This week we focus on the hidden dangers of processed foods, specifically MSG. Join us this week for much researched information, anecdotes and videos on the subject. Spare yourself the worry and go whole. Join us for Sunday workshops or get your own tutorial and make the switch!
As we progress into day four of The Veggie Transition program, those of you playing along in real life, or just via the blog, twitter and FB discussions, may have noticed that we are not eating food from packages (and this doesn’t count single ingredient things like hemp seeds or olive oil obvy). We are cooking wholly and solely from scratch and one of the amazing bonuses to this is that we know exactly what we are eating, or even better- don’t need to worry about the things we are not consuming.
What are we not consuming? Well, we are not consuming all those heavily processed, often GMO-soy-based, sodium saturated and MSG rich veggie foods. How I wish they weren’t still rampant at the Veg Fair this year and how I wish wish wish people didn’t still buy into the concept that simply being vegan, no matter how processed the goods may be is better than eating foods from animals (a la the tragic best selling book with the B-word in the title- if you know what book, well, then you know what I am referring to).
The boyfriend I had while in nutrition school had a thing for bad food. He also had a thing for taunting, tormenting and poking me in just the right spot to make my head spin with frustration over his love for bad food. He would regularly do the following:
- Call me from a fast food drive through just in time for me to hear him order.
- Call me with random questions like “Are M&M’s good for me?” I would answer, and he would follow up with “Even the orange ones? Maybe they have some vitamin C?”
- And tell me that kids need MSG to help them build antibodies and get strong.
Our very last ‘discussion’ involved him speaking the words that broke my heart, You think I wouldn’t take the kids to McDonald’s when mommy’s out of town. Done and done.
That last argument started after my insistence that no one, let alone small children with developing brains and nervous systems should be consuming anything with any kind of MSG, Monosodium Glutamate, Hydrolyzed Yeast Extract, Flavour Enhancer 621 or any number of names given to the very same toxic additive.
MSG is my ultimate poison. One day when my present (and future) love of my life are sitting around remembering the good old days of our first year together, we may just laugh about the time his sister-in-law, completely unknowingly, almost killed me.
I was having dinner with his family, who all eat very well and very clean. Towards the end of the meal, I stopped being able to focus on the conversations around me. I was seeing caterpillars in my line of vision and when I leaned over to my man and said that I thought I was having an allergic reaction, it was a struggle to get the words out.
That is what MSG does to my brain. Did my sister-in-law feed me poison food? Nope. She had made an onion soup, from near scratch. The one packaged ingredient was an ORGANIC chicken or veggie broth. She put it only a little to the whole pot, and I ate only a little in my bowl. The ingredient of hazard, as listed on the ingredient label was not Monosodium Glutamate but Yeast Extract. Same. Same.
I get a complete neuro reaction. I lose the ability to focus my eyes, I have trouble speaking my thoughts. After some time, I get my vision back but then I experience complete numbness that moves from my hand so that I can’t hold or carry anything, up my arm to my nose, tongue and lips. Once the poison makes it way through my system, I am left with a killer migraine and a buzzing that doesn’t let me sleep. I wake up the next day with, what feels like, the worst hang over of my life.
And many food manufacturers claim this to be a harmless substance. I am a grown woman, imagine what this toxin, not so different from aspartame, is doing to our still developing kinder.
Through out this week, we’ll be taking a bit of a deeper look into what this toxic and prevalent substance is all about.
Question Of The Day: Do you get any icky reactions to specific foods or spices that perhaps go beyond just plain old allergy?
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M&M’s with vitamin C – too much!
I have reactions to sweet foods (like fruits or sweet potatoes) if I eat them alone without any fat. I get brain fog, can’t concentrate, and usually have to sleep for about 2 hours to get back into balance. I’ve had the same reaction to oats, feel like I have a hangover after waking up.
I’m glad you wrote this. I completely forget about MSG. I don’t go out to eat often (as in ever), but if I do I usually stick to soups because I consider them a ‘safe’ food. MSG, and other weird things, are just as present in soup as in other meals.
Soups are one of the last things I’ll ever order as no restaurant has yet to be able to tell me exactly what is in theirs.
I love this posting for many reasons, but one especially…..” Monosodium Glutamate and Yeast Extract being the same thing. I had absolutly no idea. I was just diagnosed with a yeast sensitivity and although I don’t go out trying to eat MSG, it’s a sneaky little bugger and is in alot of stuff and I might accidentally consume it without knowing it was the same as yeast!
I originally found out about you, your blog and your business after I went to IHN to register and saw a poster for one of your retreats on the bulliten board. I am a daily reader now (you can count yourself among the elite blogs I read such as Geekologie, Smitten Kitchen and Perez Hilton…LOL) and almost everyday I learn something totally awesome from you.
Thanks!
devan
http://www.nomorecheeze.blogspot.com
Hi Devan, Thanks for reading me and I hope you are loving IHN! Yeast and MSG are not the same per se- but often you will find MSG in concentrated yeast foods- not always the other way around.
