Monosodium Glutamate (MSG)

A silent killer that’s worse than alcohol, nicotine, and drugs is likely lurking in your kitchen cabinets and even your child’s school cafeteria. It’s monosodium glutamate (MSG), a flavor enhancer that’s known widely as an addition to Chinese food, but that’s actually added to thousands of the foods you eat. Monosodium glutamate, also known as sodium glutamate or MSG, is the sodium salt of 'glutamic acid'. 

About 99 percent of monosodium glutamate (MSG) is glutamic acid. Glutamate act as neurotransmitters in the brain by facilitating the transmission of information from neuron to neuron. Too much glutamate in the brain kills certain neurons by allowing the influx of too much calcium into the cells. This influx triggers excessive amounts of free radicals, which kill the cells. The neural cell damage that can be caused by excessive glutamate is why they are referred to as "excitotoxins." They "excite" or stimulate the neural cells to death. Glutamic acid is an amino acid. Taken in its free form (unbound to proteins) it significantly raises the blood plasma level of glutamate. The excess glutamate in the blood plasma shortly after ingesting products with free glutamic acid (glutamate precursor) leads to a high level of those neurotransmitters in certain areas of the brain.

The blood brain barrier (BBB), which normally protects the brain from excess glutamate as well as toxins, 1) is not fully developed during childhood, 2) does not fully protect all areas of the brain, 3) is damaged by numerous chronic and acute conditions, and 4) allows seepage of excess glutamate into the brain even when intact. The excess glutamate slowly begin to destroy neurons. The large majority (75 percent or more) of neural cells in a particular area of the brain are killed before any clinical symptoms of a chronic illness are noticed. 

There are a couple of main reasons why MSG is one of the worst food additives on the market. First, as Dr. Blaylock, author of the highly recommended Excitotoxins: The Taste that Kills, MSG is an excitotoxin, which means that it overexcites your cells to the point of damage, acting as a poison. The second part of the equation is that MSG can be literally hidden in food labels, under names like Broth, Casein, Hydrolyzed, Autolyzed, Gelatin, Hydrolyzed Vegetable Protein (HVP), Yeast Extract, Malted Barley, Rice Syrup or Brown Rice Syrup and more, making it extremely difficult to identify.

MSG is also a probable cause contributing to the obesity epidemic. As the FDA continues to vouch for its safety, scientists have known that MSG causes obesity since the 1960s! It is clearly not worth a few bites of tasty junk food to give your body the green light to produce visceral fat, the most dangerous type that surrounds your organs and increases your risk of heart attack, stroke, insomnia, type 2 diabetes, and more.

by Dr. Mercola