MSG: Is This Silent Killer Lurking in Your Kitchen Cabinets

re: MSG: Is This Silent Killer Lurking in Your Kitchen Cabinets

DiGi305 — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 15:37:40 GMT

I am highly allergic to MSG and artificial sweetners. MSG keeps me awake at night with nervous feeling. If I go to sleep I have pshchotic episodes. The sweetners cause my lips to swell and peel. If it is a heavy dose my throat begins to swell and I have difficulty breathing. I have found people who are allergic to MSG are also allergic to artificial sweetners

re: MSG: Is This Silent Killer Lurking in Your Kitchen Cabinets

Coldmile — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 08:15:44 GMT

Doctor Mercola you said that one of the no no's that always contained msg was Gelatin,i only thought about desserts and the likes but what this actually means is you are saying is hundreds of medications,vitamins,etc are unsafe because they are delivered in ""GELCAPS""" or IN SIMILAR GELATIN products and therefore should be avoided.PLEASE COMMENT.

re: MSG: Is This Silent Killer Lurking in Your Kitchen Cabinets

tannin — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 09:27:56 GMT

Well done Evidence-based Science, its good to see a little rational thought on the Mercola site. This article is a mish-mash of fact, allegation, and badly interpreted experimental data, perhaps the worst example of this is the use of the animal toxicity data. I quote: 'Injections of glutamate in laboratory animals have resulted in damage to nerve cells in the brain'. Well, dummies, how many of you mainline your MSG? And check on the doses used - we are talking HUGE doses. These experiments prove nothing, if you injected yourself with similar doses of salt you would be equally damaged. Oh yes, and MSG is a natural component of many foods such as Parmesan cheese, tomatoes, oyster and fish sauces. In fact, the amino acid glutamine / glutamate is present in all animal protein foods.

Finally, all those of you who react to foods, it is true that food and other allergies have hit an all-time high (in the UK over 40% of children now have a food allergy), but this is due to something calledl the hygiene hypothesis. It is nothing to do with all these 'new' food ingredients, but due to what is no longer in the food chain - ie yeasts and worms.

re: MSG: Is This Silent Killer Lurking in Your Kitchen Cabinets

Coldmile — Fri, 22 May 2009 12:19:58 GMT

I recently thought that comments on MSG where really over-stated,the body is resilient and we can eat mostly anything without getting poisioned because the body compensates.Smoking,drinking alcohol,etc,etc. and we can still live to be 90 or more.

I watched an interesting video from-articles.mercola.com/.../why-you-do-not-want-to-eat-processed-foods.aspx

I thought it was worth the watch and thought about it.The only thing he had to sell was a book which wasn't publicised and he stated that GLUTAMATE is a major part of the brain but in very controlled amounts.

When your 50 and eaten everything your do good society has fed you what will you eat next ??

re: MSG: Is This Silent Killer Lurking in Your Kitchen Cabinets

Coldmile — Thu, 21 May 2009 08:03:00 GMT

I have found information about MSG that is very contradictory,Eg.www.foodauthority.nsw.gov.au/.../msg

I think this is an interesting article as it shows NATURAL foods also have MSG or it's equal.

I would like to see some information that compares these dangerous additives like 1 gram of Msg is more dangerous that waiting at the lights and breathing in exhaust fumes or maybe 3 cigarettes a day are safer than 1 Mg. of MSG so there is some PERSPECTIVE and of course Dr.Mercola always seeks the truth.

re: MSG: Is This Silent Killer Lurking in Your Kitchen Cabinets

Coldmile — Sat, 02 May 2009 05:33:59 GMT

I think that knowledge without perspective is probably more dangerous that some additives.When i was young i seen fresh milk having powdered milk added to it and i would reckon in those days that wasn't on the label.

Now you now where you might find this BAD ingredient the menu will be raw carrots and lettuce and death by malnutrition. If baby fomulas,most dairy products and anything that contains a BAD ingredient where removed from the shelves by the end of the day i reckon that would harm the health of a nation more than allowing questionable items on the shelf.

I like to label read but i am also in a town where availbility of food items is limited and knowledge that is true now may not be true next year,science gets sold like everything else.Looking at the list of ingredients that may be loaded with MSG i would think that most of the world aready has a smoking gun in its mouth and the human race has been sentenced to death by diet.

Perhaps that sounds a bit extreme.It is true to say that food science which is fairly extensive these days does not seem to be helping as much as it could.What we eat isn't always about health and many might think that MSG is a sports car.

re: MSG: Is This Silent Killer Lurking in Your Kitchen Cabinets

jjoules04 — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 08:55:44 GMT

MSG is not in ALL textured protein.

Many vegetarian companies are very stern about directly adding this "flavor enhancer" to their food. And I, for one, do not condone eating this stuff. As a vegetarian, I eat Gimme Lean which has textured vegetable protein in it, however- the TVP they use has the glutamic acid in it which during processing may bond naturally with sodium and form MSG as a byproduct. So, saying that ALL TVP contains MSG is not particularly true. TVP MAY contain MSG as a byproduct from processing is more accurate. All TVP isn't made by the same company.

Some TVP is made via corn starch (and other vegetable starches ie beets) which according to your article, MAY contain MSG via processing.

Soy and TVP companies:

Shandong Yuxin Soybean Protein Co.,Ltd

Archer-Daniels-Midland Company (product patent and TVP trademark)

Unisonsoy Country of Origin

Qingdao Kangda Foodstuffs Co.

