Received this article in an e mail, don't know how true it's but would be interested to get views back on it.

Shahriar 


MSG (a slow poison)

  MSG
      The  food additive MSG (Mono-Sodium Glutamate) is a slow  poison.  MSG
hides behind 25 or more names, such as  Natural Flavoring."  MSG is even in
your favorite coffee  from Tim Horton's and  Starbucks coffee  shops!

      I wondered if there  could be an actual chemical causing the massive
obesity epidemic,  and so did a friend of mine, John Erb. He was a research
assistant  at the University of Waterloo in Ontario , Canada , and spent
years  working for the government.  He made an amazing discovery  while
going through  scientific journals for a book he was  writing called The Slow
Poisoning  of America.

      In  hundreds of studies around the world, scientists were  creating
obese mice and rats to use in diet or diabetes test  studies. 
No strain of rat or mice is naturally obese, so  scientists  have to create
them.  They make these  creatures morbidly obese by injecting them with
MSG when they are  first born.

The MSG triples the amount of insulin the  pancreas creates, causing rats
(and perhaps humans) to become  obese.  They  even  have a name for the
fat  rodents they create:  "MSG-Treated  Rats."

      When I heard this, I  was shocked.  I went into my kitchen and checked
the  cupboards and the refrigerator.  MSG was in everything -- the  Campbell 's
soups, the Hostess Doritos, the Lays  flavored  potato chips, Top Ramen,
Betty Crocker Hamburger Helper,  Heinz canned gravy, Swanson frozen
prepared meals, and Kraft salad  dressings, especially the "healthy low-fat"  ones.

      The items that didn't  have MSG marked on the product label had
something called  "Hydrolyzed Vegetable Protein," which is just another
name for  Monosodium Glutamate.

      It  was shocking to see just how many of the foods we feed  our
children  everyday are filled with this  stuff.  MSG is hidden under many
different names in order  to fool those who read the  ingredient list, so that
they don't  catch on.  (Other names for MSG are "Accent,  "Aginomoto,"
"Natural Meat Tenderizer,"  etc.)

      But it didn't stop  there.

      When our family went  out to eat, we started asking at the restaurants
what menu items  contained MSG.  Many employees, even the managers,  swore
they didn't use  MSG.

      But when we ask for  the ingredient list, which they grudgingly
provided, sure enough,  MSG and Hydrolyzed Vegetable Protein were  everywhere.

      Burger King,  McDonald's, Wendy's, Taco Bell, every restaurant -- even
the  sit-down eateries like TGIF, Chili's, Applebee's, and Denny's -- use  MSG
in abundance.  Kentucky Fried Chicken seemed to be the  WORST offender: 
MSG was in every chicken dish, salad  dressing. and gravy.  No wonder I loved
to eat that coating on  the skin -- their secret spice was  MSG!

      So why is MSG in so  many of the foods we eat?  Is it a preservative,
or a  vitamin?

      Not according to  my friend John Erb.  In his book The Slow Poisoning
of  America, he said that MSG is added to food for the addictive effect  it
has on the human  body.

      Even the propaganda  website sponsored by the food manufacturers lobby
group supporting  MSG explains that the reason they add it to food is  to
make people eat  more.

      A study of the  elderly showed that older people eat more of the foods
that it is  added to.  The Glutamate Association lobbying group says  eating
more is a benefit to the elderly, but what does it do to the  rest of us?

      "Betcha can't  eat [just] one," takes on a whole new meaning where MSG
is  concerned!  And we wonder why the nation  is overweight!

       MSG  manufacturers themselves admit that it addicts people to  their
products.  It makes people choose their  product over others, and makes
people eat more of it than they would  if MSG wasn't  added.

      Not only is MSG  scientifically proven to cause obesity, it is  an addictive
substance.  Since its introduction into  the American food supply fifty years ago,
MSG has been added in  larger and larger doses to the pre-packaged meals,
soups,  snacks, and fast foods we are tempted to eat  everyday.

