Years ago MSG (monosodium glutamate), which is a flavor enhancer, got connected with Chinese food. Chinese chefs were using a lot of it in cooking and customers were getting headaches after eating this MSG-laced food. It was even called Chinese headache Syndrome. Now when people go to a Chinese restaurant, many will say “No MSG please” when ordering.
While that is good to do, you may not be aware that MSG is put into thousands of foods from soup to crackers to meats. It’s even in infant formulas and baby foods. It’s hidden under on the ingredients label by being called a lot of different names, such as, broth, casein, Hydrolyzed Vegetable Protein (HVP), autolyzed gelatin, yeast extract, malted barley, rice syrup and brown rice syrup. If you’re like me, you are suddenly realizing how the food industry has been deceiving us into eating more MSG.
MSG, according to Dr. Russell Blaylock in his book Excitotoxins: The Taste That Kills, goes beyond just giving consumers headaches. It may actually be poisoning us. Dr. Blaylock explains that MSG is an excitotoxin, which means it overexcites your cells to the point of damaging them. This makes it act as a poison.
In addition, since the 1960s, scientists have known that MSG causes obesity. In case you haven’t looked around, we are in the middle of an obesity epidemic. MSG causes the production of visceral fat, which surrounds your organs, and increases your risk of heart attack, stroke, insomnia, and type-2 diabetics.
So…read those labels. It’s the only way you can finish what you started in the Chinese restaurant by saying “No MSG please.”
And for a list of known products containing "hidden" MSG, check out and support the Truth In Labeling Project: "If MSG isn't Harmful, Why is it Hidden?" report.