Sunday, April 25, 2010

Moderation in all things? Even useless drugs?

  • The US Dept. Of Agriculture estimates that the average person in the United States eats a total of 4.7 lbs. of food per day.
Food producers put about .6% MSG in food to get that optimal flavor-enhancing effect. Multiply that by 4.7 lbs of food a day, and you get 14 grams of MSG daily in the diet. A 10 gram dose for a 110-pound person is comparable to the dosages in the labs giving brain damage to mice.

No one knows how little glutamic acid is needed to kill a single brain cell or to trigger an adverse reaction.

The amount of MSG varies from producer to producer; very high in fast food, salad dressings, soups, etc., and the amount of MSG producers add to our food has been doubling every ten years. In a soup, it may say "less than 2% of [the following MSG ingredients]", and if it has four MSG ingredients, it could actually have slightly less than 8% (I hope not!) MSG.

MSG has no positive affect for us, only that brain-stimulating taste sensation. Yet, it has a myriad of negative affects. I believe in moderation in white sugar, and oils and fats, but those are foods! Fats (not hydrogenated or olestra) are necessary for a woman to maintain her menstrual periods, all for brain function, etc. MSG does nothing good, but is an addicting substance with 50+ side affects, and produces very scary diseases like autism (in developing fetuses), alzheimer's, etc.

Those with MSG sensitivities can be sick for 3 days (I think, maybe months), and brain damage, which of course, is irreversible. So, I don't really think its a thing of moderation. Yet, its all around. What to do at potlucks, vacations, eating out, family get togethers, etc.?

Now, moderation- sure, moderate the following:
Homemade pudding doesn't call for sodium caseinate
I've never seen a recipe for ice cream that called for carageenan,
and homemade chocolate syrup doesn't have Xanthan gum added to thicken and prevent separation, and
homemade granola
doesn't have whey protein concentrate.

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