The science required to understand my comment, and disagree if one feels inclined, is high-school-level. Your response, though, highlights exactly why this issue is so bewildering. Jane, thank you for approving the comment. This article says it early on.there is NO medical evidence to support the MSG myth.īewildered and bemused on March 11, 2014: This is one dietary change that will pay off in the moment as well as in years to come. In the past three years we have seen MSG go from being virtually unheard of to appearing in bold on labels advertising 'No MSG!' or 'MSG free!' Until MSG becomes more widely shunned, be an ingredient detective. As the awareness of the after-effects of MSG spreads, more and more companies will be forced to make a decision about including or rejecting MSG in their products. This is especially true of the fresh meat cuts from the butcher's department in your grocery store. Store brand foods, amazingly enough, are often flavored without MSG. There are many food options for each category and many food production companies that don't use any MSG. However, don't let the list above discourage you. The sheer quantity of foods we eat every day that contain MSG is staggering. I have known soy sauce, unsalted peanuts, and even plain tomato sauce to cause headaches because the amino acid structure of soy and tomato is similar to MSG.

Store brands are usually great Planter's Peanuts are loaded with monosodium glutamate.īe cautious about your soy and modified protein intake if you have been extremely sensitive to MSG in the past. Beef jerky unless bought at an all-natural supermarket, you will rarely see this without MSG.Get used to making these things from scratch at home, or buy all natural! Salsa, tomato/spaghetti sauce, guacamole, barbeque sauce, Worcestershire sauce, steak sauce, marinades, etc.Not all in this category contain MSG, but enough do to make checking the labels worthwhile. Frozen Asian stir-fry, frozen dinners and entrees, frozen finger foods.Anything that you would buy mostly for the flavor packet probably has MSG unless it specifies 'all natural' or 'no MSG.' Soup mixes, salad dressing mixes, flavor packets, rice mixes, hamburger helper mixes, 'just add water' mixes, etc.Again, read the ingredient labels any type of meat could have MSG injections, but you should also be able to find the same kind that does not. Meat cuts, lunch meats, hotdogs and bratwursts, frozen meats.Salad dressing, especially if it is not labeled 'natural.'.Soup broths, such as the kind you would buy in a carton or can off the shelf.Canned soups, especially Campbell's, Kraft, and other name brands.We have found that usually the 'Original' or 'Plain' flavor is without MSG, but check the label just in case. Flavor-dusted chips, snack mixes, and crackers such as the seasoned flavors of Doritos, Cheez-Its, Pringles, Lays, Chex-Mix also look out for all barbeque, lime, salsa, parmesan, or sweet onion flavored chips and crackers.Known as the staple dorm-food of campuses all across the US, Ramen soups have one of the highest concentrations of MSG found in any food item. Ramen soups, noodles, and soup packets.Ramen soups contain MSG as the second ingredient after salt! MSG as an Ingredient Be Cautious of: Once she could warn my dad about which foods triggered her headache, he began to avoid those foods too, and for the most part, his worst migraines stopped, though we began to realize that his sensitivity to MSG required abstinence from several other lesser-known food ingredients also related to MSG (see Foods Containing MSG below). My sister found that her instant, tingly headache happened only when eating foods that contained strong amounts of MSG. Often added to salty, zesty, or creamy foods, MSG gives a hearty boost often associated with the adjective 'savory.' My family did research to figure out what foods MSG was in and did a few cause-and-effect experiments in our home to figure out if MSG was causing the intense headaches my family members were suffering from.

This causes a momentary 'addiction' to MSG, because it creates a tongue-tingling craving for another bite, stimulating more cells as the old ones die. It overstimulates the brain cells which are associated with tasting glutamates until the cells die. Other research has revealed MSG to act as an excitotoxin of the highest degree. MSG has been defined as the sodium salt extract of the non-essential amino acid of glutimate.

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