Making our Cupboards more Healthy! MSG and more.......

SAY NO TO MSG!

Monosodium Glutamate and it’s many alias’.
The most widely used flavor enhancer on the market!

If you have only been avoiding the the terms MSG / Monosodium Glutamate because of knowing the ill health effects then you are in for an alarming list of the alias’ that the FDA allows.

You cannot trust the labeling with the words on front that say NO MSG. Yes no MSG but more than likely one of the alias’ names is in the ingredients list on the product.
This post on Truth in Labeling “What is MSG” explains what MSG is and how it is produced.

Say NO to it’s many alias’ and much more in your cupboards, on the grocery store shelves and much more.

We have been label readers for a long time now. I guess I would say I’ve always been one. Though when we went 100% gluten free for my husband it became you might say a form of Art. Everything I grab off a shelf in a store these days gets it’s label read entirely.

MSG is not a known trouble spot for those with Celiacs but it’s a trouble spot basically for everyone that consumes food in one way or another or will eventually over time be an issue for some.

I want to give a BIG THANKS to Robynn @ 30 Day Throw Down for sharing all the information she has so far on MSG. You can find her 2 posts about it so far at these links.
Pulling No Punches – MSG – Our Enemy
MSG – More Deadly Than You Know
She has more to come soon & please read back on her posts.
Robynn is a dear Blog Friend ( possibly one day we will meet in person ) and I’m behind her 100% on this new blog she started in conjunction with her main blog  Yes, I could sit here and do a complete posting on all she did but I do not want to take away from her 30 Day Throw Down that so many have joined in on following.
Robynn’s Ravings . Join me along with Robynn in this 30 day month by month to better health with REAL FOOD.

We’ve been avoiding MSG for years now. Though I did not have a clue that it had dozens and dozens of alias’ and can show up in other forms.
Being we have moved from eating what we considered fairly healthy over the years to moving over to the camp of Nourishing Traditions where we eat REAL FOOD that is not adulterated and cook all of our meals from scratch, grow our own organic vegetables, raising our own meat ( hogs right now with others to come, with plans for chickens as meat and layers, currently use  farm fresh eggs that haven’t been washed from our next door neighbor, and I am drinking Raw Cows Milk from a local farmer that is absolutely the sweetest-creamiest milk. I had made one trip to a Goat Dairy for milk and we were so hopeful for the best. First just was fine – the second was not palatable what so ever….it was so buck tasting strong I couldn’t even gag it down.  We now purchase through a friend who picks up now a total of 12 gallons a week ( 2 per family ) from a farmer we know that their practices in animal care and they are a top notch dairy we’ve known for years and bought milk from years ago. They stopped selling for various reasons but now are selling only to this friend of ours and he was gracious in adding us to his milk run. We also weekly make Kombucha, Kefir and I am still working to perfect a good loaf of 100% Real Sourdough Bread. And fermentation of vegetables has been happening around here, also.

As to the alarming facts on MSG we began scouring our cupboards and everything in the refrigerator over the past week.
I did some more research myself on sites that tell the truth about MSG.

Here is a list of the many ways MSG is labeled:

Labels that always contain MSG

The above list comes from this site:
Truth in Labeling

Now if those aren’t enough for you to want to rid your cupboards. Please go to the link above Truth in Labeling and read more about the many ingredients that often contain MSG or create MSG during processing and the additional information on types of labeling that they hide MSG under.
THE LABEL that stuck out like a sore thumb was Natural Flavor, Natural Flavors, Natural Flavoring,  Natural Flavorings. Those 4 are the most notorious labels you will find on ingredient lists of almost every can / bottle on the supermarket shelves.

My husband has Celiac’s – gluten intolerance as well as other health issues. In all the information on the web and in books Natural Flavor, Natural Flavors, Natural Flavoring, Natural Flavorings are touted as safe……….yes safe in regards to the fact it’s not a gluten.
But they are not safe in regards to what the over all effects that MSG can have on us over time.

We don’t buy a whole lot from the grocery stores these days and just over the last few days my cupboards became even more bare from items that contained the word Natural Flavor – ‘s – ing – ings !

Here is another site I found this morning exposing the dangers in various food items…. MSG EXPOSED .

I won’t elaborate here about the dangers…….other than to say for some MSG may never bother them and give them any type of health issues over time. For others an encounter with minor allergic reactions, headaches, to life threatening reactions.

One thing is obvious and should be obvious to all is that when we mess around, alter and change  the original form of a food created by the Lord to give us healthy sustenance it will more often than not lead to troubles either immediately or years down the road rear it’s ugly results.

Besides removing the rest in our cupboards that had any labeling that indicated MSG, we finished off removing anything that had high fructose corn syrup, corn syrup ( haven’t been using either but they were still there lurking in the dark recesses ).

Please go over to Robynn’s 30 Day Throw Down to watch the videos she has posted on MSG and the alarming information that will make you want to CLEAN OUT YOUR CUPBOARDS if you haven’t already.

MSG is definitely something to stay away from completely. With the so many alias’ I think I am going to type up a list of all the forms it can be in…and stick in my purse for label reading when at the store.

If you would like to see how widely it is used with in homes that make Asian / Oriental style meals….go to an Oriental Market someday. Ours here in town was a shocker for me a few years back. Picture those metal shelf bins they use in many stores, now picture a row 8 feet long and 3 bins high. That is what I saw in everyone of those bins overflowing with packages of MSG to flavor their foods.

The best way to enhance the flavor of the food your cooking is with either fresh or dried herbs and spices. Using just the right one or combination will always enhance your foods in a very healthy way.

So what is the alternative to all this?
Label Reading can get out of hand. Believe me, I know with reading labels for gluten free and dairy free. Then toss in all the alias’ of MSG and your head is spinning out of control.
Our best bet is cooking all of our foods from scratch, getting back to basics and cook like our ancestors use too before industrialized, commercialized foods came on the market. Using Real Food ingredients that you can trust to be safe. Make your own soups, bone broths, salad dressings, the list is endless with you having control as to the end results. Using Spices and Herbs to enhance your recipes. Making a meal that you know will be truly wholesome and nutritious to you, your family and friends. It’s time consuming at best to do a recipe that calls for say a can of cream of mushroom soup – so you have to think ahead and make your own.

- JOIN IN THE DISCUSSION IN COMMENTS -

This post is a part of Real Food Wednesdays
Hosted today by Kelly the Kitchen Kop.

Your Comments and input are appreciated – I read them and respond. If you have any additional information to share about MSG and other adulterated foods please share them in the comments. THANKS!