How Much MSG Are You Consuming?
Monosodium Glutamate, more commonly referred to as MSG, is a food additive and flavor enhancer that that has widespread use across the world. Sold as “Accent” or “Ajinomoto” in the United States, MSG is a common seasoning which is found in many Chinese Food restaurants and in many canned foods like soups, meats and salad dressings. It’s found in many commercially produced foods like Doritos, Cheetos and other snack foods. It is also used by fast food companies McDonalds, Burger King, KFC and Taco Bell, just to name a few.
The dangers of monosodium glutamate are well documented. MSG is an excitotoxin which means that it over excites your cells to the point of damage or death. MSG and has has been linked to a wide variety of health issues which include: obesity, fatigue, depression, rapid heartbeat, and headaches. It is the culprit in dreaded Chinese Restaurant Syndrome. Even though MSG has received a lot of bad press, Food companies continue to use it, but under different names.
Here is a list of ingedients that always contain free glutamate: MSG, monosodium glutamate, monopotassium glutamate, glutamic acid, vegetable protein extract, gelatin, hydrolyzed vegetable protein (HVP), hydrolyzed plant protein (HPP), autolyzed plant protein, sodium caseinate, senomyx, textured protein, calcium caseinate, yeast extract, yeast nutrient, autolyzed yeast.
Here is a list of a few ingredients that often contain glutamate: malted barley, barley malt, maltodextrin, dextrose, stock, broth, bullion, carageenen, whey protein, pectin, soy protein, natural chicken, beef, or pork flavoring, modified food starch, corn syrup, corn syrup solids, citric acid.
The best way to avoid or limit your MSG consumption is to stick to a healthy diet that contains lots of natural and raw foods. Avoiding processed foods has many other health benefits as well. Skip the fast food lunch and elect to cook more often at home where you can control the ingredients in your foods more consistently. By engaging in a wholistic lifesyle that includes exercise and a healthy diet, you can become a better you!
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