Everyone talks about the movies that came out in the last couple of years addressing Chemicals in Food and Eating Healthy to change the global footprint. But I don’t expect you to see every film. So here’s some important facts told to me in Forks over Knives, (and the extended interviews), Hungry for Change, Vegucated, Defying Disease on Ted Talks and Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead.
I like to give you the background info about things we eat, so you can make your own informed intelligent decisions. In this blog, I will give you info on the three top things that all these movies talk about: MSG, Aspartame and High Fructose Corn Syrup.
First, let’s talk about MSG or Monosodium Glutamate. How many names on the label are loaded with this same chemical that excites a part of your brain, (in charge of fat) which your body activates when eating MSG and you get fatter?
WAIT CHEF! DID YOU SAY MSG MAKES YOU FAT?
You bet! And it can make you sick….
But how about it? How many names on labels are loaded with MSG?
NO IDEA CHEF!
Fifty. FIVE OHHHHH…. (50). It actually varies from 40 to 50, depending on who you talk to. Here are some of the names to look out for as told on the Life Spa Website:
- Glutamic Acid (E 620)2
- Glutamate (E 620)
- Monosodium Glutamate (E 621)
- Monopotassium Glutamate (E 622)
- Calcium Glutamate (E 623)
- Monoammonium Glutamate (E 624)
- Magnesium Glutamate (E 625)
- Natrium Glutamate
- Yeast Extract
- Anything hydrolyzed
- Any hydrolyzed protein
- Calcium Caseinate
- Sodium Caseinate
- Yeast Food
- Yeast Nutrient
- Autolyzed Yeast
- Gelatin
- Textured Protein
- Soy Protein
- Soy Protein Concentrate
- Soy Protein Isolate
- Whey Protein
- Whey Protein Concentrate
- Whey Protein Isolate
- Anything: protein
- Vetsin
- Ajinomoto
LifeSpa says: This flavor enhancer is linked to a host of health issues, including fibromyalgia (1), obesity (2), fatty liver (3), high insulin and blood sugar (3), high cholesterol (3), liver toxicity (3), metabolic syndrome (4), high blood pressure, disturbance to the gut-brain connection (5), neurological and brain damage (6).
And MSG is in 80% of the food we eat including organic and vegan products. So please, check your labels.
Next, let’s explore Aspartame. When I think of Aspartame, I think of diet soda. Aside from the fact that diet soda dehydrates you, the two ingredients that combine in diet soda are Aspartame and Caffeine. So, you get a quick ‘buzz’, that then this combo kills off brain cells. There are studies that show diet soda causes many problems from as simple as a migraine to as intense as cancer. There was testing done at Yale which clearly shows that diet soda causes carbohydrate cravings. So the concept of diet soda helping you loose weight? You decide!
The other thing I learned is that the FDA studies you hear about are not done by the FDA. They’re done by the manufacturer and reviewed by the FDA. So FDA studies are basically invalid.
Is that news to you? It was to me.
On to High Fructose Corn Syrup – I will say that the Corn Refiners Association is working overtime to claim that what I have learned is not true. But that’s how it is with GMO and Monsanto. So I’m really not surprised.
What I have heard said over and over again is that anything that is a chemically manipulated version, anything that is concentrated and refined (where they isolate the nutrient), is bad for you. That’s what they have done with corn, to make the high fructose corn syrup. Some doctors explain that this syrup is like jet fuel. Can you imagine what a concentrated syrup of that magnitude can do to your insides? It can burn your body out. Aside from that, and the part of all this I know to be true is: Your body cannot digest chemicals.
So heads up! Look at labels on your salad dressing and in your pizza sauce to avoid this potential problem.
Happy Eating,
Chef Marian