Why MSG is bad for you?

Caution:

The following article is heavily plagiarized from various websites and scientific journals. The author doesn’t claim ownership for any of the facts or statistics mentioned here because he can’t comprehend even high school biology and was kicked out of class many a times. If you are an attorney of an MNC that has been tarnished in the article and is planning to sue the author, please make note of the fact that the author doesn’t own anything other than a lousy Samsung Galaxy Ace and a second-hand Pulsar bike. He would happily swap a jail sentence for his corporate life. The article is also slightly racist and offensive, so read it at your own risk!

What is Mono Sodium Glutamate?

Mono Sodium Glutamate (MSG) is a flavor enhancing food additive that is widely used in almost anything and everything you eat these days. Whilst MSG might sound Greek and Latin to you, its founding company’s name Ajinomoto might make you recognize this stuff immediately. Chemically speaking, MSG is approximately 78 percent free glutamic acid, 21 percent sodium, and up to 1 percent contaminants. It is widely perceived to be a Chinese ingredient but is omnipresent in almost all edible packaged food.

It’s a misconception that MSG is a flavor or “meat tenderizer.” In reality, MSG has very little taste at all, yet when you eat MSG, you think the food you’re eating has more protein and tastes better (read KFC/McDonalds). It does this by tricking your tongue and this pleasant savory taste is called ‘Umami’ in Japanese. It induces salivation and a sensation of furriness on the tongue, stimulating the throat, the roof and the back of the mouth. Basically, it makes your food crunchier, yummier and makes you crave to eat more even though you know you are full. I am sure all of us would have felt tons of Umami whilst eating Pringles, Lays, Maggi, at KFC, Pizza Hut and McDonalds.

Food items that has MSG

It’s impossible to think of items that do not have MSG these days. It is added to almost every food item we eat. Chips, crackers, soups, soup mixes, salad dressings, sauces (Soy, tomato, fish, ketchup), Noodles, biscuits, stock cubes (Oxo cubes, Maggi magic cubes) and the list goes on. It is even added to baby food and infant formula! Any edible item that is either packaged/processed these days has this stuff. And all Asian restaurants (whether it be Chinese, Korean or Japanese) add it to all items they serve i.e. stir-frys, soups and other bland tasting items on menu.

Just like the desi guy, who walks around town thinking it is super cool to wear a Bluetooth headphone at all times (Hands-free headsets are meant to be used whilst driving you RETARDS), Indian cooks have now started using MSG in all items with/without understanding its consequences. Ever heard your mom complaining that the savories she cooks at home is not as crunchy or yummy as those sold in shops like (Arya, Saravana, Vasantha, Adyar) Bhavan or Haldirams? It is not because your mom is a bad cook; it is because these guys add approximately one fistful of Ajinomoto or MSG/1 kg. of snack. No wonder the store bought item tastes crunchier, yummier and makes you eat non-stop.

Ajinomoto is even added to items like kebabs, tandoors, grilled veg and non-veg items. Do make note of this measurement, 1 fistful of MSG, because these clever (dimwit!) chefs in restaurants and road-side eateries have discovered that, the more Ajinomoto they add to the food, the tastier it becomes, so they add it as much as they possibly can. 

How much is too much?

In 1959, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration labeled MSG as “Generally Recognized as Safe” (GRAS), which means you can eat this stuff and you won’t die or get cancer immediately. Anything over 3 grams/day – or a teaspoonful of MSG is considered too much by the FDA. That’s the recommended seasoning for up to 5 servings of fried rice, or about a pound of meat. But it is very easy to exceed this quantity, imagine yourself sitting in a Chinese restaurant with your friends/family ordering a course of soup, starters and main course, a pinch here and pinch there added by the cook could easily exceed this limit.

Even worse, if you buy a pack of mixture or Sev from your local sweet shop (Lala sweets, Shree mithai, etc.), instead of measuring the ingredients in grams, they throw fistful of MSG into their savories.

Why is it bad for you?

There are so many harmful effects of MSG that I don’t know where to start or how to summarize everything here. Anyways, let me give it a shot and try to keep things concise.

It makes you fat: 

In 2008, a study conducted in china revealed a direct connection between MSG usage and obesity. Some might say, b*ll*cks to this, everyone knows eating junk food or fast food caused obesity, they wouldn’t be having the same opinion when they read the complete abstract of the research. Basically, if two people eat the same quantity of food, say 2000 calories of healthy food/day, one containing MSG and other one without it for a regular period of time, the guy eating food containing MSG will become fat in the long term.

MSG-treated rats⁴: 

The first point might not have sounded alarming or bad until you read this one. In general, rats and mice aren’t fat. When they are full they stop eating. Most animals, including humans, are like that. When we are full our brain says, "Stop Eating." And so we do.

When researchers and scientists want to test new medicines for treating obesity and diabetes in labs, they need fat rats. So, how do you make a rat fat? How do you make a rat eat more than what it requires and even when it is full? The answer of course is MSG. It is a common practice for researchers to inject or feed rats with MSG to make them fat.

If you don’t believe me, just Google the words ‘MSG-treated rats’ and you will get tons of links. It doesn't take a genius to work out the consequences of human consumption of food containing MSG, does it?

There were numerous trials conducted on MSG-treated rats, a summary of four independent clinical trials⁴ is mentioned below:

• MSG-treated rats and mice produce offspring that have learning problems and eating disorders
• Eyesight of MSG-treated rats was severely damaged (Myopia)
• Examination of their hypothalamus reveals they also suffered severe brain damage

In fact, there are plenty of scientific studies which are conducted about the links between Learning disability (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder - ADHD) and MSG. Remember the kid in Taare Zameen Par? Regular and continued intake of foods containing MSG by pregnant mothers could lead them to giving birth to babies with ADHD.

