When people hear I am allergic to Monosodium Glutamate (MSG), their first reaction is either they have never heard of it or they said something pertaining to chinese food because in their mind MSG is only found in orential foods, not thinking it could be found in american foods too. Below I have put together a little Myth Buster about Monosodium Glutamate. You will find these points talked about throughout our website.

• Monosodium Glutamate affects everyone! (And none of the effects are good.)
• It is NOT just found in Chinese food. (If it was only that easy.)
• MSG is not a preservative, it is a flavor enhancer.
• The part of Monosodium Glutamate that affects us is the "glutamate", not the sodium. Problems with sodium are not the subject of this website.
• If we eliminate MSG by name, everything will not be OK. There are other ingredients that MSG sensitive people should or must eliminate from their diet. See the Ingredient Watch List for more information about this subject.
• Any glutamate added to a processed food is not and can not be considered naturally occurring. Hydrolyzed Protein and Autolyzed Yeast are forms of glutamate that are not naturally occurring.
• MSG is not a nutrient, vitamin, or mineral and has no health benefits.
• Food companies are not concerned with your health. They are concerned with profit. By using flavor enhancers, such as MSG, hydrolyzed protein, autolyzed yeast, and any of the other excitotoxins found on our basic list, they almost guarantee return customers.
• Monosodium Glutamate is not natural in nature. You can't go out in your garden and pick "monosodium glutamte". MSG is produced through a man-made process called "hydrolysis".

If I eliminate Monosodium Glutamate from my diet, then will I not get anymore migraines?

There is a chance you will reduce the number of migraines, but people who suffer from Excitotoxin Sensitivity Syndrome will get migraines from excitotoxins too. It is not enough to eliminate only Monosodium Glutamate. Refer to our list of ingredients to avoid.

If an item is labeled "All Natural", is it safe?

The term "All Natural" does not mean it is safe for MSG sensitive people. Typically, "All Natural" means the company uses ingredients that may be organic, but if you read the full list of ingredients, you will find some ingredients that are a must to avoid. The most popular are extracts.

A scientific explanation of how monosodium glutamate affects us, would include the explanation that glutamates tigger cells in our brains to open up calcium valves, which causes a free flow of glutamate to overwhelm the cell into a sense of ultimate euphoria. Sounds great... until you find that the cell dies of over excitement. This is obviously not a good thing.

The reason why glutamate effects some people and not others is still more of that scientific jargon. There is a thin membrane protecting the important parts of our brains from outside chemicals which is called a blood brain barrier. This membrane is easily damaged early in life. The most curcial time is during a mother's first and second tymester. At this time, the fetus has yet to develop this important blood brain barrier. So, any food laced with Monosodium Glutamate that the mother eats, is passed to the fetus. As an addenum, children don't fully devlope this blood brain barrier until they are around the age of seven or eight, which is the reason why they should never be fed fast food.

The sad part is repairing the blood brain barrier is not an option. Once the damage has been done, all kinds of symptoms and/or health problems can show up. obesity, ADHD, diabetes, fibromyalgia, Lou Gehrig's disease, Cerebral Palsy, Multiple Sclerosis (MS), dymentia, Alzheimer's disease and seizures. These are only a few of the dilemma or symptoms brought on by ingesting excitotoxins. simply explained, our brains have a dispatch center called the hypothumus. Once this little tiny part of our brain is damaged by MSG, all of our weaknesses start to pop up and many of those things we could inherit, we do because a door was opened and we became more vulnerable. An example could be that within a family that has a history of diabetes, some members come down with the disease and some don't. All these hereditary traits start to become an issue.