I've always wondered about the "No MSG" signs that I've seen in my lifetime at different asian restaurants.  What is this MSG they speak of.  Why is there none of it there?  Why do I care that there is "No MSG"?

I never really cared to look.  I was reading around the Internet late one night and was reading one of my favorite author's web blogs.  In it he briefly mentioned monosodium glutamate and how you should stay away from it.  Being the tangent minded fellow I am, I went to research it a bit.

Turns out MSG is a additive that manufactuers add to your food to make it taste better.  It tricks your brain into thinking what you're tasting is better than it is.  The biggest scare was how it is called a neuro-toxin.  Yes kids, toxin with a 'T'.

So I tell myself that I will stay away from MSG.  No more eating at asian restaurants that don't have the "No MSG" sign.  Then I get to thinking about how the stigma for MSG in asian restarants probably makes them put that sign up and not use MSG.  What about other restaurants?  What about stuff that I buy at the local super market?

The next day I went into our cupboard.  Some websites said that the saltier something is, the more likely it is to have MSG in it.  I was shocked to find about a dozen food stuffs with the ingredients "monosodium glutamate".  Big WTF.  I've been eating this shit all this time?  Soup, Salad Dressing, Chicken Broth, Chips, whoa momma.  Lots of stuff started to head for the trash.

Check your cupboards, bet you'll be suprised.  Don't think it affects you?  My Dad tells me how my own Grandma had to go to the hostpital after eating MSG infested products because she collapsed after a chow session.  Seems like there are other rare cases of problems with MSG, but you gotta wonder...how many things out there are just unexplained?  Could they be linked to the shitty food we're feeding ourselves?

Just remember "neuro-toxin".  How much do you trust a chemical to play with your brain?