with Umami, the fifth taste sensation.”

“All EURaSYP members guarantee that the ingredients they market under the Yeast Extract denomination contain no added glutamic acid or MSG beside the natural one originating from the Yeasts themselves.”

Did you read that last little paragraph? They Admit there is MSG in yeast extract but then they say “but it’s Natural MSG so it’s Good. That makes me laugh. Cyanide is natural but does that mean we should eat it? Lead is natural but does that mean we should start eating paint chips? But they’re NATURAL! If MSG was considered organic would that make it harmless all of a sudden? No. It’s all marketing.

Don’t be a sucker to the food industry. Read the labels and get informed. MSG is not going away, but they will be looking for new ways to put it in your food disguised in another less harmful sounding ingredient. That’s why you need to keep your self updated on the new MSG-laced ingredient names so you can look out for them and avoid them.

Sources:

The European Association of Specialty Yeast Products

http://www.eurasyp.org/public.levure.extrait.screen

JT Seasonings World
http://www.jt-seasoning.com/en/

Difco Manual  – Biological
Difco Manual 11th ed., Sparks, MD , (1998), 572-574

Boy, these guys really weren’t kidding…

Just take a quick gander at this ingredient list:

Ingredients: Made from water, monterey jack cheese (milk, cheese culture, salt, enzymes), peppers, tomatoes, modified corn starch, onions, soybean oil, sodium citrate, salt sodium hexameta phosphate, non-fat milk, xanthum gum, monosodium glutamate, sodium stearoyl lactylate, artificial color, potassium sorbate citric acid and natural flavoring.

Did you happen to notice the “FEEL ALIVE!” on the label? I bet you’ll feel alive after eating this excitotoxic slop. I personally love cheese dip but I can’t for the life of me find a cheese dip or nacho cheese dip without some form of MSG in it.

What is MSG?
Monosodium Glutamate, “MSG”, is a processed sodium salt of glutamic acid, one of the most common amino acids (protein building blocks) found in nature. As glutamate, it is present in virtually all foods. Glutamate is found naturally in foods such as tomatoes, mushrooms, broccoli, peas, cheese, meats, fish, even human milk (20 times more than cow’s milk). MSG is produced by a fermentation process of glutamate. The glutamate industry would love for you to believe that there is no difference between glutamate found in natural foods and that added as MSG.

Most of the glutamic acid with which consumers come in contact is found in protein where it is connected to (or bound to) other amino acids. There are two forms of glutamic acid found in nature: L-glutamic acid and D-glutamic acid. When glutamic acid is found in protein it is referred to as bound glutamic acid. The glutamic acid found in protein is L-glutamic acid, only. Eating protein (which will contain bound glutamic acid that is L-glutamic acid, only) does not cause either brain damage or adverse reactions.

Glutamic acid outside of protein is referred to as free glutamic acid. Manufactured/processed free glutamic acid (MSG) always contains D-glutamic acid, pyroglutamic acid, and various other contaminants in addition to Lglutamic acid. Manufactured/processed free glutamic acid (MSG) causes brain lesions and neuroendocrine disorders in laboratory animals. Manufactured/processed free glutamic acid (MSG) also causes adverse reactions which include skin rash, tachycardia, migraine headache, depression, and seizures in humans.

MSG is an excitotoxin, a substance that overexcites cell neurons causing cell damage and, eventually, cell death. These excitotoxins are able to enter and cause damage to the brain because humans lack a blood-brain barrier in the hypothalamus. The MSG is then able to create a lesion in the hypothalamus allowing for abnormal development, including sexual reproduction and obesity.

Why should I avoid MSG?
As little as 1/10th of a tsp can give a severe reaction, and reactions can be dose related: the more you consume the greater chance of the reaction. Some common side effects include the following:

• tachycardia
• heart attacks
• asthma
• headaches
• facial swelling
• swelling in the joints
• marked obesity
• impaired skeletal development
• tightness in the chest
• a burning sensation in the forearms and the back of the neck
• joint pain
• sterility in females
• In laboratory experiments, every species of animal fed MSG developed brain lesions and infant animals were especially susceptible, as they had not developed an effective blood-brain barrier.
• heart arrhythmia

What Products Contain MSG?

Commercial Soup almost always has MSG in some form

MSG is used on poor quality food to enhance flavor. It is found in many dressings and sauces and is added to most infant formulas. Soy formulas, Isolated Soy Protein, and Texturized Vegetable Protein [TVP] in particular are loaded with MSG. Hydrolyzed vegetable protein contains up to 40% MSG. MSG is also found in cheese, ice cream, beverages, medications, frozen meals, cookies and candies, IV materials, “Cream of …” soups and other canned soups, prepackaged “dinner in a box” types, and rice mixes. When eating out, beware of fast food sandwiches, as well as Chinese foods. At some Chinese restaurants, you can ask for “No MSG”.

