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).

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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

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Monosodium Glutamate "MSG"

Sources of MSG include: MSG, Monosodium Glutamate, Hydrolyzed Vegetable Protein, Vegetable
Protein, Hydrolyzed Plant Protein, Plant Protein Extract, Sodium Caseinate, Calcium Caseinate,
Yeast Extract, Textured Protein, Autolyzed Protein, Autolyzed Yeast, and Hydrolyzed Oat Flour.

Additives frequently containing MSG: Malt extract, Malt Flavoring, Bouillon, Broth, Stock,
Flavoring, Natural Flavoring, Natural Beef or Chicken Flavoring, Seasoning and Spices.

Additives that may contain MSG or Excitotoxins: Carrageenan, Enzymes, Soy Protein Concentrate,
Soy Protein Isolate, and Protein Concentrate. Protease enzymes of various sources can release
excitotoxin amino acids from food proteins.

Foods to watch out for include: Soybean milk (naturally high in glutamate / often has hydrolyzed
vegetable protein added to it), kombu, miso, and soy sauces all contain MSG.

Reference:
Blaylock, R. (1997).Excitotoxins – The Taste That Kills, Albuquerque, NM: Health Press NA.