You need to be extremely careful about the additives that you include in your food to make them delicious. That’s because some of the popular additives available out there in the market are not healthy for human beings at all!
Therefore, it is important for you to have a clear understanding of such additives and take necessary measures in order to stay away from them.
MSG, which is also known as Monosodium Glutamate can be considered a perfect example of such an additive.
What Exactly is MSG
MSG can be considered a common food additive, which has got the ability to improve the flavor of food. MSG is obtained from glutamic acid or amino acid glutamate. It is one of the most common amino acids that you can find in nature.
Glutamate is combined along with sodium in order to produce MSG. However, you will not be able to find any chemical difference between the glutamate found in the natural foods that you consume and MSG.
But there are a few reasons to highlight why MSG is bad for your health. We will look into the facts later in this article.
Why MSG Is Bad For You
1. MSG can create a negative impact on your brain
From various experiments conducted in the past, it has been identified that MSG can create a negative impact on your brain.
In other words, MSG eats away at your brain. This can worsen the neurological symptoms that you are dealing with as well.
MSG can be considered an excitotoxin. In other words, it has got the ability to overexcite the cells that you have in your body.
In fact, the cells would be excited to a level, where they will end up with permanent damage or even die. In this type of situation, the neurons would fire rapid impulses. In the long run, this could lead to possible brain damage.
Brain damage caused by MSG can trigger numerous negative consequences. For example, it can lead to Parkinson’s disease or Alzheimer’s disease.
In some cases, it has been linked to learning difficulties, which can impact your entire life. These are just a couple of examples of brain health conditions and people who consume MSG will have an increased chance of getting many other symptoms.
You should never give MSG to a child. That’s because the brain of a child is extremely sensitive. It has been identified that a child’s brain is four times more sensitive to MSG when compared to the brain of an adult.
Therefore, a child will be experiencing significant damage to their brain, which cannot be reversed. Unfortunately, many baby foods contain MSG as an active ingredient.
It is important for the parents to be very cautious when purchasing baby food and make sure that they don’t provide any MSG to their little ones.
2. MSG can trick your senses
Another reason why healthcare professionals say that MSG is not good for your health is that it has the ability to trick your senses.
If you take a look at all sources of protein, you will figure out that glutamic acid is linked to them. The glutamic acid that creates MSG is responsible for tricking your senses.
When you consume MSG with food, glutamic acid would be detected by your taste buds on the tongue. As a result, a signal will be passed to the brain that your food has protein.
This is similar to the signal that is sent to the brain when the taste bud in your tongue identifies sweet flavors.
When your brain identifies that there is a protein in the food, it would create the temptation to consume more food. However, MSG is detached from protein and there is no real protein in the food that you consume.
You will be tricking your senses. This can lead to a variety of negative consequences in the long run. This is why it is important to have a clear understanding of it as well.
It has also been identified that MSG can stimulate the pancreas. As a result, your body will be asked to make more insulin.
Even if there are no carbohydrates present in the body for insulin to act, you will be producing a lot of unnecessary insulin.
This can result in a sudden change in blood sugar levels. As a result, you will feel hungry much more often. In other words, your satiety mechanisms will be messed up and you will end up consuming a lot of food. This can lead to obesity over time.
3. Other long-term health effects
So far, we discussed the short-term health effects that MSG can create. It is important to take a look at the long-term health effects associated with it as well. It has been identified that people will have to face a lot of damage in the long run with the continued consumption of MSG.
Eye damage has been identified as one of the major consequences that you will have to face with the consumption of MSG. In addition, you will get frequent headaches.
Things will worsen along with time and there is a high possibility for you to end up with depression as well. In addition, disorientation and fatigue will be common to you.
As mentioned earlier, you will also become a victim of obesity.
Final Thoughts on MSG
As you can see, MSG cannot be considered a healthy additive.
It is recommended for you to take appropriate steps to stay away from the consumption of this additive as much as possible.
If you pay more attention to your food habits, you will be able to stay away from them.
Here is a PIN you can share with your friends on Pinterest and warn them about MSG: