Some of you may not know what MSG is or where it’s found. MSG stands for “Monosodium Glutamate”, however this is only one form of the true substance. It is also known as processed free glutamic acid.

Consequently, is also frequently hidden. Why?

MSG is only one of the little demons that make up a small but deadly group of offshoot amino acids called excitotoxins. If you ask me, the name is a misnomer—unless you consider brain cancer and neuron death ‘exciting’. I for one do not—and after doing some considerable research into the subject, I know that I’ll be changing some of my own eating habits.

Read on to see if you feel the same.

The Dangers of Excitotoxins

Medical dictionaries define excitotoxins as “a class of substances that damage neurons through paroxysmal overactivity. They are toxins that bind to certain receptors (e.g., certain glutamate receptors) and may cause neuronal cell death.”

Lovely. Cell death…exactly what we all need.

The best known excitotoxins are excitatory amino acids. These rogues can produce lesions in the central nervous system similar to those seen in Alzheimer’s disease and lead to cell death via stroke. This is serious stuff.

One of the most intensive books on the subject is Excitotoxins: The Taste That Kills by Russell L. Blaylock, M.D. Dr. Blaylock is in private practice and is a board-certified neurosurgeon, clinical assistant professor at the University of Mississippi Medical Center, and President of the Mississippi Chapter of the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons. In other words, he’s not some quack on a witch hunt, and you’d be wise to give his writings more than a casual glance.

The more popular of these excitotoxins are monosodium glutamate (MSG), hydrolyzed vegetable protein and Aspartame (Nutra Sweet®)—however cysteine and other “natural-sounding” substances should be added to that list. A wonderful website resource, despite its horrid design (sorry…the graphic designer in me), is Truth In Labeling.

Sneaky Little Devils

Oh, our lovely FDA…don’t even get me started. While AYS will remain somewhat “politics-free”, except for my Blog where all bets or off, I will state categorically that Donald Rumsfeld is an ass. There. I said it. Deal with it, or unsubscribe.

Why so brash? Simple—this man is responsible for more death than anyone I can think of. It’s fine if you disagree with me…just consider my position…and I won’t even cover war. Deal?

Aspartame was discovered by accident in 1965 by a chemist working at a company called Searle. This man was looking for a treatment for ulcers when he stumbled on a substance much sweeter than sugar and yet possessing no calories. Rumsfeld just so happened to be the CEO of Searle at the time aspartame was approved. Despite rejection of aspartame over strong evidence of brain tumors, good old Donny made sure that it was re-introduced…exactly one day after Reagan’s election. You know, when the obstacles were removed via the popular vote?

Hmmm.

This isn’t the only “sneaky little devil” in my list of devils. You see, aspartame is been deemed “dangerous enough” to have warning labels…kinda like cigarettes. You know, those harmless smoke-producers you see? Still, Americans are guzzling the stuff…and I plead “guilty” myself. I’ve been known to enjoy a diet soda. However, that is now over. The research is simply too compelling, and I would invite you to conduct it yourself.

The sneakiest of the sneaky are the other excitotoxins such as MSG. For example, did you know that most of our fruits and vegetables are sprayed with the stuff? Think you’re healthy if you’re a vegetarian? Think again—unless you eat real food, most vegetarian low-fat foods are crammed full of MSG, as are “healthy” low-fat salad dressings and even “low-carb” ice cream.

Like Jack LaLanne says, “If man made it, don’t eat it.”

The Lie Behind The Phrase “Natural Flavoring”

We’ve all seen it—”…and natural flavorings.” It’s on the back of most food labels. Well, MSG and other excitotoxins have found a wonderful home under the protective blanket of “natural flavorings.” Eight out of ten times you see this phrase, the stuff deemed “natural” is anything but healthy. Period. Put it down and run from it. That’s another nod to Donny and the FDA…say thank you, smile, and start digging your grave with a fork and spoon—or, start eating real food. Quickly.

