MSG and Children

MSG is a pervasive additive in most processed foods today. In a previous post I wrote named “The Evil Exicotoxin” I explained how it is common practice today for the food industry to add MSG in order to boost sales. The excitotoxin (MSG) triggers a response in the brain to eat more food. Therefore eating more = more sales = greater profits. 

In this post I would like to address how MSG affects children. You see, I have a close friend who doesn’t really like to cook and regularly takes their children to McDonalds and Taco Bell. They buy takeout Chinese food or pizza and Lunchables for their kids. For breakfast, the kids get a bowl of Fruit Loops. Snacks are chips, cookies and crackers. These are the foods on which these children are being raised. Unfortunately, all of these items have very little nutritional value, are all high in fat, and all of them have added MSG. 

I have been concerned with my friend and their children since so very little of their food is natural or homemade, but what can I do? I have tried as gently as I could to make suggestions, but my friend is more concerned with convenience. I’m afraid they will have to deal with the outcomes of this type of unhealthy diet. 

There have been plenty of studies published which indicate that MSG leads to obesity--especially in the young. Because children are still growing and developing makes them more vunerable to the effects of MSG on their system. 

We know that children are four times more sensitive to excitotoxins than adults. The developing brain is in the process of doing critical wiring that will affect its functioning for the rest of the person’s life. Newborns and toddlers are at very high risk of damage when exposed to excitotoxins. 

-  MSG–How Does it Impact Children and Elders? Excitotoxins–The Taste That Kills by Russell Blaylock, MD  -

Other effects of MSG during these formative years can include problems such as dyslexia, uncontrollable anger, autism, etc. Not to mention that children regularly exposed to excitotoxins may grow up to be shorter in stature and obese.

For decades, MSG has been used by medical researchers to cause brain lesions, in young rats and mice, even in primates. Their work has shown that rats fed MSG from birth could not find their way through mazes as well as rats not fed MSG. And for decades, MSG has been used by medical researchers to cause obesity in young laboratory animals.

healthy-holistic-living.com/msg.html#ixzz2EbsUKCvu

My friend considers fast food to be a blessing since they are usually tired and don’t want to cook at the end of the day. It’s easier for them to drive through and get a Happy Meal rather than coming home and standing over the stove for the next 30-40 minutes while the kids are hungry and crying. However, by taking this approach, I’m afraid of what might be in store for their children’s future. 

The key here is to eat food as close to nature as possible at all times. We should each consider clearing our pantries and refrigerators to eliminate all foods with MSG, NutraSweet and hydrolyzed vegetable protein. This includes virtually all processed foods, some of the worst offenders are soups, salad dressings, steak sauce, gravy mixes, chips, cream sauces and gourmet foods. Read labels carefully and re-learn the joys of cooking and a simple diet. Russell Blaylock, MD

Well said Dr. Blaylock! 

Providing a nutritional plant-based whole foods diet does take planning. I had to learn new cooking techniques and methods. But I am glad everyday to prepare my own food. It makes me happy to know exactly what ingredients are in my foods and that they are healthy for me. I want so badly to help my friend and her children. It would definitely take commitment on her part to adopt new habits and learn new methods of making her own “fast food”. 

Have any of you had this experience? How do you loving help someone who doesn’t realize what they (and their children) eat today affects their future health?