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MSG: A Silent Enemy
by Donna Russell, July, 2004

I wondered if there could be an actual chemical causing the massive obesity epidemic, so did John Erb, a friend of mine. He was a research assistant at the University of Waterloo, and spent years working for the government. He made an amazing discovery while going through scientific journals for a book he was writing called The Slow Poisoning of America. In hundreds of studies around the world, scientists were creating obese mice and rats to use in diet or diabetes test studies. No strain of rat or mice is naturally obese, so the scientists have to create them. They make these morbidly obese creatures by injecting them with MSG when they are first born. The MSG triples the amount of insulin the pancreas creates, causing rats (and humans?) to become obese. They even have a title for the race of fat rodents they create: "MSG-Treated Rats"

MSG? I was shocked too. For a long time now, many Chinese restaurants have stopped using MSG because of the negative health effects reported. But out of curiosity, I went to my kitchen, checking the cupboards and the fridge. MSG was in everything! The Campbell's soups, the Hostess Doritos, the Lays flavored potato chips, Top Ramen, Betty Crocker Hamburger Helper, Heinz canned gravy, Swanson frozen prepared meals, Kraft salad dressings, especially the 'healthy low fat' ones. The items that didn't have MSG had something called Hydrolyzed Vegetable Protein, which is just another name for Monosodium Glutamate. It was shocking to see just how many of the foods we feed our children everyday are filled with this stuff. They hide MSG under many different names in order to fool those who catch on.

But it didn't stop there. When our family went out to eat, we started asking at the restaurants what menu items had MSG. Many employees, even the managers, swore they didn't use MSG. But when we ask for the ingredient list, which they grudgingly provided, sure enough MSG and Hydrolyzed Vegetable Protein were everywhere. Burger King, McDonalds, Wendy's, Taco Bell, every restaurant, even the sit down ones like TGIF, Chili's', Applebee's and Denny's use MSG in abundance. Kentucky Fried Chicken seemed to be the WORST offender: MSG was in every chicken dish, salad dressing and gravy. No wonder I loved to eat that coating on the skin, their secret spice is MSG!

Why is MSG in so many of the foods we eat? Is it a preservative or maybe a vitamin? Not according to my friend John. In the book he wrote, an expose of the food additive industry called The Slow Poisoning of America, he said that MSG is added to food for the addictive effect it has on the human body.

Even the propaganda website sponsored by the food manufacturers lobby group supporting MSG explains that the reason they add it to food is to make people eat more. A study of elderly people showed that people eat more of the foods that it is added to. The Glutamate Association lobby group says eating more benefits the elderly, but what does it do to the rest of us? "Betcha can't eat just one", takes on a whole new meaning where MSG is concerned! And we wonder why the nation is overweight? The MSG manufacturers themselves admit that it addicts people to their products. It makes people choose their product over others, and makes people eat more of it than they would if MSG wasn't added. Not only is MSG scientifically proven to cause obesity, it is an addictive substance!

Since its introduction into the American food supply fifty years ago, MSG has been added in larger and larger doses to the prepackaged meals, soups, snacks and fast foods we are tempted to eat every day. The FDA has set no limits on how much of it can be added to food. They claim it's safe to eat in any amount. How can they claim it is safe when there are hundreds of scientific studies that suggest otherwise? Both the medical research community and food manufacturers have known MSG's side effects for decades!

If you believe that MSG is okay for us to consume, and you don't believe what John Erb has to say, see for yourself. Go to the National Library of Medicine, at www.pubmed.com Type in the words "MSG Obese", and read a few of the 115 medical studies that appear. Many studies mentioned in John Erb's book link MSG to diabetes, migraines and other headaches, autism, ADD-HD and even Alzheimer's.

But what can we do to stop the food manufactures from dumping fattening, addictive and brain damaging MSG into our food supply and causing the obesity epidemic we now see? And, perhaps causing or contributing to the coinciding epidemic of depression... remember the studies above that mentions serotonin and hypothalamic lesions.

Even as you read this, George W. Bush and his corporate supporters are pushing a Bill through Congress. Called the "Personal Responsibility in Food Consumption Act", also known as the "Cheeseburger Bill". This sweeping law bans anyone from suing food manufacturers, sellers, and distributors, even if it comes out that they purposely added an addictive chemical to their foods. The Bill has already been rushed through the House of Representatives, and is due for the same rubber stamp at Senate level. It is important that Bush and his corporate supporters get it through before people get wind of this, and find out about MSG, the intentional nicotine for food.

Several months ago, John Erb took his book and his concerns to one of the highest government health officials in Canada. While sitting in the Government office, the official told him, "Sure I know how bad MSG is, I wouldn't touch the stuff!" But this top level government official refused to tell the public what he knew.

The big media doesn't want to tell the public either, fearing legal issues with their advertisers and loss of revenue. It seems that the fallout on the fast food industry may hurt their profit margin. So what do we do? The food producers and restaurants have been adding addicting MSG to their products for years, and now we are paying the price for it. Our children should not be cursed with obesity, and maybe brain damage causing depression, caused by an addictive food additive.

But what can you do about it? How can you stop the poisoning of the people of this country, when someone like the President of the United States of America is helping to ensure financial protection for an industry that is poisoning us? Blow the whistle on MSG. Tell everyone you can about this. Show them the truth that the corporate-owned politicians and media won't tell you, and hope that enough people are successful in forwarding it to those who can expose this insidious evil before this Bill becomes law, and protects those who are knowingly poisoning us. The food industry learned a lot from the tobacco industry. Imagine if big tobacco had a bill like this in place before someone blew the whistle on them?

We do not want to be rats in one giant experiment, and we do not approve of food that makes us into a nation of obese, lethargic, depressed, addicted sheep, waiting for the slaughter. With your help we can put an end to this, and stop the Slow Poisoning of America. Let's save our children.

Donna Russell, Legislative Advocate donna@citizenshealth.org California Citizens for Health Freedom 8048 Mamie Avenue, Oroville CA 95966-8412 Phone: 1.530.534.9758 www.citizenshealth.org

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From Don Bennett: What can you do? Buy the book, The Slow Poisoning of America, and share it with others.

Another great book to read is "Excitotoxins: The Taste That Kills" by Russell L. Blaylock MD. Primarily for the lay public, but also for those trained in medical science and biology, neurosurgeon Blaylock releases a well-researched bombshell - that excitotoxins, substances added to food and beverages that include glutamate (MSG) and aspartate (NutraSweet), damage nerve cells in the brain, and are particularly dangerous to the elderly, children, and those at risk of neurodegenerative diseases (which is everybody).

And worth mentioning here: ADDITIVES THAT CONTAIN MSG OR EXCITOTOXINS - carrageenan, enzymes, soy protein concentrate,
soy protein isolate, whey protein