I try not to eat food with MSG but I know I do from time to time. It doesn’t affect me in the intense way that it seems to effect you. Do you know why some people are more sensitive to MSG than others?
I don’t but that is a very good question. I imagine part of it might have to do with the rate at which the liver can break it down but will have to look into that.
I’m still working with stating my food preferences when I eat over at someone else’s place. I had some tacos last week at a friend’s and the mix had MSG. Not to be rude, I ate it – hell, I even cooked it! And I went home parched and headachey. I didn’t want to be that “health nutty girl” (although I like to be) but I know that my friend would feel awful if she knew that I got sick from it. So lesson learned, I will have to speak up next time I encounter such a situation. Thanks for the post, Meghan!
Never be shy to express what you will or will not eat. If you don’t want to burden others with it, than bring something along that you will eat and that others can enjoy also.
For me it’s dairy and any dairy derivatives. Not only do my joints swell up and become stiff but the muscles become so tight and painful to move. I become very weak…even having a hard time doing simple things like walking or lifting arms to brush hair.
It’s amazing that you are able to realize such a clear connection. If only more people were as tuned in to their bodies in that way.
Those poor tubby mice!
Hi Meghan, it had been a while since I’ve visited your blog, and frankly, I don’t know why and I really missed all this amazing information you share with us! I did not know that MSG could be called other things on packaging, but I am not surprised. Its so scary thinking how these companies can do pretty much anything they want when it comes to labelling food.
Thanks for all that great info. Looking forward to browsing back on past articles that I’ve mist. I’ve got lots of catching up to do!
Go and get yourself caught up. It’s been a delicious summer!
Thanks you for the info. I had no idea how much food contained msg. Very surprised with all the other names it lurks as to. I am still trying to figure out when I have reactions. Seems like some soy products do it.
My mom used to BAN cold cuts from our house when we were younger because she was against nitrates and preservatives. Although I loved corned beef as a child, I always had a raging headache after those sandwiches. To be honest, I’m less sure of specific foods now than ever, since some reactions seem pretty delayed…like, by days.
I went to the emerg last winter with a swollen lip, possibly after eating some dried fruit, and although I bought it from a health food store, I’m pretty sure it was dripping in sulphites. Eating too much natural or refined sugar makes me extremely queasy and I recently got “high” immediately after sipping chamomile tea. I stay away from dairy, soy, corn and wheat if possible. It’s been a pretty boring palate. Thanks to a sick new blender and my “investment” in new superfoods, lately I’ve been happy with some creative new recipes. Thank goodness there’s still lot’s more out there. Too bad it’s not apparent in most restaurants and convenience stores yet. Boo.
Hydrolyzed yeast? Casein? Oy…
[...] up and Read Part 1 [...]
[...] contact Making Love in the Kitchen: The Blog « MSG-eezle McPoison Part 1: What Is This Poison? [...]
Thanks for video. I didn’t know it was yeast extract.
[...] up and Read Part 1 [...]
[...] up and Read Part 1 [...]
Consumer consciousness is raising, people want to be vibrantly healthy. Industrial food producers in the USA don’t care if your get sick or not, it’s all about profit. Thanks to web sites like yours; very important information is getting out to the public regarding the onslaught of toxic man-made chemicals in our food supply.
Ingesting ANY man-made chemicals in your food and you are playing Russian roulette with your health. Eat organic locally farmed produce and if you have a farmers market, please go often.
Check out: http://www.naturalnews.com/ it’s a great starting point to a healthier life.
[...] are quite processed and can still contain things like MSG under a host of deceptive guises (read this article/series from Meghan Telpner, the facts about MSG are [...]
[...] See Part 1 [...]
[...] See Part 1 [...]
Before I got off refined sugar I was constantly getting headaches, and they seemed to be getting worse; as soon as I took that out they disappeared. I was amazed that all those headaches & migraines were due to that. I’m much better and happier now.
[...] See Part 1 [...]
That pic of the burger, fries, drink is NOT a McBurger. It’s from In-n-Out, is that correct? The packaging looks so familiar (I do not live in In-n-Out state now, but I remember it well). I do not believe they use MSG or its hidden forms. At least, I never got affected by their food, and I am VERY sensitive.
Yeast extract is not the same as Nurtritional Yeast, right? Hope not- I use it as a supplement to mostly vegan diet on salads and such for its B-vitamins and protein.
[...] When I realized what I did to myself I vowed to find a way to make hot, spicy, brothy noodles at home! [...]
[...] Up until recently, I wouldn’t have had an answer for you either. Barley salad? Who on earth eats pearl barley other than my grandmother? She actually never really made it into a salad. She usually added it to her vegetable soups and I stopped eating those after she inadvertently poisoned me with MSG. [...]
[...] chemical laden, aluminim containing sodium in many, many forms. Remember our good ol’ friend MSG (red this if you haven’t yet!)? Well, he’s not alone in Ramen [...]
How much do you know about icky MSG? Test your knowledge! http://t.co/BdQcwvnh