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Diet drinks, snack food, and processed foods contain ingredients that make them super tasty, but that may damage your health in the long run. These additives are called excitoxins, and commonly used examples are MSG and the artificial sweetener aspartame. MSG and aspartame work by telling your brain that whatever it is you’re eating is very good. Recent research is warning consumers that excitotoxins can cause serious harm, and may even destroy brain cells.
How excitotoxins work
Excitotoxins enhance the flavour of food by stimulating the taste buds, which then send messages to the brain that whatever you’re eating is delicious. Manufacturers know this, and add them to many foods to try and make them irresistible to consumers. Snacks, packaged soups, gravies, and many low-fat foods contain these chemicals.
The damage done
Excitotoxins have been linked to Alzheimer’s, multiple sclerosis, and Parkinson’s disease, as well as headaches, skin problems, and water retention. The bad effects of MSG, commonly found in Chinese food, have led to excitotoxin poisoning being labelled ‘Chinese Restaurant Syndrome’, but this is misleading, as you’ll find excitotoxins in foods ranging from McDonalds to Weight Watchers products.
Misleading ingredients
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Generally, the more processed a food is, the more likely it is to contain excitotoxins. Sugar-free diabetic and diet products often contain aspartame, while common snacks might disguise their MSG content with misleading ingredients. Watch out for ‘hydrolised vegetable protein’, ‘natural flavouring’, unspecified ‘spices’, beef or chicken ‘stock’, ‘soya protein isolate’, and ‘yeast extract’. To stay on the safe side, avoid packaged foods whenever possible.
When to worry
If you eat a healthy diet mainly consisting of fresh whole foods, and you’re not highly sensitive to MSG, don’t worry if that can of soup contains a little MSG – just be sure it’s the last ingredient listed, as ingredients are always listed in order of quantity. If you snack on junk food regularly, and sip on diet soft drinks daily, you may want to try eliminating these foods from your diet and seeing if you feel healthier overall without them.
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