Avoid MSG

Are you experiencing these symptoms?

If you are … then you might be having a
negative reaction to Monosodium Glutamate (MSG).

MSG
has been shown to cause lesions on the brain, especially in children. These
lesions cause cognitive, endocrinological and emotional abnormalities. In
children excess glutamate affects the growth cones on neurons. Growth cones are
vital in laying down chemical pathways in the brain to enable the brain to
operate effectively. Studies show that rats who had been fed MSG from birth
could not escape mazes or discriminate between stimuli as well as non MSG fed
rats. The implications for human children are that MSG could seriously affect
their cognitive skills and cause learning difficulties.

MSG is found in most processed foods such
as soups, junk food, fast foods. It is found in stocks, flavorings, spices,
seasonings, bouillon, canned tuna fish, salad dressings, processed meats,
crackers and frozen desserts. Accent is a trade name for MSG seasoning. E621 is
used on labels in Europe to signify MSG.

MSG is only listed on the label if it is a
separate ingredient in the food. In many cases, MSG is ‘hidden' because it is
included as part of the other ingredients on the label.

The following additives always contain
MSG:

• Potassium Glutamate
• Hydrolyzed protein
• Hydrolyzed Vegetable protein (HVP)
• Hydrolyzed plant protein
• Hydrolyzed oat flour
• Textured Protein
• Yeast Extract
• Autolyzed Yeast
• Plant protein extract
• Sodium caseinate
• Calcium caseinate.

Hydrolyzed means that the vegetables have
been boiled in a vat of sulphuric acid before being neutralized with caustic
soda to produce a brown sludge. This sludge is then allowed to dry to a powder
which is high in glutamate and other known carcinogens. Finally MSG is usually
added.

When HVP is concentrated to 99% glutamic
acid, it is known as MSG and must be labeled as MSG. At any concentration less
than this the MSG content does not have to be revealed on labels.

The following people must avoid MSG :

• infants
• children
• pregnant women
• women of childbearing age
• obese people (animals given MSG became
  overweight)
• people with hypoglycemia (removing excess
  glutamate uses up more glucose)
• people with low brain energy (excess
  glutamate prevents glucose getting to the brain)
• people with learning difficulties
  (glutamate affects the growth cones in neurons)
• migraine or headache sufferers
• asthma or allergy sufferers
• sufferers of a brain disease such as
  Alzheimer's
• sufferers of tinnitus or Meniere's disease
• sufferers of most chronic illnesses
• people who are health conscious.

MSG Facts

Monosodium Glutamate or MSG is a man-made
flavor enhancer. It is now recognized by many in the medical profession as an
excitotoxin – a type of drug which damages brain cells. It was first created in
1908 by Dr Kikunae Ikeda in Japan . The Japanese had been adding Kombu, a type
of seaweed, to their foods as a flavor enhancer for over a thousand years. Dr
Ikeda isolated the compound from Kombu which made the food taste better – it
was glutamate. He founded the Ajinomoto Company to make and sell this new
flavor enhancer – monosodium glutamate.

The Americans discovered MSG during the
Second World War and soon began to mass produce it and add it to food. No
significant studies were performed at the time to test the safety of this new
additive.

Scientists calculate that MSG usage in
foods has doubled every decade and that hundreds of thousands of tons of MSG
are added to our food each year.

Glutamate is found naturally in many
vegetables, but in very small amounts. This glutamate is a vital
neurotransmitter – a chemical which allows communication between neurons –
cells in the brain. There are in fact glutamate receptors in every major human
organ.

Natural glutamate consists of two amino
acids – glutamic acid and glutamine, which are bound up in the protein
molecules of a food. In the body, these proteins are slowly broken down which
means the glutamate is produced gradually and can be absorbed naturally.

Man-made MSG contains much higher levels
of glutamate than occurs naturally in foods. MSG is not bound in a protein
molecule – it is free and is therefore absorbed by the body at a faster level
than natural glutamate.

If
too much glutamate is consumed, the body normally pumps the excess glutamate
out of the neurons and into the surrounding helper cells – astrocytes. However,
if the levels of glutamate are too high, as occurs when the body ingests MSG,
the body cannot pump out the excess and the neurons become over-stimulated and
die.

Source
: www.muslimconsumer.org