These ALWAYS contain MSG:
Glutamate, Monosodium glutamate, Monopotassium glutamate, Glutamic acid, Calcium caseinate, Sodium caseinate, Gelatin, Textured protein, Hydrolyzed protein (any protein that is hydrolyzed), Plant protein extract, Yeast extract, Yeast food, Autolyzed yeast, Yeast nutrient

These OFTEN contain MSG/excitotoxins or create MSG during processing:
Flavor(s) & Flavoring(s), Natural flavor(s) & flavoring(s), Natural pork flavoring, Bouillon, Natural beef flavoring, Stock, Natural chicken flavoring, Broth, Malt flavoring, Barley malt, Malt extract, Soy sauce, Soy sauce extract, Soy protein, Soy protein concentrate, Soy protein isolate, Pectin, Whey protein, Whey protein isolate, Whey protein concentrate, anything Protein fortified, anything Fermented

Why can’t we see….
Researcher Hiroshi Ohguro conducted a study on the relationship between MSG consumption and retinal damage. In the study, rats were fed three different diets for six months. The diets consisted of either high or moderate amounts of MSG, or none. The rats on the high-MSG diet experienced thinning of retinal nerve layers, by as much as 75 percent!! Further testing that measured retinal response to light showed they could not see as well. The rats on the moderate diet also experienced retinal damage, although to a lesser extent. The researchers found high concentrations of MSG in the vitreous fluid, which bathes the retina. The MSG is able to bind to receptors on the retinal cells and destroy them, causing secondary reactions that reduce the ability of the remaining cells to relay signals. Why can’t we see that consuming products containing MSG should be avoided?
-A High Dietary Intake of Sodium Glutamate as Flavoring (Ajinomoto) Causes Gross Changes in Retinal Morphology and Function. Experimental EyevResearch, Volume 75, Issue 3, Pages 307-315
-Decision News Media, Eye Damage From MSG Consumption, Oct 25, 2002

Obesity is a common problem for many people in the world today. With so many people and companies focused on dieting and weight loss, it makes one wonder why the problem just keeps getting bigger!! MSG, while just a part of the puzzle, contributes to obesity. Interestingly, many “diet” products contain MSG! Researchers believe that excitotoxin [MSG] induced obesity is not dependent on food intake, which may lend a hand in explaining why people seem to be unable to diet away their obesity.

MSG exposure can cause problems in the long run for those who are exposed to high doses of glutamate early in life. One study found that babies of pregnant mothers that consumed large amounts of excitotoxins are more likely to develop gross obesity and that the risk can become a reality after even a limited exposure. What’s more, MSG is used as a stabilizer in various vaccines in order for the vaccine to remain unchanged, even in the presence of heat, light, acidity, humidity etc. You can access a Medline data base through the National Library of Medicine on the Internet. We encourage you to log on to www.pubmed.gov and search for studies using the key words “obesity AND monosodium glutamate,”. You might find two studies published in 2005 particularly interesting: “Obesity, voracity, and short stature: the impact of glutamate on the regulation of appetite,” and “[Effect of monosodium glutamate given orally on appetite control (a new theory for the obesity epidemic)].”
-News Target, The Link Between Monosodium Glutamate (MSG) and Obesity, July 9, 2005
-Obesity induced by neonatal monosodium glutamate treatment in spontaneously hypertensive rats: an animal model of multiple risk factors. Iwase M, Yamamoto M, Iino K, Ichikawa K, Shinohara N, Yoshinari Fujishima Hypertens Res. 1998 Mar
-Hypothalamic lesion induced by injection of monosodium glutamate in suckling period and subsequent development of obesity. Tanaka K, Shimada M, Nakao K, Kusunoki Exp Neurol. 1978 Oct
- A. Frieder, B, and Grimm, VE. Prenatal monosodium glutamate (MSG) treatment given through the mother’s diet causes behavioral deficits in rat offspring. Intern J Neurosci. 23:117-126,1984.
-PEDIATRICS, Addressing Parents’ Concerns: Do Vaccines Contain Harmful Preservatives, Adjuvants, Additives, or Residuals?, December 2003

At least 25% of the U.S. population reacts to free glutamic acid from food sources. Today, we recognize that those reactions range from mild and transitory to debilitating and life threatening.
There are no substitutions for fresh, quality foods…

1. Read you ingredient labels and don’t buy products that contain artificial or highly processed ingredients.
2. Buy natural, whole foods.
3. Use basic spices like freshly ground salt and pepper, garlic powder and fresh or dried herbs to add a variety of flavors to your meal. Read the ingredient labels on your spices, too!

