MSG: Monosodium Glutamate

Yeah! We made it to the end of the week! The information that I have for today, is a little muddled in my mind. There is sooooo much information and this is something I definitely urge everyone to research further on there own. The topic of my choice for today it MSG, monosodium glutamate. I am more than willing to admit to my own ignorance, thinking that this is something that is sometimes in Chinese food, but most restaurants have a sign that says no MSG so I thought I was fine. I thought the only thing that MSG did was give you diarrhea, and help the food taste better, because it was like a spice of some sort. I was alarmed when Danny came home from school having learned more about it, and started reading labels. First I didn't realize that MSG was short for monosodium glutamate. It was draw dropping to see just how many of the foods in my pantry had it in them. Once I knew the long name, I decided it was time to research it. I believe Danny when he comes home and tells me what he has learned but I always do my own research, so that when I tell someone why I am doing something, I know all the reasons first hand. The research that I did initially was enough to make me get rid of some of the easy things, or find replacements for others. But it is literally in so many food items that it is difficult to eliminate it completely. I would be lying if I said that it was 100% out of my house. There are so many different aspects of why MSG is dangerous so I am sure I will revisit this on another Friday. However, I urge everyone to do some serious looking of there own onto the dangers of MSG. Instead of posting a portion of an article I am including some great links, as well as some general information.

MSG's job is to trick the brain about the food that you are eating. Making you sense more protein, and nutrition benefit than is actually there. Causing you to eat more, and enable the the food company to put less of real ingredients in the food. This is why MSG is labeled as a culprit in causing weight gain. It makes you eat more. At first I thought seriously, can an ingredient really trick you into thinking these things and eating more? But then, a few months ago I read an article in Forbes about the company who makes MSG pushing to put it in all food in nursing homes to help the elderly who have failure to thrive eat more. The left out the part about it working on the brain and not the stomach or taste buds, but non the less admitted that it would/could make you eat more.

I grew up thinking MSG would give you diarrhea. I was right, it is estimated that some 60% of the population has a sensitivity to MSG, and the result is diarrhea. Okay now is the moment for a possible amount of TMI (to much information). After eating certain foods I would always have to make a run for the toilet, and often times felt like I would certainly die while there. My mother, and sister suffer from this as well. It could hit at the worst times, driving in the car, on a date, on the phone just to name a few. We are very familiar with all of the gas station between Salt Lake and San Diego, and not because we had a small gas tank. In our family it is affectionately called a "gas attack". After reading up on MSG I realized that we all suffer in some degree from MSG sensitivity. As we have changed our diet in the past few years my "attacks" have become virtually non existent. I daresay this is from eliminating the vast amounts of vast food that I was eating, because again I was shocked at how many things in my home contained it. Small example almost ALL ketchup contains MSG, under the title "natural flavor."

It's in cream of chicken soup, bad new for mormon funeral potatoes... (I have struggled with this one since that soup is in a lot of good recipes...)

There are so many other ways MSG can affect you and I again urge all of you to look into this as some point in time. Even if it isn't right now. I know that with aspartame, it took me about 6 months until I got informed. The reason I waited wasn't because I didn't want to know but I wasn't ready to embrace the information I received and make a change. Again I am still trying to wrap my head around MSG and eliminating it from out diet ( this is complicated by the fact that it goes by several names). But I am starting the elimination process, and I am aware that to be 100% free of it is most likely not possible. But I want to get rid of as much of is as I can!
What is MSG?
http://msgmyth.com/
These ALWAYS contain MSG:
Glutamate
Glutamic acid
Gelatin
Monosodium glutamate
Calcium caseinate
Textured protein
Monopotassium glutamate
Sodium caseinate
Yeast nutrient
Yeast extract
Yeast food A
Autolyzed yeast
Hydrolyzed protein
(any protein that is hydrolyzed) Hydrolyzed corn gluten Natrium glutamate (natrium is Latin/German for sodium
YIKES!For more sources of MSG

High Fructose Corn Syrup

For starters today I would like to thank Haley for her take on my Free Info Friday, she renamed it Freak Out Friday. Before you stand an applaud her for calling me a freak, she said it is because my information made her want to freak out. To this I say, when reading what I offer on Friday's please keep in mind; my adoption of this lifestyle has and is a gradual process. It didn't happen overnight. Some things have taken longer to do and others we are still working on. We are in no way perfect, but we are better off than where we started. That said if what you read inspires you to make a change don't fret if you can't do it all at once. To quote a great movie line (What about Bob) "baby steps, baby steps..."
On with the show High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS) is the topic of choice today. To help us understand a little more about it I have borrowed a page from this website.

