This is a follow-up article to our original post on MSG. MSG (or Monosodium Glutamate) is a food additive that is present in many package food products as well as a lot of the food served in restaurants today. In it’s most common form it looks like a powdery white substance (similar to salt). It actually has no flavor of it’s own but it greatly enhances the flavor of any savory food to which it is added.

During the 1970s there was much debate on the safety of MSG and whether or not it should be legal. People were complaining about severe headaches, stomach cramps and even brain tumors that were puportedly caused from consuming MSG. These claims were quashed by food experts who were only prepared to agree that for a few people it was highly allergenic, but for the majority of people it was completely safe to eat.

These days most potato chips, baked beans and a lot of other snack food will contain it, because quite simply, it makes food tastes better. Even people who vehemently hate the stuff agree that it does make whatever your eating taste better (albeit chemically).

The argument I want to bring to the table is this: Is an unnaturally good taste worth it, if it’s going to kill you?

“Kill you?” you ask? Yes, MSG is actually so destructive on our brain cells that it kills them.

Excitotoxins: The Taste That Kills is a book written by Dr. Russell L. Blaylock that goes into detail on substances like MSG and aspartame which are excitotoxins - substances that actually kill neurons. Basically what happens is when a human consumes MSG the excitotoxins reach our brains and cause a massive surge of movement in certain neurons. This hyperexcitement is so extreme that when the neurons slow down and stop moving, they die.

Imagine giving a 2 year old heaps of chocolate and sugar and seeing them run around the living room twenty times, then getting after getting too tired and dropping dead on the floor lifeless. Thankfully not even sugar has that bad an effect on our brains - but disturbingly MSG does have this effet.

Obesity - How does MSG make us fat?

To be honest, I can’t give a scientifically proven answer as to why MSG causes obesity. But statistics do reveal a much greater level of unexplained obesity. And a recent study in Spain has showed that MSG will actually increase appetites of mice by as much as 40%.

The damage caused to our brains from MSG is not just causing obesity though, it is also linked to Parkinson’s and other neurodegenrative diseases (and even partial and full paralysis on some humans).

It is becoming clear that MSG causes brain injuries that can affect humans in many ways - included in these effects is obesity.

Stay way from MSG as much as possible!

Tags: monosodium-glutamate, MSG

Filed under: Diet