MSG is one of those big, bad additives that you just cant seem to get away from in the American diet. It has been linked to allergies and other health issues, and yet it still is a mainstay additive and preservative, as well as flavor enhancer, in many of the processed foods that we eat today. 

MSG stands for MonoSodiumGlutamate, it is a derivative of sodium, and although it was popularly believed to only be a large part of processed chinese food, now it is used across the board in a ton of other American foods that we consume every day, unless we are aware of labeling.

Even then, the labels can be trickily worded to name it something else which is slightly misleading to the consumer.  So you have to extra diligent to avoid MSG if you really are allergic to it, or if you are serious about avoiding this common additive.

An interesting study recently showed a link between MSG consumption and obesity.  It showed, in a basic nutshell, that those that consumed the same amount of calories, but one group consumed MSG and the other did not, the MSG group actually had higher weights and higher rates of obesity, lending credence to the idea that MSG, in and of itself, is linked to obesity and weight gain.

This study is important because it showed that the caloric intake did not matter. It was the MSG itself that was the identifying difference between the lesser weight and higher rate groups.  Very interesting, and a great argument to totally avoid this stuff in your foods if you can.

You may be thinking, but China, where this additive pretty much originated and is used much more widely, does not have as much of an obesity problem as America does. Well, thats most likely due another very important factor that offsets obesity-causing foods. Exercise. 

Thats why its all that much more important to get on the elliptical, the treadmill, the bike, or get out and run, to offset these types of things we have working against our continued healthy weights! Chinese people are much more active than Americans are, on average. So this fact helps offset any indiscretions in their diets, such as the MSG over use one.

If you want to avoid MSG all together, then try looking at the labels. You will want to look for labels that say MSG free, especially on canned and prepared food products, such as chips, bagged snacks and so forth.

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