MSG in Your Pregnancy Diet

13/02/2010 by Nisha.

Just before Christmas I went on one of the health and fitness industry’s most well respected and authoritative courses on advanced Kinetic Chain Assesment, (taught by my ex-boss, friend and mentor, Dax moy). That probably means nothing to you apart from a load of gobbledeegook but the stuff I learnt is going to affect you in a BIG way!!

One thing that shocked me beyond belief and made me scared first and foremost for my own baby and secondly for all of my pregnant clients, friends and readers was a little known fact about MSG and how seriously it can affect your pregnancy health.

Now I think that most of us know full well that MSG during pregnancy is bad for us, right? There was a big panic a few years ago and a lot of Chinese restaurants banned it from their food ingredients, but what none of us know (or very few of us) is that MSG can come under different guises of at least 40 different names that we would never suspect AND because it is combined with other food additives, the food manufacturers are NOT REQUIRED to list it as an ingredient on the label – which makes it very difficult to exclude from your pregnancy diet.

And do you know where it is most widely used?

In BABY FOOD.

…….

I know….I hear you – I was just as shocked, if not more so than you and my heart dropped out of my chest when I thought of all the instances where I have given River those pre-packaged organic baby foods over the last few months and thought that “natural spices” meant naturally sourced spices.

But apparently the Food Agencies don’t require it to be listed if it is combined with something else. So after my shock dissipated a little, I did some digging so that I could find out as much as possible about this to tell you guys today so that you can exclude it wherever possible from your pregnancy nutrition.

What is MSG?

MSG comes from glutamic acid which is found in many natural foods like tomatoes, wheat, mushrooms, molasses and corn. It is even present in breastmilk and functions as a neurotransmitter. In this natural form it is known as L-glutamic acid. When broken down by our normal digestive process it is harmless but in a factory the glutamic acid is made free by various processes which you will recognise – hydrolysed, autolysed, modified or fermented by harsh chemicals, bacteria or enzymes.

These processes then produce a white crystallised substance which looks similar to sugar – MSG. MSG is then used as a component of food additives such as hydrolysed protein, whey protein, yeast extract, natural flavouring, spice extract, natural spices….. the list goes on. Because it is used as a component, the Food Agencies don’t require it to be listed as MSG.

What Does It Do To Us?

MSG is an excitatory neurotransmitter that destroys synapses  and nerve cells in the brain and body. It runs around the body telling all of our nerve cells to FIRE, FIRE, FIRE!!! But what happens when they get overstimulated and fire all the time? They die.

The hypothalamus uses glutamate as a neurotransmitter and is also responsible for controlling fear, rage, hunger and cold. When hypothalamus cells die as a result of overstimulation by glutamate it results in things like ADD, ADHD, obesity and seizures.

Dr. Liane Reif-Lehrer, Harvard Medical School, has done extensive research on this, including trials on removing MSG from the diets of children with seizures and convulsions which resulted in a complete and full cure of the affectation.

MSG during Pregnancy

It is a common belief that the placenta is able to protect or at least partially shield the developping foetus from toxins such as MSG but in fact the opposite occurs. The placenta in primates (yep, that includes us) maintains amino acids in significantly HIGHER concentrations than found in the maternal circulation. The ratio is in fact is even greater than 2:1!

This means your baby is getting double the amount of neurotoxins that you are getting.

Now considering the very delicate balance of the developping nervous system, that spells BAD NEWS.

Symptoms of MSG Toxicity

One of the problems with MSG toxicity is that the symptoms can easily be disregarded as something else. Common symptoms include:

IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome)

Colitis

Constipation/diahorrhea

Asthma

Hormonal symptoms like irritability, mood swings, temper, rage and hostility

Restless Leg Syndrome

Ulcers and sores in the mouth

Sleep disorders

Memory loss

Migraine

Chronic cough

The list goes on…

So what can we do to protect our little ones from this horrible neurotoxin?

Avoid ALL pre-packaged, processed food and diligently check the labels of everything you put on the table or in your mouth.

Where possible cook everything from scratch using organic whole ingredients

Speak to your childresn school abou their menu and what they can and can’t have on it

Check the list below for common names:

Hidden Names for MSG

The following substances contain the highest percentage of factory created free glutamate, with MSG containing 78%:

MSG	Gelatin	Calcium Caseinate
Monosodium glutamate	Hydrolyzed Vegetable Protein (HVP)	Textured Protein
Monopotassium glutamate	Hydrolyzed Plant Protein (HPP)	Yeast Extract
Glutamate	Autolyzed Plant Protein	Yeast food or nutrient
Glutamic Acid	Sodium Caseinate	Autolyzed Yeast
Vegetable Protein Extract	Senomyx (wheat extract labeled as artificial flavor)

The following substances contain some factory created free glutamate in varying amounts. Please note that some food labels list several of these items, which can add up to a considerable and dangerous amount in one product:

