The Effect of Monosodium Glutamate on Your Health

You may be adding monosodium glutamate to add flavor to your food, but many researchers believe it merely subtracts years from your life. Monosodium glutamate, or MSG, tickles your taste buds, but there is more than meets the tongue. Many low-fat food are so tasteless that food manufacturers add MSG for that brothy, meaty taste. People enjoy the effect they get from excitotoxins because it produces a slight rush. For a brief time, the mind speeds up and reacts sharply. Experiments have shown that people become addicted to foods that contain large concentrations of MSG, like the tomato paste used in pasta dishes.

MSG has been linked to a wide variety of human brain disorders ---brain cancer, stroke, high blood pressure, Parkinson's disease, Huntington's disease, and Alzheimer's disease. They also are believed to cause allergic reactions in many people, especially those with asthma. Researchers have discovered that large amounts of MSG fed to infant mice destroyed nerve cells in the brain. The chemical process going on within the cell released free radicals that were responsible for the cell death. After the research was publicised, public pressure forced baby-food companies to stop adding MSG to their products.

Manufacturers skillfully hide MSG behind names printed on food packages - like hydrolyzed plant protein, yeast extract, sodium caseinate, malt extract, bouillon broth and protein concentrate. So you are perfectly justified if you look suspiciously at substances made from milk, whey, vegetable, oat, wheat, soy, collagen proteins, and gelatin. MSG can be found in milk products, soft drinks, candy, chewing gum, health drink powders, some medications and in binders for nutrients, supplements and both prescription and over-the-counter medicines.

MSG is found hidden even in soaps, shampoo, hair conditioners and cosmetics. MSG-sensitive people have reported reactions to soaps, shampoos, hair conditioners and cosmetics that contain hidden MSG. Reactions include palpitations, headache, nausea, weakness, and burning sensation in the back of neck and forearms. Some people complain of wheezing, changes in heart rate, and difficulty breathing. Excess MSG has also been linked to an acute condition called Chinese Restaurant Syndrome, named after symptoms commonly experienced by persons consuming restaurant food.

There are two forms of glutamate. It can be found in the "free" form in plant and animal tissues. It is the free glutamate that plays a role in the palatability and acceptability of foods. Foods that contain high levels of free glutamate, such as cheese and ripe tomatoes, have distinctive and enjoyable flavors.

Glutamate also exists in the "bound" form as a part of protein, along with other amino acids and is commonly found in food. Human breast milk contains ten times as much as cow's milk, and tomato juice contains four times as much as breast milk. Glutamates can be produced by fermentation of starches or sugars, and also by breaking the bonds between amino acids in proteins, leaving free amino acids. This process is done by heat or by enzymes, and is called hydrolyzing because the bonds are broken by adding water.

However, free glutamate, as found in soy sauce or prepared foods, enters the bloodstream much faster than the glutamates bound in proteins, where they are released slowly during digestion. So a person eating MSG throughout the day can raise glutamate blood levels higher with every meal.

Even moderate blood levels of MSG can cause harm because specific organs have actual biological triggers called "glutamate receptors." There are glutamate receptors in other parts of the body, notably the brain, where glutamate is a neurotransmitter. A group of them in the heart controls heart rhythm. Glutamate receptors on the lungs could explain the rising affliction of juvenile asthma. There are glutamate receptors on the pancreas that can lead to diabetes or loss of diabetic control, once the disease is present.

Researchers have found many cancers have glutamate receptors. The cancers of this type include several brain cancers, colon cancer, breast cancer, and others as well.

Read more about MSG at TruthinLabeling.org.