its mainly because you've lost your immunity of sorts to it. i used to be able to eat anything, now i get something too fatty or bad for you and oh boy!

It's not just immunity.... the food is really engineered to be addictive...

yea. when you aren't used to processing it anymore body rejects. Make your own burger next time, (that way you know whats in it)

Interesting stuff: MSG is actually not the health horror it's made out to be. It's a naturally occurring glutamate (there's more MSG by volume in freshly picked peas than in soya sauce!) without any known negative health effects. There are taste buds on your tongue specifically for picking up the flavour of glutamates like MSG!

They can make super obese michael moore-esque lab rats with MSG. And it damages the brain....

I've heard of the brain damage study, which shows that extreme doses of MSG in mice can damage non-blood-brain-barrier-protected portions of the brain, but there's never been proof that the same mechanism can take effect in humans. Even if the mechanism is effective in humans, you would have to consume an extreme amount of MSG in a very short period of time. This would be a danger to infants, though, considering their smaller amount of body mass making the required dosage lower.

However, I've never heard of a study where amino acids (like MSG) could be converted to fats, to the point where even lab rats were left "super obese".

You would be suprised that MSG is in a majority of foods. All fast food has it in there in extreme doses. Also they have about 15 names for it, so there may not be "MSG" in the food, but it's in there as another name. Micro wave food, canned foods, pre-processed meats, dinner in a box, candy, popcorn.... Everything usually has MSG in it, so the 'eating small amounts' isn't going to happen.
I'll just stay away from it, and you can eat it... how's that?

MSG can be referred to: MSG, Monosodium glutamate, glutamic acid, or e621 if you live in Europe. When I say "extreme amounts", I'm talking doses of over 10g per kg of body weight. The point where MSG reaches its "peak" of flavour (i.e. before it oversaturates the flavor and just tastes bad) is about 1g/100ml. Assuming you're 75KG (the average male body weight), it would take you 750 000 cubic centimeters of food to reach that safe limit. I'm fairly certain that at that point, MSG would be the least of your worries.

As for staying away from it, you'd have to avoid eating literally anything that is organic (in the biological sense, not the marketing sense). Good luck with that.

I have heard this too, I have spent some time looking into the "Evil" msg and have found, like you, that indeed the stuff your saying is true. I think your arguments are well thought out, and well written and I want to be your new best friend. You sir, have my respect.

The other thing I will say, is that when it was mentioned that ALL fast food joints in the US have MSG, that is in fact not true. Many do of course, but the one that was in fact the most surprising to me is that a fast food restaurant called "Panda Express" does _NOT_ add msg to their food. (Chineese restaurants are well known for adding msg) This of course doesn't make their food healthy .. but I do find it interesting.

Well Spoken Nviom. Kudos to you.

Meat should have msg in it naturally. If it's added, that's pretty weird. I don't trust US meat so I wouldn't be surprised.with GMO inside the EU I know It's shown safe. In US it's only shown 'equivalent'. That's terrifying.

Still, unless you're intolerant to it, it is not unhealthy.

I think avoiding all processed is a bit over the top, but it's not risky. Just please don't become preachy-vegan-angry about it.

Been cutting back myself.

Trying to wean myself off the junk. I've finally cut out fast food almost entirely and I'm trying to go to the local farmer's market more.

Luckily, we have big, sweet, and very nutritious organic fruits and vegetables in the Northwest. We get cherries the size of small plums and apples the size of grapefruits. :3

Fruit from the grocery store is good as well. Just make sure that it has less than 5 numbers on the sticker. The organic fruit has 1-4 numbers on it, and the lab created crap legally has to have 5 or more as an ID number on it

Ah, didn't know that. Where'd you find that out?

Some food 'Conspiracy' vidoes. They cited a Congressional bill that has that as a mandate in it... can't find it now

That sounds really dodgy/conspiracy. I'm sure you have more than 10k cultivars. If that's what the numbers are for, you'll need more. And non-GM does not mean organic and visa versa. You should be able to check the FDA requirements and numbering scheme.

You may have a gluten sensitivity. Not dissing the effects of fat (ugh), but in my experience it's the carbs, and especially thick bread, that turns to bricks.

Your brain gives you a shot of endorphins every time you eat something unhealthy and tasty. You crave that "hit" each time you even see fatty foods. something to do with the high kcal value, and your brain seeing it as a good food to give energy for survival.

Sounds like paleo or low carb diet. Basically like what my partner and I are on. The real trick and difficult thing is making sure you have the right amount of calories. Too low an you are doing more harm than good. Too high and your loss isn't as much.

Been there. i've even done a test where i eat fruits, veggies, snack bar and yogurt and drink plenty of water. one day. i go for a run and my body is at optimum performance I feel like I can run forever. Another day I ate healthy for the most part but I had greasy foods from a Walmart's deli for dinner, went for a wrong within the first two minutes i got that burn in my chess and breathing was labored like I had already run a marathon.

As far as fast food/junk food, we eat more than we should. Businesses are always trying to shove more food down your throat and for some reason because we don't buy a full size bag a chips we feel the need to finish the bag in one go? There's a serving size amount on the bag. You don't need to eat the whole damn thing even if it's a 99 cent bag. I can make one of those bags last 3-5 days. Usually if i'm eating healthy and I get a craving i'll eat a couple chips to satisfy it. You've got to have good control though cause as you say if you taste it you'll end up craving more. The best things to do is keep it out of site and out of mind. And what also helps that is to stay busy and keep yourself occupied.

Also I think it's easier if you don't live with family. At least my family lol. When i moved out I lost 60 ibs cause I was able to ration, set up eating/workout schedules without having the issue of for example brothers eating all your food and diet drinks. I still ate junk food now and again but I was smart with it. I still ate pizzas and burger etc. I just instead of the double quarter pounder (which i so love) i get 1 or two cheeseburgers, no soda or fries. just water. Also that out of site out of mind stuff doesn't work your family only cooks the calorific foods out there. My dad is very sensitive about his cooking. I was just sharing what i thought was a funny story. when he made dinner one day I thought it was a stew, when i tasted it the liquid it was seeping in was actually fat. Gagged on it. He didn't like the story >_>

There was a interesting study done recently, which I can't cite, but will mention.

In the study they added "Stop" versions of the food to the bag or bar or set, at the "Recommended" quantity, and it worked!

For example, they added red colored chips into the can of pringles, every say 15 chips. And the majority of people who were eating the chips, naturally stopped at the correct serving size, without knowing they were doing it.

Awesome. I think personally, I would like to see more education and less reliance on fast food become the real solution to the weight problem, but since that is likely unatainable, this sounds like a great way to help out the issue.

I gave up soft drinks and sugar in my coffee, I'll have a can of Pepsi a fortnight, down from 2 daily, and I lost 10kg. I can't finish a whole Coke anymore.

I need to stop the occasional candybars next. I don't really eat much processed food.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KBMxpDbp51A

Happens the same way vice versa. Before I joined the military, I ate mostly junk, frozen stuff, and fast food. So when I started becoming active, I also ate healthier. For a long time, nothing really came out right on the other end. >~> Your stomach just likes to abide by a trend. As soon as you change it, it wants to fight, then afterwards readjust.

I've seen referred to as the JERF diet. Just Eat Real Foods. I'm not quite there yet, but I'm getting closer. And thinner.