Okay, so I am once again ready to go for another round of clean-eating. Clean eating is basically eating only foods that come from nature, I think I read it described once as, “Food that has not been touched by man.” I have been toying around with the idea for awhile, and have been somewhat successful at at least incorporating more un-processed foods into my diet.

The reason I am so ready to do it again is:

1) MSG-umami- glutamic acid- Have been responsible for headaches, chest pain, rapid heartbeat, diarrhea, depression, mood swings, anxiety, hyperactivity, tumors, insomnia, asthma attacks, tongue swelling… too many to list. I suppose it would be easy to remember these three ingredients and check to make sure my food did not contain them, but oh no….food manufacturers are tricky… If any of these other forms of glutamate contain less than 99% monosodium glutamate they do not have to be labeled as, “contains MSG”- hydrolyzed protein, sodium casinate, calcium casinate, autolyzed yeast, textured protein, yeast food, hydrolyzed vegetable protein. The happy feeling ingredient “natural flavors” -40% MSG!

2) I want my friends and family to see how much pure, real energy I have when I am not putting so much (and what I suspect, MSG) crap into my body. I gave up diet soda about 2 months ago when I found out that the body converts the aspartame into formaldehyde. I then used the Master Cleanse to kick soda all together. I am so happy now that I don’t have that ‘acid eating away at my stomach’ feeling anymore.

3) I was doing some reading up on MSG for this article, and low and behold, almost everything has MSG (in some form) in it! ranch dressing, vegetarian soups, cheetos!!! No not cheetos! caesar salad dressing, deli sandwich meat… the list is SO vast! As I continued to read all of the products that contain MSG or any kind of glutamate that has been concentrated by man and I am just kind of fed up. Everything, it seems has some form a concentrated glutamate in it. (Glutamate is an amino acid that triggers the rewards system in the brain. So more and more glutamate is entering the body and telling the body to feel good eventually upsets the balance that is needed for a healthy mind. )
When I first started thinking about this article I was planning on doing 1 week without MSG. I figured I might have some side effects (chronic fatigue, problems sleeping, mood swings) that I have become accustomed too, and would then prove that MSG is no good for me. This was my idea, then I read all of the foods that have MSG or some form thereof and I can’t really think of too many processed foods that are free of any glutamate.

Oh and my favorite fun fact that I found: The transportation of MSG is controlled by The Bio-terrorism Act of 2002.