Dangers of High Fructose Corn Syrup
by Kevin Millard, Jul 4, 2007

High fructose corn syrup is the new silent killer. Sadly, it is found in almost everything we eat. find out how to avoid it.
One of the greatest ways we can improve our health is to eliminate high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) from our diets.

What is HFCS?HFCS is not the run of the mill corn syrup found on the grocery store shelf, nor is it the fructose naturally found in fruits and honey. HFCS is a highly refined clear liquid derived from corn starch. Food manufactures love to use it because of its long shelf life an it's relative low cost.

Why is HFCS Bad for us?
Since HFCS's widespread introduction in the 1980's North American obesity rates have skyrocketed. Obesity has been linked to may heath issues including heart disease and many forms of cancer. When HFCS is ingested, it travels straight to the liver which turns the sugary liquid into fat, and unlike other carbohydrates HFCS does not cause the pancreas to produce insulin; which acts as a hunger quenching signal to the brain. So we get stuck in a vicious cycle, eating food that gets immediately stored as fat and never feeling full.

Where is HFCS found?
HFCS is found in almost everything we eat today. However, the worst culprit has to be soft drinks. A single 12 oz can of cola has up to 13 tsp of sugar, most of it fructose from HFCS. There is HFCS hidden in many of our other food as well, like ketchup, relish, cookies, and most alarmingly in low-fat diet foods. Manufactures substitute HFCS for the fat in food like mayo and salad dressings, then mark them as diet foods.

How Can We Avoid HFCS?
Avoiding HFCS will take a lifestyle change for the better. The first food to go has to be the soft drinks; this includes fruit punch, fruit cocktails, and Kool-Aid since they are all laden with HFCS.

Second, eat more meals at home. Restaurant foods are mostly prepackaged foods reheated and served to you. Use of HFCS in these foods is wide spread because of their increased shelf life.

Third, diet while you shop. Since you are going to be eating most of your meals at home, you're going to want to fill your cupboards with the best foods. While shopping, read the labels, if HFCS, fructose, or modified corn starch appears within the first five ingredients place it back on the shelf an move on. Sounds easy right? Wrong. As you make your way through the store you will begin to realize just how much of what you have been eating on a daily basis contains HFCS.

Reducing HFCS will not alway be easy, but the health benefits are well worth it. You will feel stronger and more vital, it will lift your mood and give you increased concentration. Limiting your intake of HFCS will not only shrink your midsection but also do wonders for your over all health.

This was a slow process for us, but has changed what we eat. This again is why for awhile it took so long to shop, because I read every label. There were days that it was really hard to put things back on the shelf and not in the cart, and some days that they went into the cart instead of back on the shelf. We still get HFCS, because we do eat out occasionally, and have a candy bowl at the top of the pantry. We do limit the times we eat out, and the times we snack from the candy bowl. It has gotten easier, the last thing to go for me was Sprite. I gave up diet drinks, as well as caffeine a long time ago. I do like the fizz of a pop every now and again, but just recently even Sprite has lost it's appeal. This is the second of the three ingredients that we avoid bringing into the house. MSG is one of the others, and the last is partially hydrogenated oils , so just you wait and that will make it into a Free Info Friday soon!
More On HFCS:
Easy to Read HFCS
DR. Oz on HFCS
More From DR. OZ
Wikipedia HFCS (The technical description)

Partially Hydrogenated

Partially hydrogenated fats or oils are in just about everything! I've had to modify several of my recipes to avoid using something that contains it. It is in everything from crackers and peanut butter to packaged gravy mixes! To cut this out of our diet was a challenge, can you say Ritz Crackers? But we have done it! I definitely know we are healthy for it, in the link at the bottom of this information is an article that talks about how it can affect PMS, cramps and headaches. I can say that as we have come further in our journey for health this things have decreased enormously, or ceased completely! "FRIENDS DON'T LET FRIENDS EAT PARTIALLY HYDROGENATED FATS!"
Full Article with links and References
There are four kinds of fats: monounsaturated fat, polyunsaturated fat, saturated fat, and trans fat. Monounsaturated fat and polyunsaturated fat are the "good" fats. It is generally accepted that consumption of saturated fat should be kept low, especially for adults. Trans fat (which means trans fatty acids) is the worst kind of fat, far worse than saturated fat.

