MSG in Nutritional Yeast? was Re: Stefansson's Book Online

[Guest guest]

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> Tom, when I tried a low fat diet many years ago, I tried some plain

> unsalted unbuttered popcorn. I had to force myself to eat it.

> Definitely no gimme more sensation! For me, added sugar, salt, and

> MSG (which is a type of salt) all contribute to over-eating. I don't

> seem to have a problem eating starchy foods that don't have these

> additives. I bet that cereal you were over-eating had lots of added

> sugar and/or salt. Likewise with most breads these days. Try eating

> plain bread that has no salt or sugar added. I might be able to eat

> it with some butter, but I wouldn't get that gimme more sensation.

> I eat a lot more nuts if they're salted than if they're not salted. I

> suspect people wouldn't eat near as many potato chips if they had no

> salt. In fact, I remember eating low-salt baked potato chips when I

> was doing low-fat, but don't remember wanting to eat lots. But if I

> ate something salty, I'd then want something sweet. And vice versa.

> I think adding glutamate into the salty mix just adds fuel to the

> fire. It also makes many foods taste meatier and thus more appealing

> to most of us. An easy way to make fake food that tastes meaty, but

> isn't.

Well sure, dry unsalted bread or popcorn is harder to overeat. I think

you're right about salt and MSG adding fuel to the fire, but do I

think that carbohydrate is the single most addictive ingredient. Think

of how easy it is to overeat when a big bowl of spaghetti is in front

of you (a ton of refined carbs plus a good bit of fat and salt in the

sauce). You feel stuffed or sick afterward. Now think of a big fatty

steak with all the salt you want. It's delicious but you won't gobble

it down the same way and you won't feel so stuffed afterward.

When I have " bad " cravings, i.e. I'm not really hungry but I find

myself in the kitchen looking for something to eat, I always crave

something with carbs. It's very irrational behavior to want to eat

when you're not hungry, so that's compelling evidence that there is

something addictive about the carbohydrate stimulus.

Tom