MSG & Aspartame The Health Problems & What Foods They Are In
Today my friends, I would like to discuss food additives and some of the serious health issues and side effects that they can cause. Food additives are in most food products, unless they are organic and many of us do not even realize what we are putting in our bodies
For decades the food industry has continually created new chemicals to manipulate, preserve, and transform our food. By using chemicals, scientists are able to mimic natural flavors, color foods to make them look more natural or fresh and make them more appealing to us the consumer. They also preserve foods for longer for longer shelf life, to improve the flavor, and supposedly increase nutritional value.
I would like to concentrate mainly on MSG & ASPARTAME because they are known to be 2 of the worse additives and are so commonly used!
Aspartame & MSG and other neurotoxins are chemicals, among others, added to food to stimulate hunger and disrupt normal appetite control? It’s a clever (but downright devious) strategy for selling more food and boosting the profits of food corporations.
Studies have shown that food additives may cause these health problem:
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- Studies have shown that lifelong consumption may increase neurological problems
- obesity & weight gain
- risk of cancer and tumors
- cause you to get diabetes
- give you heart disease
- make you have high blood pressure
- cause hormone imbalances
- migraines
MSG & ASPARTAME!
Look on labels for the following information.
Foods ALWAYS contain MSG when these words are on the label:
- MSG, Mono-sodium glutamate, Glutamate, Hydrolyzed vegetable protein, Hydrolyzed plant protein, Autolyzed plant protein, Sodium caseinate, Calcium caseinate, Textured vegetable protein, Yeast extract, Yeast nutrient, Autolyzed yeast, Autolyzed yeast extract
Food ingredients that MIGHT show hidden MSG:
- Annatto, Flavoring, Seasonings, Protein fortified, Bouillon, Broth, Caramel, Malt extract, Soy protein isolate, Soy protein concentrate, Spices, Stock, Whey protein isolate
Common foods that may contain MSG or Aspartame:
- Chinese food, Sauces, Bouillon/Stock, Packaged soups, Processed meat substitute, Salad dressings, Vegan burgers, Commercial marinades, Flavored chips, Soft drinks, Fruit cocktails, Chewing gum, Diet products
I hope this information has been helpful and that you examine all labels very carefully! I suggest that you try to eat Organic or fresh products from local harvest farms, or local farmer’s market when possible. Remember it’s you and your family health that is at risk! Think about the increase of diabetes, cancer, heart disease, and ask yourself if it is really worth taking the risk?
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Thanks for writing back and also being respectful. You are clearly entitled to your own opinion on this matter. And, I don't care whether you or the reader uses aspartame or not. But you and the reader need to know that the science just isn't there. There are NO acceptable and reproducible scientific papers to the contrary. But there are conspiracy theorists arguing this point, who profit from books, false treatments, and other misleading innuendo by claiming that there are accepted, reproducible scientific papers.
Here are the facts. Only methanol amongst aspartame degradation products presents any risk to normal people—phenylalanine and aspartate are found in greater concentrations in normal foods, like milk and meat. Methanol is oxidized to formaldehyde and formate–both are chemically directly converted by the (tetrahydro)folate vitamin system into very valuable methyl groups. These methyl groups detoxify homocysteine and protect DNA (thymine). For more on its cycle see the figure at the top of p 3000 here,
Formate and formaldehyde are [quoting another] “produced in the body during the endogenous demethylation of many compounds, including many foods and drugs. For example, the demethylation of the caffeine found in one cup of coffee produces 30 mg of formaldehyde (Imbus, 1988). Formaldehyde is essential in one-carbon pool intermediary metabolism. The metabolite of formaldehyde, formic acid, is a substrate for purine nucleotide synthesis (Sheehan and Tully, 1983). It can be calculated that more than 50,000 mg [that's 50 g] of formaldehyde is produced and metabolized in an adult human body daily and that an adult human liver will metabolize 22 mg of formaldehyde per minute (Clary and Sullivan, 1999). Consequently, it is quite clear that the formaldehyde from aspartame provides a trivial contribution to total formaldehyde exposure and metabolism in the body”
Do these facts not make clear that the problem is not aspartame, methanol, formaldehyde or even formate, but metabolism issues in detoxifying them, which with folate (homocysteine and B12, see that cited p 3000) are potentially numerous? Up to 40% of some populations have folate polymorphisms, but most don't even know it. It is very uncommon to even test for this. For more read …. And that doesn't include people with high blood concentrations of the true excitotoxin homocysteine or low concentrations of vitamin B12 (again see that figure on p 3000). All side effects that you suggest [cancer, neurological problems, and the many other dangerous side effects] are really due to these personal folate-related issues, not to aspartame. And in people with these issues, they likely exist whether one uses aspartame or not. And that is my real point! I think it likely that amongst the few people that respond to aspartame, they are at real risk from these issues.
John E. Garst, Ph.D. (Medicinal Chemistry, Pharmacology, Toxicology, and Nutrition)
Thank you for the information!
Aspartame is perfectly safe used as directed and all the relevant regulatory agencies know that. Claims to the contrary have never been substantiated by hundreds of studies. However, there are issues with some people. Some 40% of the human population have issues with genetically different enzymes of folate (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Methylenetetrahydrofolate_reductase). Folate detoxifies the methanol (from aspartame) and in people with these issues or in people with insufficient folate, side effects including headaches may occur. But dietary methanol intake is as essential as folate. It is these underlying folate issues, not aspartame, that cause issues that can be connected to the "92 symptoms" alleged with aspartame. But those same “92 symptoms” also occur silently day in and day out, even if one doesn’t use aspartame, but have these folate issues.
John E. Garst, Ph.D. (Medicinal Chemistry, Pharmacology, Toxicology, and Nutrition)
Thank you for reading my blog. I appreciate your comment, but do not agree. I know many people that have had side affects from aspartame & MSG that do not have folate issues. I try to give the best information that I can find through researching & yes I have found some research that has disagreed that aspartame & MSG is harmful, but they seemed to be regulated by the FDA in one way or the other or some kind of connection to the profit of the product. I know of many doctors that recommend strongly to their patients "not to use it". I am not an expert or do I have a PH.D. Headaches are the least of the problems, cancer, neurological problems, and the many other dangerous side effects that have been researched over and over again that I described in my blog and have documentation for. I have actually not heard of your theory before. Your opinion is noted and I respect it. Thank You for you input. Best Regards