Originally posted by Dr. Jeffrey Meyers D.C.

Panda Express is one of the worst offenders because they deliberately lie to you by stating “No MSG Added”.

That means they may not have “added” MSG to the food, but the food already arrives to their stores from manufacturers that have the MSG already processed into it. It is deliberately deceiving and unethical to imply there is no MSG in the food when they know full and well it’s in there!

The distinction between having MSG poured into an ingredient and processed into an ingredient is important because the glutamate industry plays on this distinction in their efforts to hide the presence of MSG. One of their favorite ways of hiding MSG is to claim that there is “no added MSG” in a product. If MSG is processed into a product instead of being poured into a product, they can legally declare that there is “no MSG added” or “no added MSG” because they didn’t “add it”, it was simply already in there when it arrived. But shhhh, they won’t tell you that.

What do all of these restaurants have in common?

They all serve MSG laced foods!

-~- What is MSG? -~-

In basic terms, MSG (and other, similar agents) pierces the blood-brain barrier and over-stimulates the neurons of a brain to a deadly degree. Habitual intake among animal experiments has shown the development of tumors, memory loss, and a whole host of neurodegenerative diseases as the end result of excess excitotoxin intake, including Alzhiemer’s, Parkenson’s, Lou Gerhig’s etc.

Walk into any gas station in the United States (or grocery store, for that matter) and, upon close investigation, you will find that 75%-90% of the available food has been ‘enhanced’ to some degree by excitotoxins. The chemical agents are often disguised by such ambiguous terms as ‘spice’ and ‘natural flavors’ or, my personal favorite, ‘hydrolyzed vegetable protein.’ A consumer society must have consumer slaves to keep it functioning; MSG is the crack cocaine of the food industry…and it is legally perpetuated by slush-fund advocates and a pork-glutted FDA. As proven again and again, money talks, … [you can finish the maxim for me].

-Excerpt from ‘Excitotoxins – The Taste That Kills’ By Dr. Russell L Blaylock, MD
(A board certified neurosurgeon with over 25 years experience in neurosurgery in addition to having a nutritional practice.)

Mike Adams
NaturalNews

There’s a great deal of deception in the labeling of food products found at your local grocery store and even at many health food stores. A disturbing trend I’ve noticed is that many vegetarian products and grocery items billed as “healthy” or “natural” are using chemical additive taste enhancers found in an ingredient listed right on the label.

The taste enhancer is MSG — monosodium glutamate — a chemical that has been associated with reproductive disorders, migraine headaches, permanent damage to the endocrine system leading to obesity and other serious disorders. MSG is a chemical compound that simply does not belong in the body in the concentrations provided by these foods. It is used by food manufacturers as a taste enhancer — something to cover up the bland tastes of these foods and make them more appealing to consumers. But food manufacturers don’t want to list MSG on the labels, especially when they know that consumers will avoid purchasing products that list MSG.

Yeast Extract contains MSG

So what do they do instead? They hide the ingredient in another ingredient called “yeast extract“, then they put yeast extract in the product and list “yeast extract” right on the label. So this is the scam: all sorts of natural health products and vegetarian products are using chemical taste enhancers in the form of yeast extract but failing to disclose to consumers that they actually contain MSG. And if you look around at the natural health products in health food stores and grocery stores, you’ll find that yeast extract is a rather prominent ingredient. It’s used in soups, in vegetarian mixes, in some tofu mixes, and even so-called natural frozen foods.

I can personally verify that yeast extract has the same effect as MSG, because I am an individual who is extremely sensitive to MSG. Upon consuming even a small amount of MSG, I experience a severe headache that lasts for 6 to 8 hours. Consuming yeast extract causes precisely the same effect as consuming MSG.

In fact, food manufacturers don’t deny that yeast extract contains MSG — it’s something that’s well-known in the food manufacturing industry. What’s going on here is a blatant deception — an attempt to mislead consumers by essentially renaming dangerous ingredients with harmless sounding names such as “yeast extract”. I believe this practice to be irresponsible and unethical, and I strongly urge you to not only avoid purchasing products made with yeast extract, but avoid products from companies that use yeast extract in any of their products. It is simply a dishonest practice, and we should not reward companies that engage in such practices by purchasing any products they manufacture.

Unfortunately, many of these food manufacturers are creating products for the so-called health foods industry. In a way that is sadly all too real, traditional grocery products and processed foods will list MSG right on the label. At the same time, so-called healthy products will use yeast extract, so they can avoid mentioning MSG on the label. Yet, both products contain MSG, and both products carry the risk of toxic side effects associated with MSG.

