We've dealt with Monosodium Glutamate before here...but at the time I didn't pay too much attention to the hoopla....figured it as just another modern day food "scare".

A relative who is a teacher was visiting us and we got into the subject of what makes people overly overweight.

I started in with the High-Fructose Corn Syrup diatribe.....and was stopped in my tracks when she told me that current research on MSG indicates it could be a bigger villain.

First off....MSG is in hundreds of foods....but not by the name MSG. It is renamed by other monikers to get around the makers having to admit that there is MSG in their product.

After Googling I found that Whey protein contains it.....and so does Calcium Caseinate (found in protein bars frequently)....also Soy protein contains it....but you'd never know because it's in there by another name.

What's the problem?......well...apparently MSG has a lot to do with turning off the Leptin mechanism in your brain. This is the process by which you feel "sated" after eating. If the Leptin mechanism is impaired you will be hungry regardless.

I will post some sites that list all the names by which MSG is known.

And I will post a site that shows many of the foods it is contained in under another name.

Actually...when I first read it I almost fell out of my computer chair.

Everything us bodybuilders eat, it seems, has MSG in it in spades.

Studies were done on rats (the good ol' all-purpose rodent) and also people and the results were quantifiable....use of MSG made them gain weight.

I will post again with all the site links.

Just refraining from having MSG-free Chinese food isn't going to help you....we're in much deeper here than you know.....:eek:

Everything us bodybuilders eat, it seems, has MSG in it in spades.


Which would be anecdotal evidence that no, it does not make one obese. I'll be interested to read what you find.

Well...a lot of bb'ers are losing weight and/or building muscle, thanks to their carefully scrutinized diets.

But, conversely there are so many posts where it seems to be a monumental problem getting the bodyfat percentage down.

Many hit a sort of "dietary plateau".

These are just several of the many sites on this subject:-


http://www.msgmyth.com/hidename.html

http://www.naturalnews.com/009379.html

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/118202.php

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/booster_shots/2008/08/msg.html

As far as I'm concerned, stuff like MSG and HFCS, even with their possible hormonal effects causing more rapid metabolisation and less filling effects, have no bearing on the weight of the person consuming them unless they keep eating. If you have in front of you a healthy portion, eat it, and stop, regardless of whether or not you're still hungry, I don't see either MSG nor HFCS having much of an effect.

Well that's the thing....the MSG content is designed to attempt to make you keep eating by chemical aberrant control.

Well that's the thing....the MSG content is designed to attempt to make you keep eating by chemical aberrant control.
It makes me think how with chips they slogan it with "betcha can't just eat one"

Good ole MSG is responsible for that lol.