Weight Loss and MSG

Are you overweight?Do you struggle with trying to lose weight?Well, you are not alone.Americans are getting fatter, and over 2/3 of US adults are now either overweight or even obese.About 1/3 of children fall into this category as well.Many of us think it's all our fault, if only we had the willpower to eat less and eat better foods and exercise more, we would be able to lose weight.Well, although we will be healthier and more likely to end up at a normal weight if we do these things, did you know that it is far more difficult to do when you consume MSG and other chemicals in your diet?

MSG Causes Weight Gain

Did you know that in medical studies where scientists need obese rats for their study, they often cause this obesity by feeding the rats MSG?They are not sure exactly what this mechanism is that causes the obesity, but think it has something to do with the appetite center in the hypothalamus that malfunctions with the consumption of MSG.It also appears that MSG raises levels of glutamic acid, and in turn insulin levels in the human body.With higher insulin levels, blood sugar drops, and this can cause you to feel hungrier and hence cause you to eat more.If you eat a lot of MSG, the consequent over-release of insulin can lead to insulin resistance and eventually type II diabetes.

It is very interesting to note that in the film "Supersize Me", Mr. Spurlock gained 25 pounds in 1 month of eating McDonald's foods, and many of these foods do contain pure monosodium glutamate (MSG).However, the one man who was interviewed who ate only Big Macs (which is NOT one of the menu items with added MSG) was thin.

If your appetite control mechanism is malfunctioning, you may very well keep eating, even when you are full, and even when you know that the food you are eating is bad for you.Has that ever happened to you? Like with Doritos, for example?In fact, some of the foods many of us crave today have MSG in them.

MSG often in Food even if not Labeled MSG

Even though many have lobbied to have all MSG and similar types of ingredients included on the food label, this is not yet the case.You can eat a product with a label claiming to be MSG-free, but it can still contain free glutamate acid, which is really the same thing.In addition, ingredients that include MSG can just be listed without disclosing the MSG in them."Natural flavors" for example, are usually all but natural and almost always contain MSG.Like with refined sugar, you will find that MSG is contained in most packaged and restaurant foods, so if you are serious about losing weight and getting healthy you really need to start fixing your meals from scratch as much as possible.You can make up bigger batches and freeze them for convenience in order to make it easier.

Food Ingredients that Probably Contain MSG

Some of the ingredients you need to avoid that may contain MSG include hydrolyzed vegetable or soy protein, "natural" flavors, yeast extract, gelatin, bouillon, broth or stock, enzymes, citric acid and more*.

So, next time you go on a diet, make sure you put MSG on your "to avoid" list.Even if you are not dieting, MSG can cause all sorts of health problems, and is really best avoided.

Copyright 2008, Karen Pijuan. Permission is granted to copy this article only in its entirety, and only if all links, including those in the resource box or about the author box, remain intact.

Karen Pijuan is the owner of several health-related websites and has written numerous articles about nutrition, vitamins, healthy living, whole food supplements, natural body care and cleaning products, natural weight loss and more. Find out more about what to look for in a truly healthy vitamin, as well as resources for where to find the whole food vitamins she recommends at http://www.Healthy-Vitamins-Rx.com

*For a more complete list of ingredients that contain or are likely to contain MSG, go to the Stop Eating Diet Food Website: http://stopeatingdietfood.com/html/msg.html

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