MSG And Obesity

As I said earlier, MSG has been linked to obesity. However, I didn’t know the extent of the link until doing some research for myself. I’ll state again—most obesity is caused by hormonal issues, usually brought on by eating too much of the wrong thing for too long. It can also be caused by hormonal dysfunction such as hypothyroidism. Still, we cannot turn a deaf ear to the contributing players—in this case, excitotoxins like MSG.

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 morbidly obese creatures by injecting them with MSG when they are first born. The MSG triples the amount of insulin the pancreas creates, causing rats (and, many researchers believe, humans) to become obese.

A study of elderly people showed that people eat more of the foods that MSG is added to. Multiple studies show that MSG deadens the “fullness receptors” in the brain and on the tongue, causing people to massively overeat. 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.

Here They Come To Save The Day

Naturally…ha…the FDA has set no limits on how much of excitotoxins can be added to food. They claim it’s safe to eat in any amount. Yet, here are just a FEW of the hundreds of studies on MSG alone:

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 RC, 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. 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

Both the medical research community and food “manufacturers” have known MSG’s side effects for decades.

What To Do

If you’re wondering what the best course of action to take is, the answer is simple: unprocessed real food. I don’t care if you’re an Atkins guy or a vegetarian gal, you best be eating real food that’s been created without the “added benefits” of mankind. There is no doubt that the chemicals we’re being told are harmless are anything but, at least in my mind. The “coincidence” of massive increases in diabetes, mental disorders, obesity and heart disease has really opened up a wonderful new market for our buddies at the FDA. You see, a lot of wonder drugs can come out of all of this…and all at the price of your health, and your children’s.

Rather than relying on whole, unprocessed foods, we’re told that the sudden increase in cholesterol levels and heart disease (another lie) is simply a reason to create more drugs. That our skyrocketing obesity has nothing to do with the chemicals in our foods. That stuff we can’t even pronounce is perfectly safe to ingest for 50 years.

I for one am applying Occam’s Razor to this: The simplest explanation, all things being equal, tends to be the correct one. I’m choosing to eat and drink as close to “chemical-free” as I can.

Let me tell you why this really hits home for me. As some of you may know, I have been in the process of overcoming dizziness during workouts. I have posted many blog entries and a few articles on this two-year-long struggle that, until recently, went unanswered. All the obvious possible causes were ruled out, and doctors gave me the “I dunno” spiel more than once. It wasn’t until I stumbled on viscosity and simple Gingko Biloba that the cause was discovered and the symptoms began to pass.

During my research for this article, I stumbled on some interesting notes on hypoxia (lack of oxygen) to the brain in subjects who ingested Aspartame. While this one study is not enough to completely raise the red flag, the myriad of other studies that point to cellular and neuron damage is more than enough to convince me that the ‘cause’ of my problem escalating may very well be linked to drinking more diet soda than I should.

The correlation makes sense, as I increased my diet soda intake shortly before I began noticing the symptoms. They were not enough to make a direct correlation, but I now plan to discard the junk altogether and see what happens. I’ll keep you all posted.

I won’t be filing lawsuits, however. While the FDA and the criminals in charge of letting junk like this into our foods have blame in the matter, it’s my responsibility for drinking the crap. No one held a gun to my head, and I reasoned it away…plain and simple. I’m just glad I decided to write this article and remind myself of what I already knew—stick to water. All you low-carbers out there—listen up! I started with the diet sodas to help the transition from higher carb to lower carb eating. Many of you may be tempted to do the same. Don’t! Try L-Carnitine (4-6 grams per day) and magnesium (1,500 mg/day) instead. You can also make a good natural lemonade using real lemons, pure water, and Stevia (a safe herbal sweetener.)

There’s many differing views. A few websites have taken the position of assuming the 1981 position of the FDA is God’s Word on the subject, but I’ve decided to call a spade a spade. How about you?

To read more on the subject, check out Dr. Blaylock’s book, or visit the Weston Price Foundation website.