      The FDA has set  no limits on how much of it can be added to food.
They claim it's  safe to eat in any amount.  But how can they claim it's  safe
when there are hundreds of scientific studies with titles like  these:

      "The monosodium  glutamate (MSG) obese rat as a model for the study of
exercise in  obesity."  Gobatto CA, Mello MA, Souza CT, Ribeiro IA.  Res
Commun Mol Pathol Pharmacol.  2002.

      "Adrenalectomy  abolishes the food-induced hypothalamic serotonin
release in both  normal and monosodium glutamate-obese  rats."  Guimaraes
RB, Telles MM, Coelho VB, Mori C,  Nascimento CM, Ribeiro.  Brain Res  Bull.
2002 Aug.

'Obesity induced by neonatal  monosodium glutamate treatment in
spontaneously hypertensive rats:  An animal model of multiple risk  factors."
Iwase M, Yamamoto  M, Iino K, Ichikawa K, Shinohara N, Yoshinari Fujishima.
Hypertens  Res. 1998  Mar.

      "Hypothalamic lesion  induced by injection of monosodium glutamate in
suckling period and  subsequent development of obesity."  Tanaka K,
Shimada M,  Nakao K Kusunoki.  Exp Neurol.  1978 Oct.

      No, the date  of that last study was not a typo; it was published  in
1978.  Both the "medical research community" and "food  manufacturers" have
known about the side effects of MSG for  decades.

      Many more of the  studies mentioned in John Erb's book link MSG to
diabetes,  migraines and headaches, autism, ADHD, and even  Alzheimer's.

     So what can we do to  stop the food manufactures from dumping this
fattening and  addictive MSG into our food supply and causing the obesity
epidemic  we now see?

      Several months  ago, John Erb took his book and his concerns to one of
the highest  government health officials in Canada  .
      While he was sitting in the  government office, the official told him,
"Sure, I know how bad MSG  is.  I wouldn't touch the stuff." But this
top-level  government official refuses to tell the public what he  knows.

      The big media  doesn't want to tell the public either, fearing issues
with their  advertisers.  It seems that the fallout on the fast food  industry
may hurt their profit margin.  The food producers  and restaurants have
been addicting us to their products for years,  and now we are paying
the price for it.  Our children  should not be cursed with obesity caused
by an addictive  food additive.

      But  what can I do about it?  I'm just one voice!  What can I  do to
stop the poisoning of our children, while our governments are  insuring
financial protection for the industry that is poisoning  us?

      This message is going  out to everyone I know in an attempt to tell
you the truth  that the corporate-owned politicians and media won't tell  you.

      The best way you can  help to save yourself and your children from
this drug-induced  epidemic is to forward this article to everyone. 
With any  luck, it will circle the globe before politicians can pass the  legislation
protecting those who are poisoning  us.

      The food industry  learned a lot from the tobacco industry. Imagine if
big tobacco had  a bill like this in place before someone blew the whistle
on  nicotine?

      If you are one of  the few who can still believe that MSG is good for
us and you don't  believe what John Erb has to say, see for  yourself.  Go
to  the National Library of  Medicine at www.pubmed.com. Type in the
words "MSG Obese" and read a  few of the 115 medical studies that  appear.

      We the public do  not want to be rats in one giant experiment, and we
do not approve  of food that makes us into a nation of obese, lethargic,
addicted  sheep, feeding the food industry's bottom line while waiting for
the  heart transplant, the diabetic-induced amputation, blindness, or  other
obesity-induced, life-threatening  disorders.

      With your help  we can put an end to this poison.  Do your part  in
sending this message out by word of mouth, e-mail, or by  distribution of
this printout to your friends all over the world  and stop this "Slow
Poisoning of Mankind" by the packaged food  industry.

Blowing the whistle on MSG is our  responsibility, so get the word  out.