Malted Barley (flavor)	Natural Flavors, Flavors, Flavoring	Modified food starch
Barley malt	Reaction Flavors	Rice syrup or brown rice syrup
Malt Extract or Flavoring	Natural Chicken, Beef, or Pork, Flavoring “Seasonings” (Most assume this means salt, pepper, or spices and herbs, which sometimes it is.)	Lipolyzed butter fat
Maltodextrin, dextrose, dextrates	Soy Sauce or Extract	“Low” or “No Fat” items
Caramel Flavoring (coloring)	Soy Protein	Corn syrup and corn syrup solids, high fructose corn syrup
Stock	Soy Protein Isolate or Concentrate	Citric Acid (when processed from corn)
Broth	Cornstarch fructose (made from corn)	Milk Powder
Bouillon	Flowing Agents	Dry Milk Solids
Carrageenan	Wheat, rice, corn, or oat protein	Protein Fortified Milk
Whey Protein or Whey	Anything enriched or vitamin enriched	Annatto
Whey Protein Isolate or Concentrate	Protein fortified “anything”	Spice
Pectin	Enzyme modified proteins	Gums (guar and vegetable)
Protease	Ultra-pasteurized dairy products	Dough Conditioners
Protease enzymes	Fermented proteins	Yeast Nutrients
Lecithin	Gluten and gluten flour	Protein powders: whey, soy, oat, rice (as in protein bars shakes and body building drinks)
Amino acids (as in Bragg’s liquid amino acids and chelated to vitamins)	Algae, phytoplankton, sea vegetable, wheat/ barley grass powders

European numbers for glutamate containing additives:

620	625
621	627
622	631
623	635
624

So what do you think? Are you shocked like I was?

Do you think manufacturers should be allowed to get away with this? Leave your comments and let me know!!

Nisha is a leading authority on Pre/Postnatal Fitness and is the author of three Pregnancy Fitness Coaching courses for expecting mums. To get your free copy of Nisha’s latest ebook “The 5 Health Secrets Every Expectant Mother MUST Know” please visit The 9 Month Club at http://www.the9monthclub.com

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Pregnancy Nutrition: Is It Safe to Detox During Pregnancy?

14/01/2010 by Nisha.

When I first found out I was pregnant one of the first things I wanted to do was detox my pregnancy diet. I wanted to be certain that my baby was getting maximum nutritional support from me and that everything I ate was going to have a positive impact on River’s development.

I remember talking to a client of mine at the time who told me that it wasn’t safe to detox during pregnancy because all of the toxins are released into the bloodstream and hence cross the placenta, so I did some research and realised that what she and I were referring to were entirely different scenarios.

A traditional detox - like the kind you find stocking the shelves of every health food store on the planet at this time of year, involves a ton of diuretic and “cleansing” supplements or herbal remedies. What I call detox is simply removing harmful or nutritionally poor foods and substances from your pregnancy nutrition.

This includes all processed foods, additives, artificial chemicals, preservatives etc, as well as foods that have been denatured by processing and manufacturing methods.

The idea is that you want to “clean up” your diet so that you are only eating from nutrient dense foods that are going to have a positive impact on your baby’s development. Now surely removing all harmful and nutritionally poor foods from your pregnancy diet can’t be a bad thing right?

There is also another side to what I call detox and that is clearing your pregnant body of potentially harmful stressors to your pregnancy health, such as stress hormones, postural dysfunctions and mental blocks to optimal pregnancy health and this requires a bit more thought and planning than your traditional detox which generally only deals with what you put in your mouth.

The other key areas you need to think about to really boost your pregnancy energy, give you back your vitality and your pregnancy glow are these:

Sleep - are you getting enough of it and the right quality?

It matters what time you get to bed and how well you sleep at night. Late bedtimes and disturbed erractic sleep patterns will seriously affect your circadian rythym and that in turn will sned your pregnancy hormones crazy!

It is vital that your hormones are at optimal balance during pregnancy for your baby’s development and your own pregnancy health, so if you are suffering from pregnancy pain or pregnancy side effects check your sleep before you do anything else.

You need to be in bed in the pitch black by 1030pm at the latest on 6 nights of the week as a minimum to regulate your pregnancy sleep patterns

Pregnancy Posture - are you exercising to support your pregnancy properly?

Pregnancy wreaks havoc on the physical body. Everything from our biochemistry to our posture is thrown out of place and if you are not working with your body to strengthen and support your pregnancy and your baby you will suffer from a myriad of nasty pregnancy side effects.

In particular pregnancy puts tremendous strain on your back, hips and joints. The pregnancy hormones, relaxin and progesterone relax the support system in your body and without targeted pregnancy resistance workouts your body will become extremely unstable and prone to serious and long-term injury.

Relaxation - are you suffering adrenal fatigue?

It might sound like a condition you are bound to notice but it doesn’t take a lot to overstress your adrenals and wear them down.

When you wake up do you still feel tired - like you haven’t rally slept properly?

Is your diet high in sugar or do you crave sugar and carbs?

Do you feel like you need at least one cup of coffee or tea to get you through the day?

Are you moody or irritable alot of the time?

All of these things (and more) are signs that your adrenals are overworked and if you are suffering with any of these symptoms you need to do something about it TODAY!

Start by planning in some daily relaxation time - either for meditation or doing something that will help you destress like creative activity (painting, music, pottery, dancing), or reading, watching a film or getting out for a walk.

Hydration - one of the most important aspects of pregnancy health but often the most

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