Partial hydrogenation is an industrial process used to make a perfectly good oil, such as soybean oil, into a perfectly bad oil. The process is used to make an oil more solid; provide longer shelf-life in baked products; provide longer fry-life for cooking oils, and provide a certain kind of texture or "mouthfeel." The big problem is that partially hydrogenated oil is laden with lethal trans fat.

It is only the trans fat created by the partial hydrogenation of vegetable oils that we are concerned about and that should be eliminated completely from your diet. We at BanTransFats.com are not concerned with the kind of naturally occurring trans fat found in small amounts in pomegranates, cabbage, peas, or the type found in the meat and milk of cows, sheep and goats.
Partially hydrogenated oils are commonly found in processed foods like commercial baked products such as cookies, cakes and crackers, and even in bread. They are also used as cooking oils (called "liquid shortening") for frying in restaurants.

One of the reasons that partially hydrogenated oils are used is to increase the product's shelf life, but they decrease your shelf life.
Trans fats cause significant and serious lowering of HDL (good) cholesterol and a significant and serious increase in LDL (bad) cholesterol; make the arteries more rigid; cause major clogging of arteries; cause insulin resistance; cause or contribute to type 2 diabetes; and cause or contribute to other serious health problems.

Tommy Thompson, the Secretary of HHS, said at a news conference on the Guidelines on January 12, 2005 that the FDA may recommend that daily intake of trans fat be less than 2 grams, perhaps less than 1 gram. In effect, that would mean totally avoiding any food containing partially hydrogenated oils.

In March 2003, Denmark issued new regulations limiting the amount of trans fat in processed foods. Denmark's food minister said: "We put the public health above the industry's interests." Why can't the United States do the same?

The American Heart Association position

On the subject of trans fat, the AHA recommends that your daily intake of trans fats be limited to 1 percent of total calories, which is equivalent to roughly 2 to 2.5 grams of trans fat per day. (The AHA also recommends that you limit saturated fat to about 15 to 19 grams per day.)

How much trans fat do we consume in a day? Some of us are consuming virtually none, because we are being extremely selective about what we eat. Some of us are consuming in excess of 15 grams of trans fat per day. If that sounds unbelievable, look at the following figures:

One McDonald's large fries contains 8 grams of trans fat.
A McDonald's apple pie contains 4.5 grams of trans fat.
Four Girl Scout shortbread cookies contain 1.5 grams of trans fat.
A large order of KFC Popcorn Chicken contains 7 grams of trans fat.
KFC's Chicken Pot Pie contains 14 grams of trans fat.
A typical 3-piece KFC Extra Crispy combo meal, with a drumstick, two thighs, potato wedges, and a biscuit contains 15 grams of trans fat. Incidentally, don't think that the problem is only at McDonald's or other fast-food chains. Nothing could be further from the truth. Many other restaurants, including "quality" restaurants, fry their food in partially hydrogenated oil and served baked goods containing partially hydrogenated fat. Many of them serve larger portions with more trans fat than McDonald's.

What not to eat

Here are six rules to help you avoid consuming partially hydrogenated oils.

1. Don't eat any product which has the words "partially hydrogenated" or "shortening" in the ingredients list.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration advises:

Consumers can know if a food contains trans fat by looking at the ingredient list on the food label. If the ingredient list includes the words “shortening,” “partially hydrogenated vegetable oil” or “hydrogenated vegetable oil,” the food contains trans fat. Because ingredients are listed in descending order of predominance, smaller amounts are present when the ingredient is close to the end of the list.


2. If the label says zero trans fats, don't believe it. If the words "partially hydrogenated" or "shortening" are in the ingredients list, it DOES contain trans fat.

Under FDA regulations in effect in the United States, "if the serving contains less than 0.5 gram [of trans fat], the content, when declared, shall be expressed as zero." Suppose a product contains 0.4 grams per serving and you eat four servings (which is not uncommon). You have just consumed 1.6 grams of trans fat, despite the fact that the package claims that the product contains zero grams of trans fat per serving. Changing this rule is a high priority for BanTransFats.com. We are working on it.

3. Be careful when consuming products with labels from outside the United States. Sometimes they contain partially hydrogenated oil but it's not on the label.

4. In restaurants, bakeries, and other eateries, ask whether they use partially hydrogenated oil for frying or baking or in salad dressings. If they say they use vegetable oil, ask whether it is partially hydrogenated. Don't be shy about asking. Assume that all unlabeled baked and fried goods contain partially hydrogenated oil, unless you know otherwise.

5. Keep saturated fat intake low too. This is very important.

6. Remember that polyunsaturated fat and monounsaturated fats are good fats.

More information here
Trans Fats FAQs