You’ve heard of MSG and you may even tell your favorite Chinese food restaurant to make your Vegetable Lo Mein without it. But did you know that MSG – monosodium glutamate – is in many foods that are already in your kitchen? And did you also know that it can be slowly doing damage to your overall health?

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What is MSG?

MSG is a food additive that is often used to enhance the flavors in foods. It can be found in foods such as crackers, canned soup, meats, salad dressing, frozen dinners and more. MSG does not actually have much of a taste, but because of something called umami, your food can have a more pleasant taste. Umami is one of the five basic tastes that comes through receptors for the glutamate in MSG. 

Why is MSG So Bad for You?

MSG is an excitotoxin, which can cause your nerve cells in your brain to be damaged and killed over time. This can lead to many diseases, such as Alzheimer’s, Multiple Sclerosis, Parkinson’s and Lou Gehrig’s disease. Excitotoxins can also be linked to spinal cord injury, stroke, hearing loss, and traumatic brain injury.  MSG is also linked to  migraines, learning disorders and hyperactivity in children.

How Can I Check My Food For MSG?

MSG is found in most processed foods, but food manufacturers have become sneaky and disguising this ingredient by calling it something else. How can they do this? Simple, “the FDA does not require manufacturers to label these foods MSG unless the “added ingredient” is 99% pure MSG.”

But here are some of the aliases for MSG:

• Glutamic Acid (E 620)2
• Glutamate (E 620)
• Monosodium Glutamate (E 621)
• Monopotassium Glutamate (E 622)
• Calcium Glutamate (E 623)
• Monoammonium Glutamate (E 624)
• Magnesium Glutamate (E 625)
• Natrium Glutamate
• Yeast Extract
• Anything “hydrolyzed”
• Any “hydrolyzed protein”
• Calcium Caseinate
• Sodium Caseinate
• Yeast Food
• Yeast Nutrient
• Autolyzed Yeast
• Gelatin
• Textured Protein
• Soy Protein
• Soy Protein Concentrate
• Soy Protein Isolate
• Whey Protein
• Whey Protein Concentrate
• Whey Protein Isolate
• Anything “…protein”
• Soy Sauce
• Soy Sauce extract
• Anything “enzyme modified”
• Anything “fermented”
• Anything containing “protease”
• Vetsin
• Ajinomoto

So if processed foods are part of your diet in any way, make sure to read those labels to see if the above ingredients are there. To avoid MSG altogether, stick to using fresh, locally grown ingredients to cook.

Leann Forst, MBA, CHC — Family Health & Cancer Coach

Leann is a Board Certified Holistic Health Practitioner, holding a Master’s degree from Drake University and a Bachelor of Science from Upper Iowa University. Leann is accredited by the American Association of Drugless Practitioners. And she is an award winning author of 2 books “How to Get Your Kids to Beg for Veggies” and “100 Ways to Lose Weight.”

Born and raised as an Iowa farm girl, she moved to Texas in 1998 where she lives with her husband and 2 kids.

As a wife of a brain cancer survivor, Leann has a special interest in anti-cancer nutrition and detoxification. She works with individuals and groups, and speaks regularly at hospitals, schools and organizations to teach people how to attain optimal health by getting to the root cause of chronic and inflammatory conditions, while using healing modalities such as essential oils. <Click here to get my free report, “37 Cancer Facts You Should Know…But Probably Don’t”

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