Alternative Spelling of Fat: M-S-G

M…S…G – what it lacks in letters, it makes up for in its rap sheet. The controversy around the flavor enhancer has been around for many years, prompting many food companies to list their products with labels like “No MSG” or “No MSG Added” to ease the mind of people concerned about what health effects it had on the body.
Today, the ubiquity of the “No MSG” labels isn’t what it once was. It’s hard to say why, but it likely has something to do with “reputable” organizations that debunked the side effects associated with its consumption, putting the issue to rest for many people (the most well-known study was the one released by the FDA in 1995; as I’m sure you know by now, the FDA isn’t exactly omniscient in what is and is not dangerous to consume).

But the issue has never been put to rest. Not for me, nor any other natural health professional In fact, a study recently released regarding the health hazards of MSG should be enough for the FDA and other organizations that cleared its use – like the World Health Organization – to reconsider their wrongheaded conclusions from the 1980s and 1990s.

According to researchers from the University of North Carolina who teamed up with researchers from China, MSG consumption is linked to weight gain, discovering this after analyzing the diets of approximately 800 men and women who rarely to never had MSG-laden foods prior to the study.

Now, I know what you’re thinking: With the prevalence of foods that contain MSG in this country, how can one not have MSG unless he or she is living on distilled water and unleavened bread? Well, in rural China, where all the participants of the study lived, processed foods, particularly those containing MSG, are rarely eaten (unlike in America, where virtually all Chinese cuisine MSG). This is what enabled the researchers to isolate the impact MSG had on weight gain.

Here’s what they did. They had all the participants prepare their meals at home, splitting the participants into two unequal groups: about 80 percent of the participants cooked with MSG, the remaining 20 percent without. The twist to the study was in regards to just how much MSG among the participants was used. Could the amount of MSG used be correlated to the amount of weight gained? This is what the researchers hoped to discover.

Believe it or not – and I certainly do – the researchers found a positive relationship between the amount of MSG used and the average body mass of the participants among the groups: the more MSG used, the higher the average body mass was among the participants. And it wasn’t just by a little bit. Compared to those who did not use MSG at all, the users of MSG were three times the weight of the non-users!

The prevalence of obesity in this country and the prevalence of MSG use in this country makes the link fairly clear. Things aren’t always this cut and dry, but in this case it is – so it’s best to avoid it.

You aren’t likely to find “MSG” listed on a list of ingredients. What you are likely to find are any of the following: hydrolyzed proteins, yeast extracts, protein concentrates or glutamic acid – all pseudonyms for MSG. But if you’d rather not go through an endless number of ingredient listings, some of the foods you’re guaranteed not to find a trace of MSG include: organic fresh fruits and vegetables, unprocessed, all-natural meats and cheeses, organic dairy products, brown rice (check the labels for any additives), and unseasoned nuts like fresh whole almonds (you can generally find these intermingled with the less nutritious and additive-laden nut varieties from the likes of Planters and Blue Diamond, so be careful what you reach for).

There’s a reason why I’ve advocated organic all these years – the lack of MSG content is chief among them.