Subject: MSG

Submitted by: John Weir,  Overland Park, KS
 

I have read both NHE and HIE.   So I am familiar with what they contain.   Recently, I have started reading material about the American obesity problem and its link to the food additive MSG.  According to what I am reading, MSG creates a strong insulin response when ingested.  Since managing blood insulin levels is a major part of the NHE program, and MSG is present in many packaged and prepared foods as well as many  restaurant kitchens, I was wondering why MSG is not mentioned in NHE.  It seems to me there should be a caveat in there somewhere about monosodium glutamate, but I don't remember reading it, and it is not listed in the index in the back of the book.   While it is all well and good to  target 'sports drinks,'  it seems to me  MSG may be a  bigger issue for more people for a wide variety of reasons.

I would like to know your thoughts on whether you think there is a problem there or not since MSG appears to be a source of food cravings and "hormonal hunger" absent simple carbohydrate intake.
 

 

I believe the biggest concern about MSG is the research suggesting it is a neurotoxin. Relative to that, the insulin stimulating effect is of modest concern. The effect of MSG on insulin is mild compared with the effect of donuts, pretzels, and soda. I feel confident in saying that if someone is following the NHE Eating Plan, the presence or absence of MSG in certain foods will not make-or-break results.

 

“While it is all well and good to target 'sports drinks,'  it seems to me MSG may be a  bigger issue for more people for a wide variety of reasons.”

MSG is one of many food additives that furnish no nutritive value and are generally unhealthy. It’s not necessarily worse than pesticides, dyes, antibiotics, or steroids - so why single out MSG? The distinction with “sports drinks” (some, but not all) is that they are marketed based on misrepresentations or inaccurate information. By contrast, nobody is saying that MSG is healthy or will enhance performance.

 

You are probably correct that the neurotoxic effect of monosodium glutamate is more of a concern than the insulin stimulation it produces when consumed. This puts it in a class with Nutrasweet.  And compared to sweets in volume, it is of lesser concern. The problem is that if someone is unaware that MSG causes food cravings, it would make maintaining the NHE Eating Plan more difficult. For instance, I have read several questions on your ASK ROB section concerning "hunger pangs" and "stubborn food cravings." All I was suggesting in my first letter is perhaps MSG may be the culprit in some of these cases: The people are watching their carbs, but continue to consume foods containing MSG which is making it difficult to stay with the program because it is the source of food cravings. I noticed MSG as a source of cravings was not included in your replies. It was in the context of food cravings that I singled out MSG over other food additives and trace contaminants. Since I recently became aware of MSG and started reading about its effect on appetite I thought I would ask what you know about it: i.e. Is it true or not?

It is true the marketing of "sports drinks" is slick, but I have never considered them to be anything more than bottled Kool-Aid. And Kool-Aid tastes better. That is why I never have given sports drinks much thought. I don't drink them.

MSG is a bit more insidious. It is in many prepared foods and goes by many names. While sports drinks are in your face, monosodium glutamate is in "secret recipes." Unless you are looking for it, you don't know you are even consuming it or why it is there in your food to begin with. It is everywhere. It is in soy sauce, worchestershire sauce, broth and stock, soup, parmesan cheese, canned nuts as well as snack and fast food. It is there to make you want to eat more.

I have to disagree that nobody claims MSG is healthy. The people who make it and market it do. They use the twisted logic that increasing appetite is the same as improving nutrition.

You ask why single-out MSG. I hope I explained why I think it is worth singling-out.

Thank you for your response, and this opportunity to clarify what I was after in my earlier question to you.

 

Thanks for the follow-up letter; I’m moved by the passion and reason of your appeal. While chemical agents like pesticides may be causing cancer, MSG is making people eat more and is unhealthy in other ways as well. I accept the validity of your reasoning that because I’ve written extensively on the subject of diet and appetite, the MSG issue is perhaps more obligatory to address than other detrimental food additives or at least would be of greater interest to my readers. You also make a good point about the widespread prevalence of MSG in foods. I knew it was in more than soy sauce, but it may be in more foods than I and others realize. I would agree that MSG should be included among pesticides, steroids, and antibiotics as unhealthy and disease-risk-raising additives demanding further research and investigation.

The difficulty in researching this is that, for the most part, we know only what food manufacturers tell us about what they’re putting in their products. It’s also difficult to evaluate the risk – we know unnatural food additives used to increase yield and/or profits are generally unhealthy. However, whether and to what extent pesticides cause cancer in people, or MSG causes obesity, overeating, and other health problems is hard to determine because it happens, in humans as opposed to lab animals, over a period of many years or decades. The longitudinal nature of studies tracking development of degenerative conditions is compounded by the impossibility of controlling all other variables that may influence the endpoint under study. In summary, all of the points in your letter are well-taken and I intend to take a closer look at the MSG issue and address it in future issues of my newsletter.