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Dr. Mercola
July 12 2007
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How to Find Hidden MSG on Food Labels

It is very difficult to really know whether MSG (monosodium glutamate) is in your food, because it goes by so many aliases. To avoid ingesting this toxic additive, you’re best off choosing fresh, unprocessed foods. But becoming familiar with the hidden names of MSG can also help you determine what foods to eat.

Here is just a sampling of ingredients that contain MSG (the link below has a full list):

  • Gelatin
  • Hydrolyzed Vegetable Protein (HVP)
  • Yeast Extract
  • Malted Barley
  • Rice Syrup or Brown Rice Syrup

Also, many restaurants add MSG to their menu items, so when eating out always be sure to tell your server that you don‘t want MSG added to your food.

MSGMyth.com



Dr. Mercola Dr. Mercola's Comments:

MSG (monosodium glutamate) is used as a flavor enhancer in countless processed foods. But while it works enhancing your food’s flavors it is also at work doing potential damage to your brain and body.

I doubt very many of our readers would actually consciously use this toxin as they are better educated than this. However the problem results from eating processed foods or eating in a restaurant where you have virtually no control of what is added to your food before you eat it. Believe me on this one, your body could care less if you or someone else put the MSG in your food, or if you even know about it. If you are ever going to Take Control of Your Health you will need to take responsibility for ALL the food you eat and be very conscious of avoiding this food in processed food you purchase or restaurant food you eat.

Unless of course you don't mind losing your brain cells.

If you don''t believe this then you clearly have not watched Dr. Blaylock's (retired neurosurgeon) lecture on MSG.

MSG is an excitotoxin, a type of chemical transmitter that allows brain cells to communicate. The problem is that excitotoxins can literally excite your brain cells to death. Aside from harming your brain, MSG has also been linked to eye damage, headaches, fatigue, disorientation and depression.

Children are most at risk from MSG. The blood brain barrier, which keeps toxins in the blood from entering the brain, is not fully developed in children. MSG can also penetrate the placental barrier and affect unborn children as well. Nonetheless, most major brands of infant formula contain some processed free glutamic acid (a form of MSG).

For more information about MSG, and how to protect yourself against it, take a look at my MSG links page.
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Community Comments ( 62 )
 		Comment on this Article
  
  
phooey
 [ Joined on 02/07 ] [ Posted on July 11, 2007 ]
16 Points        
   
 
Savvy User
Glutamate is even sprayed on conventional produce. It's called AuxiGro.
 [ Reply ]
Mercola
  
helpingheart
 [ Joined on 06/06 ]  [ Posted on July 12, 2007]
12 Points        
   
Savvy User
  Mercola
WOW!  Thanks for that info!

Makes one wonder what many other chemicals are used on the food supply......no wonder diseases abound in the U.S.
Mercola
  
phooey
 [ Joined on 02/07 ]  [ Posted on July 12, 2007]
5 Points        
   
Savvy User
  Mercola
Good point helpingheart. It does make you wonder. There is no telling what is going on.
It is very important to BUY LOCAL FROM SMALL FARMS! I buy from a couple of farmers around the Nashville area. They let you come out and see the farm and watch how it works. Go ask ConAgra if you can watch how they operate.
Mercola
  
Dr. David Spitz
 [ Joined on 12/06 ]  [ Posted on July 14, 2007]
6 Points        
   
Apprentice User
  Mercola
Almost ALL soup you buy in a can has MSG, also disguised as:
  • Autolyzed Yeast Extract
  • Hydrolyzed Soy Protein
  • Hydrolyzed Vegetable Protein
  • Monopotassium Glutamate
  • Hydrolyzed Plant Protein
  • Glutamic Acid
  • Yeast Food
  • Yeast Extract Glutamate
  • Textured Protein
  • Sodium Caseinate

Be very wary of chicken and beef bouillon....it always contains MSG unless they say it doesn't. AND THEN I still don't believe them....so making your own is the BEST idea.

I'm sure there are many more. If anyone knows some more...please add.


Dr Dave
Mercola
  
annapaloma
 [ Joined on 06/06 ]  [ Posted on July 28, 2007]
4 Points        
   
Novice User
  Mercola

Yes, thanks for the name of that product, AuxiGro.

As I am MSG sensitive, I knew there was something

being added to produce, esp lettuce, as I have my usual

MSG symptoms shortly after eating it.  The worst offender, unfortunately,

is 'organic' lettuce. Watch the term 'Organically Grown' esp in large chain food marts. Organically Grown is a term applied to the growing process.  It may be true that the produce was organically 'grown'.  But, the AugiGro is applied

as a preservative POST HARVEST.  Therefore, the term 'organically grown' is

legally correct, and we are being poisoned by our 'organic food'.
Mercola
  
Twin2
 [ Joined on 01/07 ]  [ Posted on July 28, 2007]
2 Points        
   
Novice User
  Mercola

Yes, AuxiGro is sprayed on some stuff.  Now bovine gelatine will be sprayed

on our meat at the grocery store. I'm afraid it will be.  Thanks to our government.  Anything

for a buck!  www.foodtechnology.ru/.../ng.asp I know I don't do well with msg, aspartame etc.  I too want

to just scream..............
  
