When people hear I am allergic to Monosodium Glutamate (MSG), their first reaction is either they have never heard of it or they said something pertaining to chinese food because in their mind MSG is only found in orential foods, not thinking it could be found in american foods too. Below I have put together a little Myth Buster about Monosodium Glutamate. You will find these points talked about throughout our website.

• Monosodium Glutamate affects everyone! (And none of the effects are good.)
• It is NOT just found in Chinese food. (If it was only that easy.)
• MSG is not a preservative, it is a flavor enhancer.
• The part of Monosodium Glutamate that affects us is the "glutamate", not the sodium. Problems with sodium are not the subject of this website.
• If we eliminate MSG by name, everything will not be OK. There are other ingredients that MSG sensitive people should or must eliminate from their diet. See the Ingredient Watch List for more information about this subject.
• Any glutamate added to a processed food is not and can not be considered naturally occurring. Hydrolyzed Protein and Autolyzed Yeast are forms of glutamate that are not naturally occurring.
• MSG is not a nutrient, vitamin, or mineral and has no health benefits.
• Food companies are not concerned with your health. They are concerned with profit. By using flavor enhancers, such as MSG, hydrolyzed protein, autolyzed yeast, and any of the other excitotoxins found on our basic list, they almost guarantee return customers.
• Monosodium Glutamate is not natural in nature. You can't go out in your garden and pick "monosodium glutamte". MSG is produced through a man-made process called "hydrolysis".

If I eliminate Monosodium Glutamate from my diet, will I eliminate my migraines completely?

 

There is a chance you will reduce the number of migraines, but people who are sensitive to Monosodium Glutamate (MSG) will get migraines from other flavor enhancers too. These flavor enhancers are refered to as excitotoxins because of their "excite and kill" nature of brain cells. It is not enough to eliminate MSG alone. In Dr. Russell Blaylock's book, Excitotoxins: The Taste That Kills, it's stated there are over 80 excitotoxins in our food system which have been either approved by the FDA or considered GRAS. That number was based on research done before the year 2000. By now, I would have no doubts that number has more than doubled in ten years.

For a list of excitotoxins, refer to our list of ingredients to avoid. Take note that this list is not in any way a complete list, but rather a list of the most commonly used flavor enhancers associated with MSG-sensitivity.

 

Are foods or ingredients listed "All Natural" or "Organic", safe?

 

The term "All Natural" does not mean it is safe for MSG sensitive people. Typically, "All Natural" means the company uses ingredients that may be organic, but if you read the full list of ingredients, you will find ingredients which are far from "natural". For example, Natural Flavor(s) can contain an extract without being listed, and since there is no FDA regulation for the term "Natural Flavors", the food industry can get away with it's deception with no repercussion.

The word "Organic" is just as problematic and confussing as All Natural. Some organic-labeled foods are fine, e.g. Simply Heinz Ketchup begins almost every ingredient with the word "organic", but finding a safe Chicken Broth is almost impossible and crazy when reading a listing like "Organic Chicken Flavor". What the gabbolly-gook are they talking about?

 

 

A scientific explanation of how monosodium glutamate affects us, would include the explanation that glutamates trigger cells in our brains to open up calcium valves, which causes a free flow of glutamate to overwhelm the cell into a sense of ultimate euphoria. Sounds great... until you find that the cell dies of over excitement. This is obviously not a good thing.

The reason why glutamate effects some people and not others is still more of that scientific jargon. There is a thin membrane protecting the important parts of our brains from outside chemicals which is called a blood brain barrier. This membrane is easily damaged early in life. The most crucial time is during a mother's first and second trimester. At this time, the fetus has yet to develop this important blood brain barrier. So, any food laced with Monosodium Glutamate that the mother eats, is passed to the fetus. As an addenum, children don't fully devlop this blood brain barrier until they are around the age of seven or eight, which is the reason why they should never be fed fast food.

The sad part is, repairing the blood brain barrier is not an option. Once the damage has been done, all kinds of symptoms and/or health problems can show up, such as obesity, ADHD, diabetes, fibromyalgia, Lou Gehrig's disease, Cerebral Palsy, Multiple Sclerosis (MS), dementia, Alzheimer's disease and seizures. These are only a few of the dilemma or symptoms brought on by ingesting excitotoxins. Simply explained, our brains have a dispatch center called the hypothalamus. Once this little tiny part of our brain is damaged by MSG, all of our weaknesses start to pop up and many of those things we could inherit, we do, because a door was opened and we became more vulnerable. An example could be that within a family that has a history of diabetes, some members come down with the disease and some don't. All these hereditary traits start to become an issue.