So, are you any safer by purchasing health foods rather than traditional grocery store foods? The answer is that you should avoid purchasing processed foods at all, regardless of what health claims are made on the label. Processed foods are unhealthy foods, period. If you want optimum nutrition, and foods for which the human body was designed, you need to purchase and consume raw ingredients, such as vegetables, fruit, nuts, whole grains, and healthy oils. It’s also a good idea, as you’ve often heard me recommend here, to supplement your diet with whole food supplements, organic vitamins, and superfoods, such as chlorella, spirulina, broccoli sprouts and sea vegetables. This is the way to achieve optimum nutrition, not by purchasing processed foods that are disguised as healthy foods, even though they contain ingredients known to induce toxic side-effects in the human body.

But don’t take my word for it — check it out yourself. Next time you go to a health food store, look at the product boxes and cans on the shelves, and see just how many you can find that contain yeast extract. It’s especially easy to find with vegetarian foods, which just goes to show you that just because a product says “vegetarian” on the label doesn’t mean it’s good for you (or that the company making it gives a hoot about your health).

NaturalNews.com

http://www.naturalnews.com/001528.html

The neurotransmittors Glutamate and Aspartate (in Aspartame) are normally found in the spinal cord and brain. They are two of the most common transmitter chemicals in the spinal cord and brain, but when their concentrations rise above a critical threshold they can turn into deadly toxins to the neurons and nerve cells that are connected to these neurons. Too much Glutamate will not only kill the neurons but it will also kill any neurons that are connected to it. Both Glutamate and Aspartame can cause neurons to become extremely excited and, if given in large enough doses can cause these cells to degenerate and die. The nervous system carefully controls the concentration of these two amino acids in the fluid surrounding the neurons. It has a system designed to remove any excess glutamate from this extracellular space. It is accomplished by a special pumping system that transfers the excess glutamate back into surrounding glial cells. The glial cells surround the neurons and supply them with energy. This pump acts like a bilge pump on a ship, if the pump fails the ship fills up with water and sinks. Normally, the glutamate clearing system is very efficient. While this pumping system is very effective, it requires an enormous amount of cellular energy in the form of ATP (adenosine triphosphate). It works like an old-time fire brigade where a line of people hoist buckets down a human chain to put out a fire. It requires a lot of energy on the the people that make up the bucket brigade. If they ran out of energy the fire would rage out of control. The same thing happens when energy production is reduced in the brain, the protective pumps begin to fail and glutamate begins to accumulate in the space around the neuron, including in the area of the synapse. If the energy is not restored, the neurons will burn up, they are literally excited to death.

Within 15-30 minutes after exposure to high doses of MSG, the neurons suspended in tissue culture are seen to swell up like balloons. You can see the degeneration of the small structures within the cell under the microscope, called organelles. You will also see clumping of the chromatin of the nucleus. Within 3 hours these neurons are not only dead, but the body’s defense mechanisms begin to haul away the debris. The degenerative reaction is seen under experimental conditions using animals when the MSG is either ingested via the diet, injected in the abdominal cavity or applied directly to the neurons in tissue culture into the brain via the cannula or tube.

Glutamate and Aspartate appear to work by opening calcium channels on certain subtypes of receptors. When these neurotransmitters are allowed to come into contact with the receptor in too high of a concentration or for too long a period of time, the calcium channel gets stuck in the open position, allowing calcium to pour into the cell in large amounts. When this happens the protective mechanisms are triggered. But as with the glutamate pumps, the calcium pumps also require large amounts of energy as ATP. This energy must be supplied continuously, especially if the calcium continues to enter in large amounts and for a prolonged period of time. Again, it’s like bailing out a boat that has a large hole in the bottom. To keep from sinking you must bail the water out faster than it flows into the boat. If you have ever been in this position you’ll know that it takes a lot of energy to do this.

So how does calcium actually kill the cell? This is an area of intense research and interest because these calcium channels appear to play an important part in a multitude of seemingly unrelated diseases, such as strokes, heart attacks, arthritis, brain injury, migraine headaches and cancer.

Summary

In a nutshell: MSG enters the brain past the blood-brain barrier, triggers neurons to open their calcium channel, the glutamate causes the cell to remain stuck in the open position then calcium floods into the cell in large amounts. This triggers the cell to react in emergency mode and starts it’s special pump that will start pumping out the excess calcium using up large amounts of energy (ATP), the cell swells up with excess calcium and eventually the cell is depleted of energy and dies within two hours. The pump couldn’t pump out the excess calcium fast enough. (It’s like trying to bail water out of a boat with a large hole in the bottom. You use up a ton of energy and eventually the boat is filled and sinks). The cell shrivels up and the body’s defense mechanism sweeps away the dead cell debris.

Excerpts from: Excitoxins: The Taste that Kills. Russell Blaylock M.D.

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.