  
Ajax
 [ Joined on 12/06 ] [ Posted on July 12, 2007 ]
14 Points        
   
 
Savvy User
Folks, MSG is not the only toxic substance sneaky manufacturers are hiding in products -- I've been totally avoiding hydrogenated fats and oils since I first found out in the 70's how harmful they are, but I recently discovered that Magnesium Stearate and Stearic Acid are TRANS FATS, and they are ubiquitous in vitamin supplements! It's extremely difficult to find supplements that don't contain one or both (although there are some companies that don't use fillers, binders, lubricants, etc.). I think this is outrageous! I know many of us here don't use a lot of supplements, if any, but people who do are actually undermining their health by using vitamins they're being told are "all natural" and beneficial. Of course when confronted with this, the vitamin companies say that the amount of Magnesium Stearate and Stearic Acid in supplements is minuscule and therefore harmless. But I've been doing some research, and found the following information:

How Much Hydrogenated Lubricant Oils Are You Getting With Your Supplements? 

Up to 5% of the average 1000 mg capsule or tablet is magnesium stearate. That's 50 milligrams. Suppose you take 8 capsules or tablets a day. That's 250 a month – or 12,500 mg of this hydrogenated oil, nearly half an ounce. That works out to about 6 ounces of hydrogenated oils a year, from just 8 pills a day. Many people take more supplements, and ingest pounds of this toxic oil we try to avoid in our diets – while directly inhibiting the utilization of the nutrients they're supplementing!

This is the vitamin industry's "dirty little secret", and it needs to be widely exposed.
 [ Reply ]
Mercola
  
helpingheart
 [ Joined on 06/06 ]  [ Posted on July 13, 2007]
2 Points        
   
Savvy User
  Mercola
Again.. WOW!  Thank you for that info!  TRANS FATS in vitamin supplements!  Who would have thought?!

Had no idea!!!  So fortunate to be here with all you dedicated V.V. Readers!

Now I need to make a changes to whole food supplements like Dr. Mercola has suggested: Garden of Life supplements (if any at all).  I know - we should get our nutrients from our local organic food as much as possible.
Mercola
  
helpingheart
 [ Joined on 06/06 ]  [ Posted on July 14, 2007]
4 Points        
   
Savvy User
  Mercola
Ajax -  by the way - where did you get your information??  I'd really like to know the source, to confirm this info.

Thanks!  : )

?
Mercola
  
Ajax
 [ Joined on 12/06 ]  [ Posted on July 17, 2007]
6 Points        
   
Savvy User
  Mercola
Hi Helpingheart, I found the information HERE. I also read a short blurb in the April 2007 issue of Better Nutrition magazine (page 8) about the dangers of the FDA-approved REPLACEMENT for TRANS FATS that is actually WORSE than trans fats -- Interesterified Fats. CLICK HERE to read all about this deadly new creation they'll be foisting off on people.

I'd also like to mention a DVD everyone should see. It is a very comprehensive DVD on the GMO's being promoted. This film is very well done and very informative as to what is happening in the food industry and what is short of us eating "soylent green." http://www.thefutureoffood.com/ There's a preview clip there you can watch. 

Hope this helps!
Mercola
  
DRK_203
 [ Joined on 07/07 ]  [ Posted on July 28, 2007]
6 Points        
   
Novice User
  Mercola

According to both Wikipedia and Dr. Mary Enig's book, "Know Your Fats" (p 270), stearic acid is a saturated fat, not a trans fat (it can't be both, there must be at least one double bond in a trans fat).  

It is also found in nature, in cocoa butter, for example.
Mercola
  
lookingfortruth
 [ Joined on 07/07 ]  [ Posted on July 28, 2007]
       
   
Novice User
  Mercola

Ajax, after Magnesium Stearate or Stearic Acid on my vitamin bottle, in parenthesis, it says "vegetable source".  Is this still a Trans fat?
Mercola
  
hmm
 [ Joined on 08/06 ]  [ Posted on July 29, 2007]
       
   
Novice User
  Mercola

Stearic acid is a fatty acid, not a fat.

Unsaturated fatty acids sourced from plants may indeed be hydrogenated...to actually make them become stearic acid. This stearic acid is completely chemically identical to naturally occurring stearic acid, so there is no reason why it should have ANY negative effects.
Mercola
  
Myau
 [ Joined on 03/07 ]  [ Posted on December 27, 2007]
       
   
Apprentice User
  Mercola

Magnesium Stearate and Stearic Acid are not trans fats.

They are not exactly very desirable ingredients, as we would like our supplements to be as pure as possible, but they are also not dangerous ingredients either.

Supplements encapsulated in vegetable capsules usually do not contain these.

Look here for more info on what exactly Magnesium Stearate and Stearic Acid are:

www.nowfoods.com
  
  
saynotoquacks
 [ Joined on 04/07 ] [ Posted on July 13, 2007 ]
12 Points        
   
 
Savvy User
Don't forget the term "natural flavors" !

I'm extremely allergic to this drug.  I told my personal care quack about how I finally figured out what was making me sick, thanks to a book I read on the subject, and she told me I shouldn't read all that stuff because it's putting ideas into my head.  I fired her.  No more duck-tors for me!
 [ Reply ]
Mercola
  
NZ Mary
[ Joined on 11/06 ]  [ Posted on July 13, 2007]
9 Points        
   
Savvy User
  Mercola
Good for you. I'm sensitive to MSG too. These days I hardly ever go to the Doctor but if I do I'll tell him and see what his reaction is. It'll probably be something along the lines of "M S what?"
Mercola