This ingredient can make you fat

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http://health./experts/weightloss/2200/the-surprising-ingredient-causing-weight-gain/The Surprising Ingredient Causing Weight Gain By Margaret Furtado, M.S., R.D. - Posted Mon, Jul 27, 2009, 12:23 am PDT

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it isn't so! A recent study out of the University of Carolina at Chapel

Hill cites what animal studies have hinted at for years: MSG (aka

monosodium glutamate) could be a factor in weight gain.The study

focused on 750 Chinese men and women, ages 40-59, living in 3 rural

villages in north and south China. Most of the study subjects prepared

their meals at home without commercially processed foods and roughly 82

percent used MSG. Those participants who used the highest amounts of

MSG had nearly 3 times the incidence of overweight as those who did not

use MSG, even when physical activity, total caloric intake, and other

possible explanations for body mass differences were accounted for. The

positive correlation between MSG and higher weight confirmed what

animal studies have been suggesting for years.Maybe you're

wondering what monosodium glutamate is exactly, and what you can do to

avoid it in your diet. MSG is a flavor enhancer in foods—some believe

it may even provide a fifth basic taste sensation (in addition to

sweet, sour, salt, and bitter), what the Japanese call "umami"

(roughly translated as "tastiness"). MSG is considered an

"excitotoxin," since its action in the body is to excite

neurotransmitters (important brain chemicals), causing nerve cells to

discharge and also exciting nerves related to taste. Perhaps this

ability to excite these nerves is a factor in an association between

increased MSG usage and weight gain. How prevalent is MSG in

the U.S. diet? Americans consumed about 1 million pounds of MSG in

1950, and today that number has increased by a factor of 300! The

Food and Drug Administration (FDA) describes MSG as "naturally

occurring," and has it on the GRAS ("generally regarded as safe") list.

However, not only could MSG be causing us to gain weight, but some

studies also reveal that as many as 25 to 30 percent of Americans have

adverse reactions to it (e.g., palpitations and migraine headaches),

and as many as 30 percent are extra sensitive to it if they consume

more than 5 grams at one sitting.OK, if you're an MSG user who could stand to lose a little weight (or know someone who is), what should you do? Unfortunately,

eliminating MSG from the diet is much easier said than done,

since—given the fact that food processors often change recipes—there's

no list of "safe" foods that never contain MSG. A good start is to

avoid anything with MSG anywhere in the ingredient list, but there will

still be many foods that have MSG hidden inside other ingredients.

Likewise, even products labeled "no MSG added" can still contain these

hidden sources.Best bets for avoiding MSGBuy organic produce whenever possible.Make things from scratch, avoiding processed ingredients as much as possible.Limit

making stews or soups in a crock pot, since slow-cooking tends to cause

small amounts of glutamic acid to be released from the protein sources

(e.g., meat, chicken) in the recipe.