MSG Under Cover

For those of you who avidly check food labels in grocery stores, you probably try to avoid monosodium glutamate, more commonly known as MSG. When eaten in any amount, this flavor enhancer is implicated in headaches, sweating, sense of facial tightness, numbness and tingling around the mouth, heart palpitations, chest pain, shortness or breath, nausea and weakness.

Analyzing food labels can be really tricky because MSG has numerous other aliases! For example, hydrolyzed soy protein and autolyzed yeast are other names for MSG. Most protein bars, including ones that claim to be healthy and low in carbs contain these products.

At ALETRIS, we advocate a whole foods diet that is high in organic proteins, fiber and vegetables. We counsel patients on the importance of eliminating processed foods to attain optimum health. A quick and easy tool when perusing the grocery store is to steer clear from any product containing a long list of ingredients. Remember, just because you are buying from a health food store doesn’t mean it’s healthy!