Why You Should Avoid MSG At All Costs
Have you ever noticed that your migraine, which you thought was gone long ago, resurfaced after eating a meal? Have you ever attributed what you felt to what you have eaten other than the stress at work that you experience? Yes, it could be that sumptous food you took this lunch. Foods that are high in monosodium glutamate does that. Almost toxic to every living being, monosodium glutamate is a neurotoxin. Used as a flavoring, it causes evident changes cellular structure and function. In laboratory experiments on animals, MSG kills the brain cells. It also causes for asthmatic symptoms to worsen as well as nausea, vomiting, fatigue disorientation and depression.
In an experimental eye research, MSG showed no significant effects to the laboratory animals. But after three to six months of continued usage, there was observable damage. Therefore, we can think that if we consistently include MSG in our line of flavor enhancers, there is the possibility of us experiencing the above mentioned adverse reactions and face the future with the likely incidence of having any of the degenerative disorders of the brain, such as Alzheimer’s. Difficulty in learning, obesity and other endocrine problems appear with continued use. Very young children easily gets affected because their blood brain barrier is not fully developed. While in the elderly, the blood brain barriers are less functional to keep excessive amounts of MSG from getting to the brain.
It was in 1980 that MSG was proved to cause brain lesions in laboratory specimens. These brain lesions further develop into stroke, epilepsy, degenerative disorders such as Parkinson’s disease and Alzheimer’s. We really cannot easily avoid this flavor enhancer, since it is present in almost everything found in the grocery store. A restaurant may claim not to use MSG on food but the choice of raw materials for cooking plays a role. How?
Similar to the processed food we purchase, these restaurants also utilize processed foods. Where? The broth cubes or bouillon cubes we use. The salad we enjoyed which we thought was a healthy one as well as the barbecue sauce has MSG in it. Canned, dried or frozen food, flavored potato and tortilla chips, all of these are MSG-laden. We are not aware but MSG is hidden in product labels, especially those that are processed. We cannot help but be concerned.
Most number of people who experienced bodily reactions to MSG manifest migraine. A throbbing headache that we usually experience after enjoying a tasteful meal. This was also termed Chinese Restaurant Syndrome (CRS) which includes nausea with that migraine you complained. It was associated with Chinese Restaurants since most of the tasteful and flavor-rich foods are cooked in Chinese Restaurants. If you have felt this, it is attributed to consuming large amounts of MSG.
Though most testing for MSG effects was conducted on animals, we should not make ourselves behave like guinea pigs not to believe the harmful effects it can do to our brain and go on consuming such foods. If research efforts produced conclusive evidence the harmful effects it does to animal subjects, it is almost always sure that it will have the same harmful effects to humans. All testings even for developments on medications, exhaust all possible effects to the animal subject before launching it to public consumption.
“Large doses of MSG fed to animals damaged nerve cells in the part of the brain that controls appetite, body temperature and other key functions. The additive was also found to damage reproductive organs. It has caused female animals to conceive less frequently and to give birth to smaller litters. Some evidence also links MSG with learning disabilities in laboratory animals,” said Dr. Susan Baker of the Boston Children’s Hospital, the world’s largest pediatric research center.
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