MSG: Innovation with unintended consequences

History from the Glutamate Association:  More than 1,200 years ago, Oriental cooks discovered that some foods tasted better when prepared with a soup stock made from the seaweed Laminaria Japonica. It was not until 1908 that Professor Kikunae Ikeda of The University of Tokyo isolated glutamate from the seaweed and unlocked the secret of its flavor-enhancing properties. Since that time, MSG has been, and continues to be, widely used as an effective means of making good food taste better.

So, MSG started out as an innovation with the best of intentions.  The Glutamate Association makes a very rational sounding case for the safety and effectiveness of glutamate and yet there are 146 studies published on PubMed, a service of the National Library of Medicine that question that position and closely link MSG with obesity and other health hazards.  Here's one of the more readable blurbs:

MSG added to a standard diet increased food intake. Overfeeding induced metabolic disorders associated with oxidative stress in the absence of obesity. The fiber-enriched diet prevented changes in glucose, insulin, leptin, and triacylglycerol levels that were seen in the MSG group. Because the deleterious effects of MSG, i.e., induced overfeeding, were not seen in the animals fed the fiber-enriched diets, it can be concluded that fiber supplementation is beneficial by discouraging overfeeding and improving oxidative stress that is induced by an MSG diet.

Innovations that affect a complex system (such as the human body) are almost always going to create unintended consequences.  It's a law we, as innovators, should take very seriously. 

Below is an article which outlines some of the hazards with MSG and outlines some of the unexpected places you might find it.

The food additive MSG (Mono-Sodium Glutamate) is a slow poison. 

MSG hides behind 25 or more names, such as "Natural Flavoring."

MSG is even in your favorite coffee from Tim Horton's and other brand-name coffee shops!

I wondered if there could be an actual chemical causing the massive obesity epidemic, and so did a friend of mine,

John Erb. He was a research assistant at the University of Waterloo in Ontario , Canada , and spent years working for the
government.  He made an amazing discovery while going through scientific journals for a book he was writing called

The Slow Poisoning of America.

In hundreds of studies around the world, scientists were creating obese mice and rats to use in diet or diabetes test
studies.  No strain of rat or mice is naturally obese, so scientists have to create them.  They make these creatures
morbidly obese by injecting them with MSG when they are first born.  The MSG triples the amount of insulin the pancreas
creates, causing rats (and perhaps humans) to become obese.  They even have a name for the fat rodents they create: 

"MSG-Treated Rats."

When I heard this, I was shocked.  I went into my kitchen and checked the cupboards and the refrigerator.  MSG was in
everything -- the Campbell 's soups, the Hostess Doritos, the Lays flavored potato chips, Top Ramen, Betty Crocker Hamburger Helper, Heinz canned gravy, Swanson frozen prepared meals, and Kraft salad dressings, especially the "healthy low-fat" ones.

The items that didn't have MSG marked on the product label had something called "Hydrolyzed Vegetable Protein," which is
just another name for Monosodium Glutamate.

It was shocking to see just how many of the foods we feed our children everyday are filled with this stuff.  MSG is hidden
under many different names in order to fool those who read the ingredient list, so that they don't catch on.  (Other names for
MSG are "Accent, "Aginomoto," "Natural Meat Tenderizer," etc.)

But it didn't stop there............

When our family went out to eat, we started asking at the restaurants what menu items contained MSG. 

Many employees, even the managers, swore they didn't use MSG.

But when we ask for the ingredient list, which they grudgingly provided, sure enough, MSG and Hydrolyzed Vegetable
Protein were everywhere.

Burger King, McDonald's, Wendy's, Taco Bell, every restaurant -- even the sit-down eateries like TGIF, Chili's,
Applebee's, and Denny's -- use MSG in abundance.  Kentucky Fried Chicken seemed to be the WORST offender: 

MSG was in every chicken dish, salad dressing. and gravy.  No wonder I loved to eat that coating on the skin -- t

heir secret spice was MSG!

So why is MSG in so many of the foods we eat?  Is it a preservative, or a vitamin?

Not according to my friend John Erb.  In his book The Slow Poisoning of America, he said that MSG is added to food for the
addictive effect it has on the human body.

Even the propaganda website sponsored by the food manufacturers lobby group supporting MSG explains that the reason
they add it to food is to make people eat more.