Legacy Foods, LLC (TSP trademark)

William Thomas Atkinson. (used to own ADM)

A.E. Staley corp (holds the "usage" patent)

Ralston Purina corp (holds processing patent)

re: MSG: Is This Silent Killer Lurking in Your Kitchen Cabinets

Pwyll — Sun, 26 Apr 2009 15:27:13 GMT

Bragg's liquid aminos seem to be a huge source of glutamates of which, many are not aware. I quit using it when i discovered this(and after wondering why i felt ill afterwards)...and have gone to organic tamari--made from wheat(and the fermentation seems to destroy any gluten issues).

re: MSG: Is This Silent Killer Lurking in Your Kitchen Cabinets

BeckyV73 — Sat, 25 Apr 2009 00:06:00 GMT

Dr. Mercola states that anything "ultra-pasteurized' has msg in it. What about regular milk in the grocery store? That's ultra-pasturized.

re: MSG: Is This Silent Killer Lurking in Your Kitchen Cabinets

gbeith — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 22:43:37 GMT

Some good points above in this thread. A couple of things are clear: D-Glutamates are bad, L-Glutamates are not (normally), Anyone who is gluten sensitive is probably sensitive to L and well as D types, and only processed or artificially produced products listed are likely to contain D-Glutamates.

So, at least we can be comfortable that Bread and Beer, if made from naturally occurring Yeast, will be fine...and that goes for Vegemite as well - a staple food of Australians.

re: MSG: Is This Silent Killer Lurking in Your Kitchen Cabinets

Stensie4JC — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 17:52:50 GMT

My husband is Chinese and if he read this he would definitely want to put in his two cents. MSG is infamous as an additive in Chinese food, but even the Chinese don't know it. The only places in China that still use it in China are rural, undeveloped or undereducated, but in the more developed regions, people know that it is very unhealthy and won't use it.

re: MSG: Is This Silent Killer Lurking in Your Kitchen Cabinets

T_rex — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 09:08:11 GMT

It's interesting to read that D-glutamic acid - if I understand it correctly - occurs naturally in seaweed and that's were the idea for synthetic MSG came from.

This analysisi makes me more and more convinced that, it is man's manipulation of nature that is at the core of all the massive chemical contamination of this planet we live in.

I dare say, chemists are humanities worst enemies - at the risk of offending you, if you're a chemist...

re: MSG: Is This Silent Killer Lurking in Your Kitchen Cabinets

EvidencebasedScience — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 21:01:28 GMT

Have you ever heard of the blood-brain barrier...you know, that covering of capillaries in the brain that prevents charged particles and other substances that could be harmful to the brain from getting in from the blood stream?

Also I'm curious as to why people are so focused on Chinese food containing MSG when parm. cheese has way more MSG.....ever talk about "Killer italian food?" didn't think so...

re: MSG: Is This Silent Killer Lurking in Your Kitchen Cabinets

UnicycleGranny — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 13:36:10 GMT

NSG can also be found in cigarettes...as if the rest of their ingredient list isn't bad enough! Thankfully my husband recently dropped his 38 year + smoking habit. MSG was hurting him ALOT. FOr those who wonder if it can have an immediate reaction the answer is yes. He had no idea what was wrong but felt as if someone was plunging a pole through the left side of his body. A track of his eating over that last few days led us to ramen noodle soup which is loaded with MSG. He'd always had a fairly quick rush to the bathroom after Chinese take-out but this pain was incredible! We went through the house and threw out any products with autolyzed yeast, etc... I had long ago given up junk food like Doritoes, ranch dressing and the like so for me it was great to now not even have them in our home (less temptation for the kids!)

re: MSG: Is This Silent Killer Lurking in Your Kitchen Cabinets

Louis26 — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 13:35:13 GMT

Hi, Next year my age will be eighteen (18) and the following year i will be 28 (twenty-eight). As you have guessed, my age is really 80, but to keep myself young, I turn the digits around to give a little tickle. Anyway, after throwing up my salad in an Italian Restaurant, I hunted down the owner and explained in positive terms, "It is unusual for me to do this". He seemed to be one step ahead of me (?) apologized and offered a good discount when my party group returned sometime in the future(?).

Years later, in a Fancy Restaurant, my wife lost "All Signs of Life", per 911 ambulance crew and hospital personell. Throwing up the salad, shellfish and whatever else was there saved her life. When we look back, there is wonderment as to how many culprits get involved. Also, how the other patrons sit by, as if they were watching a documentry, with little concern as to what they have on the end of their fork.

Still, years later, in a popular Chinese Restauant, I threw up after only a few bites of Lemon Chicken. Only then, did I began to think MSG. Thanks, to all of you for contributing to Mercola dot com. Draw your own conclusions after you see someone throw up. Then, Call 911. Let them deside if that person might die, right before the crew gets there.

With my extended age of 80, I have a fine history of bumps, scrapes and and ailments to which I referance back, much like an old doctor. Any ailments told to me, trigger a concern and solution that causes a response like, "What do you know?". As shown above, I only know from my experiences and those of people around me and my family.

For instance, . . . . ? ? Just kidding - Maybe I will writ a book ! Still, just kidding ! But seriously, Review your bumps and scrapes, look for the word, "Sensitivity" in your life. Some how, we become allergic asthematic or sensitive to light, sound, smell, touch and taste as they approach our 5 senses. Recognize yours and those of others. And save a life.

Maybe yours, Lou