Dr. Mercola January 17 2008 67,963 views
Chinese food is usually the first cuisine that comes to mind when anyone mentions MSG, and this is because it was commonly added to Chinese dishes to enhance flavors and make foods taste fresher. Even MSG Symptom Complex, which is a term used to describe short-term reactions to MSG, was called “Chinese Restaurant Syndrome” for some time in the United States.
It is, however, completely unfair to only point the finger at Chinese restaurants when it comes to MSG.
This food additive, which I can confidently say is one of the absolute worst on the market, is used in canned soups, crackers, meats, salad dressings, frozen dinners and much, much more. It’s found in your local supermarket and restaurants, in your child’s school cafeteria and, amazingly, even in your baby’s food and infant formula (another reason why breastfeeding is vastly superior).
One of the best overviews of the very real dangers of MSG comes from Dr. Blaylock, author of the highly recommended Excitotoxins: The Taste that Kills. He explains that MSG is an excitotoxin, which means that it overexcites your cells to the point of damage or death, acting as a poison.
Aside from harming your brain, MSG has also been linked to:
Is There MSG in YOUR Food?
Food manufacturers are not stupid. They’ve caught on to the fact that people like you want to avoid eating this nasty food additive. As a result, do you think they responded by removing MSG from their products? Well, a few may have, but most of them just tried to “clean” their labels. In other words, they tried to hide the fact that MSG is an ingredient.
How do they do this? By using names that you would never associate with MSG. Fortunately, you can get a full list of ingredients that contain MSG at MSGMyth.com. For instance, the ingredients below all contain MSG:
In general, if a food is processed you can assume it contains MSG. So if you stick to a whole, fresh foods diet like the one in my nutrition plan, you can pretty much guarantee that you’ll avoid this toxin.
The other place where you’ll need to watch out for MSG is in restaurants. You can ask your server which menu items are MSG-free, and request that no MSG be added to your meal, but of course the only place where you can be entirely sure of what’s added to your food is in your own kitchen.
But to be on the safe side, here is a list of ingredients that ALWAYS contain MSG:
And a list of ingredients that OFTEN contain MSG:
Yo Foxtrotter, Real Chinese food hardly use MSG because the style of cooking brings out the natural flavour of the food. If any MSG is used at all, its less than a quarter of a teaspoon full as an enhancer. It is hardly used as the main flavouring agent itself unless its a really cheap Chinese restaurant. You'll be able to tell because you'll feel very very thirsty after consuming food laden with excess MSG.
Autolyzed yeast
Calcium caseinate
Sodium caseinate
Yeast extract
Malted barley
Barley malt
Malt extract
malt flavoring
Maltodextrin
Spice
Modified food starch
Brown rice syrup
Corn syrup
Citric acid
Broth
Carrageenan
Whey protein
Whey
Whey protein isolate
Mr.AK,
what?
Whey?
In fact, Subway advertises itself as a healthy option and is widely known for its Subway Diet (although now I question the validity of the Subway Diet), but a close inspection of the ingredients in their foods exposes many different forms of MSG. So the truth is Subway is just as unhealthy as McDonald's and Burger King.
My "Chinese" Primary Care Manager, tried to get me to take an "Rx" for burning in the stomach and I refused and after much prompting he suggested trying an herbal tea (I chose Yogi Tea) from Wild Oats for the problem. He also said "Tums are ok too, you get calcium".
NOW I see it has ""ORGANIC"" Barley Malt as the last and single "other" ingredient at the bottom after Licorice root,
cardamom seed,
fennel seed,
coriander seed,
peppermint leaf,
ginger root and
black pepper (all organic).
Does this mean it HAS MSG? Can anything labelled "ORGANIC" have MSG in it legally?
totally perplexed and hoping for a quick answer. Mint and Earl Gray decaf have helped a lot.
THAT would be a political cause worth taking up! (the aspartame too) If it would simply be accurately labeled, then consumers could make intelligent decisions.
I went to a Chinese restaurant a few months ago. When I asked for my meal without MSG the waiter simply nodded his head and repeated me. He also nodded his head when I asked for honey for my tea and never bought it to me so I wonder, when you ask for NO MSG do they really comply?
I don't eat out much mostly because you really have no idea what you are eating. Stir fry is soooooo easy to make at home and so much better for you.