A study of the elderly showed that older people eat more of the foods that it is added to.  The Glutamate Association
lobbying group says eating more is a benefit to the elderly, but what does it do to the rest of us?

”Betcha can't eat [just] one," takes on a whole new meaning where MSG is concerned!  And we wonder why the nation is
overweight!

MSG manufacturers themselves admit that it addicts people to their products.  It makes people choose their product
over others, and makes people eat more of it than they would if MSG wasn't added.

Not only is MSG scientifically proven to cause obesity, it is an addictive substance.  Since its introduction into the
American food supply fifty years ago, MSG has been added in larger and larger doses to the pre-packaged meals,

soups, snacks, and fast foods we are tempted to eat everyday.

The FDA has set no limits on how much of it can be added to food.  They claim it's safe to eat in any amount.  But how can
they claim it's safe when there are hundreds of scientific studies with titles like these:

"The monosodium glutamate (MSG) obese rat as a model for the study of exercise in obesity."  Gobatto CA, Mello MA,

Souza CT, Ribeiro IA. Res Commun Mol Pathol Pharmacol. 2002.

”Adrenalectomy abolishes the food-induced hypothalamic serotonin release in both normal and monosodium glutamate-obese rats."  Guimaraes RB, Telles MM, Coelho VB, Mori C, Nascimento CM, Ribeiro.  Brain Res Bull. 2002 Aug.

‘Obesity induced by neonatal monosodium glutamate treatment in spontaneously hypertensive rats: An animal model of multiple risk factors."  Iwase M, Yamamoto M, Iino K, Ichikawa K, Shinohara N, Yoshinari Fujishima.  Hypertens Res. 1998 Mar.

”Hypothalamic lesion induced by injection of monosodium glutamate in suckling period and subsequent development of
obesity."  Tanaka K, Shimada M, Nakao K Kusunoki.  Exp Neurol. 1978 Oct.

No, the date of that last study was not a typo; it was published in 1978.  Both the "medical research community" and
”food manufacturers" have known about the side effects of MSG for decades.

Many more of the studies mentioned in John Erb's book link MSG to diabetes, migraines and headaches, autism,

ADHD, and even Alzheimer's.

So what can we do to stop the food manufactures from dumping this fattening and addictive MSG into our food supply

and causing the obesity epidemic we now see?

Several months ago, John Erb took his book and his concerns to one of the highest government health officials in Canada .
While he was sitting in the government office, the official told him, "Sure, I know how bad MSG is.  I wouldn't touch the stuff."

But this top-level government official refuses to tell the public what he knows.

The big media doesn't want to tell the public either, fearing issues with their advertisers.  It seems that the fallout
on the fast food industry may hurt their profit margin.  The food producers and restaurants have been addicting us to their
products for years, and now we are paying the price for it.  Our children should not be cursed with obesity caused by an

addictive food additive.

But what can I do about it?  I'm just one voice!  What can I do to stop the poisoning of our children, while our governments
are insuring financial protection for the industry that is poisoning us?

This message is going out to everyone I know in an attempt to tell you the truth that the corporate-owned politicians and
media won't tell you.

The best way you can help to save yourself and your children from this drug-induced epidemic is to forward this article to
everyone.  With any luck, it will circle the globe before politicians can pass the legislation protecting those who are
poisoning us.

The food industry learned a lot from the tobacco industry. Imagine if big tobacco had a bill like this in place before
someone blew the whistle on nicotine?

If you are one of the few who can still believe that MSG is good for us and you don't believe what John Erb has to say, see
for yourself.  Go to the National Library of Medicine at www.pubmed.com.

Type in the words "MSG Obese" and read a few of the 115 medical studies that appear.

We the public do not want to be rats in one giant experiment, and we do not approve of food that makes us into a
nation of obese, lethargic, addicted sheep, feeding the food industry's bottom line while waiting for the heart transplant,
the diabetic-induced amputation, blindness, or other obesity-induced, life-threatening disorders.

With your help we can put an end to this poison.

Do your part in sending this message out by word of mouth, e-mail, or by distribution of this printout to your friends all
over the world and stop this "Slow Poisoning of Mankind" by the packaged food industry.

Blowing the whistle on MSG is our responsibility, so get the word out.

Comments

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Flor