MSG or monosodium glutamate is a common additive in fast food, restaurant food, snack food and all kinds of packaged foods. The food industry discovered in the 60s that putting MSG into food stimulates the appetite into overdrive and more and more it is believed that this is one of the primary reasons that people overeat. The food industry, intent on make outrageous profits, wants you to buy as much of their food as possible. MSG is an addictive substance and makes food taste unnaturally appealing so you eat beyond your hunger level. The best way to get out of the cycle is to educate yourself about MSG and all the other additives that contain it. Here's a website(pdf) that gives the whole story.
Great thread. MSG, along with Aspartame, plays a huge role in the obesity epidemic. Pretty much all processed foods now contain MSG. It's gotten to the point that many companies are hiding the use of MSG and glutamic acid under different names, like hydrolyzed yeast extract, sodium caseinate, and the very vague "natural flavors."
Creepy. I'm not overweight, but I do have to avoid MSG because it gives me horrible headaches. Yet another reason people shouldn't be eating so much processed shit in the first place.
Thanks Rat. One of the ingredients listed on that site is contained in a supposedly "organic" Better Than Bouillon soup base that my wife recently bought.
I avoid MSG where I can. I heard of its evils from Kevin Trudeau. Hard to believe that around here you can buy plain MSG as a spice.
I think 90% of food on shelves in grocery stores actually contain some kind of carcinogen, which to me is not actually surprising when you think about it and really read your food. MSG is a small time conspiracy when you really take a good hard look at junk food companies. That's just one thing out of mannnny many toxic ingredients in packaged processed food today that are legislated as safe since companies donate to politicians. The more we can take away from that industry and quit supporting them, the better! Hence the magic of ORGANIC FOOD! I haven't came near anything containing MSG in a long time, since I shop at an organic food co-op and eat raw food ;P ;P