MSG and weight gain.

Posted by admin on July 31, 2009

Monosodium Glutamate (MSG) is one of flavoring agent and enhancer in foods. The best to describe the functionality of MSG is the word “umami” by the Japanese that can roughly translated as “tastiness”. There are some people who believe that in addition to sour, sweet, salt, and bitter, MSG can results in a fifth basic taste sensation.

However, a recent study out of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill cites what animal studies have hinted at for years that the taking of MSG in diet could be a factor in weight gain.

Subjects of 750 Chinese men and women with age range between 40-59 has been focused. All these subjects lives in 3 rural villages in north and south China. They cook their foods at home by using organic and non-processed foods and roughly 82% used MSG.

The results, even when physical body activity, total daily caloric intake and other possible explanations for body mass differences were accounted for, participants who used the highest amounts of MSG had the incidence of overweight nearly 3 times  more than those who did not use MSG. This significant correlation between higher weight and MSG confirmed what animal studies have been suggesting for years.

Considering MSG as an excitotoxin, it enhance and excite neurotransmitters which are important brain chemicals inside our body, causing nerve cells to discharge and also exciting nerves related to taste. Perhaps this ability to excite these nerves is a factor in an association between increased MSG usage and weight gain.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) describes MSG as “naturally occurring,” and has it on the GRAS (”generally regarded as safe”) list. However, not only could MSG be causing us to gain weight, but some studies also reveal that as many as 25 to 30 percent of Americans have adverse reactions to it (e.g., palpitations and migraine headaches), and as many as 30 percent are extra sensitive to it if they consume more than 5 grams at one sitting.

The easiest way to avoid MSG is to buy organic product whenever possible. Or you can just avoid processed ingredients by making things from scratch as much as possible. While choosing menu for your meals try to limit making stews or soups in a crock pot, since slow-cooking may release glutamic acid in a small amounts from the meat or chicken or other protein sources in the recipe.