Hypothalamus is the part of the brain that is kind of responsible for telling your brain ”STOP eating fatso! You had plenty of food”. A clinical research found that pregnant rats’ hypothalamus was severely damaged during the second half of pregnancy. If you believe MSG affects only rats, feel free to take your pregnant wife regularly to restaurants like Ching’s Kitchen, Bing’s Kitchen, Woo’s Kitchen and Mr. Boo-Hoo’s kitchen!

There is even a disease named in the medical literature called “Chinese Restaurant Syndrome”, to describe the numerous side effects, from numbness to heart palpitations, that people experience after eating food containing MSG.

Excitotoxin: 

One of the best overviews of the very real dangers of MSG comes from Dr. Russell Blaylock, a board-certified neurosurgeon and author of “Excitotoxins: The Taste that Kills.” In it, he explains that MSG is an excitotoxin, which means it overexcites your cells to the point of damage or death, causing brain damage to varying degrees -- and potentially even triggering or worsening learning disabilities, Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, Lou Gehrig’s disease and more.

Part of the problem also is that free glutamic acid is the same neurotransmitter that your brain, nervous system, eyes, pancreas and other organs use to initiate certain processes in your body. The same FDA, which recognized MSG states: “Studies have shown that injections of glutamate in laboratory animals have resulted in damage to nerve cells in the brain.”⁵

According to Dr. Blaylock, numerous glutamate receptors have been found both within your heart's electrical conduction system and the heart muscle itself. This can be damaging to your heart, and may even explain the sudden deaths sometimes seen among young athletes.

He says: “When an excess of food-borne excitotoxins, such as MSG is consumed, these glutamate receptors are over-stimulated, producing cardiac arrhythmias. When magnesium stores are low, as we see in athletes, the glutamate receptors are so sensitive that even low levels of these excitotoxins can result in cardiac arrhythmias and death.”⁶ Cardiac arrhythmia can be loosely termed as irregular heartbeat.

MSG also induces various other side effects and symptoms, including (but not limited to):

•Headaches

•Nausea

•Dizziness

•Rapid or irregular heartbeat

•Flushing or excessive sweating

•Skin rash

•Numbness

•Intense thirst

•Lethargy or sleepiness

•Ringing ears

•Tingling in the mouth

People with asthma should avoid food containing MSG at all times, as it causes difficulty in breathing.

How to identify MSG in foods?

Because of its bad nature, FDA requires all food manufacturers to clearly list the ingredient “monosodium glutamate” on food labels. Whilst some manufacturers are foolish enough to mention it in their ingredients list, others are smart. They disguise MSG in plenty of names you would never associate with MSG. Terms like Hydrolyzed Protein, Soy protein extract, Yeast Extract, Glutamic Acid,  all refer to the same shit i.e., MSG. Some don’t bother with all the hassle of finding clever chemical names; they simply mention it as ‘Natural Flavor or Flavor identical substances’

What has been the response of food manufacturers to all the so-called side effects?

They know MSG is toxic and regular intake of it is harmful. However, the commercial benefits outweigh the moral benefits. They know that ingesting their toxin can cause diabetes, adrenal gland malfunction, seizures, high blood pressure, excessive weight gain, stroke and other health problems. Remember, MSG makes you eat more even when you know you are full; it tricks your mind to believe that the food you are eating is absolutely delicious and gives a sense of satisfaction. So, why on earth would they stop using MSG?

Even if probed, their response would probably be like Nick Naylor in the movie ‘Thank you for Smoking’, “Although we are constantly exploring the subject, currently there is no direct evidence that links MSG usage to obesity, diabetes, Alzheimer’s disease or cancer”.

Are we all doomed then?

I am a pessimist by nature and I treat everything with loads of skepticism. Even whilst researching for this article, I was like, “this whole MSG thing is bullshit, Chinese and Japanese people eat noodles and stir-frys all the time but they aren’t as fat as Americans/Indians”. But am pretty sure they practice a session or two of Kung-fu and Karate after a bowl of noodles. Maybe that’s why they are all skinny!

Racism and stereotypes aside, Indian food in general is very high in carbohydrates. Our monotonous lifestyle coupled with technological advancements means we aren’t as active as our forefathers and we aren’t getting much exercise. When you combine this with some artificial  flavor enhancer like MSG, you get the answer for the global obesity epidemic.

Ancient Hindu literatures mention something called Sattvic diet for a healthy lifestyle, basically eating cereal grains, legumes, vegetables, fruits, nuts, milk and milk derivatives. If you want to live longer and observe the complete lifecycle of Scarlett Johansson and Ana De Armas, avoid eating out, avoid processed/packaged foods and cook all your meals at home from scratch. It ain’t uncool to eat your mom’s cooking or carry your tiffin to work. And it certainly isn’t cool to eat at places like McDonalds, KFC, Pizza Hut…etc, you are just ingesting slow poison, albeit a delicious one!

I’m hungry and off to KFC now :-) 

References:

In no particular order: 

1)      http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2009/04/21/msg-is-this-silent-killer-lurking-in-your-kitchen-cabinets.aspx 

2)      http://www.globalhealingcenter.com/natural-health/harmful-effects-of-monosodium-glutamate-msg/

3)      http://culinaryarts.about.com/od/seasoningflavoring/p/msg.htm

4)      http://www.medicalcorps.org/fat-rat.htm

5)     U.S. Food and Drug Administration “FDA and Monosodium Glutamate (MSG)” August 31, 1995

6)      eMediaWire “Athlete Alert: Renowned Neurosurgeon Identifies Aspartame & MSG in Sudden Cardiac Death” April 15, 2005 

7)    http://www.msgtruth.org/