MSG and sulfites cause neuro, breathing problems

I offer these ideas to try to be helpful. They are based on my personal experience and research on the internet. If others also experience bad effects from these food additives, then we may be able to draw a broad general conclusion.

If any of you know you are sensitive to these additives, please let me know. If you decide to do a test and find out later that you are sensitive, please let me know.

MSG acts as an excitatory neurotransmitter (the opposite of GABA which is an inhibitory neurotransmitter). Moreover, the gate is only so wide for neurotransmitters to go through, and if there is a lot of MSG there is no room for GABA or other neurotransmitters. MSG excites the nerves in the mouth region (taste buds for one) and no telling where else.

The following paragraph from a research site is informative. It is talking about how msg affects different organs.

"Brain – during periods of hypoglyclemia where low blood glucose levels leave the brain with low defenses, or allergy response where the blood vessels become "leaky" MSG may cross the blood brain barrier and damage brain cells by excitatory neurotoxicity. By affecting the pancreas and creating a situation of hypoglycemia, MSG may bring down the brain’s barriers, carrying it’s own key in a sense, to get to the brain."

From my reading, I have learned that many people who react to MSG are also sensitive to sulfites. Sulfites have been shown to cause breathing difficulty and make asthma worse (or cause asthma?).

Aspartame (nutrasweet), which also does bad things to me, is also an excitatory neurotransmitter and neurotoxin. I am convinced that aspartame brought on or at least helped trigger my SD because at the time voice problems started I had just started drinking a lot of flavored water with nutrasweet added, and was trying to lose weight so was drinking it on an empty stomach.

If you take away foods to which are added msg, sulfites, and aspartame, you probably can't eat in restaurants, and you have to read every label on canned and frozen foods.

I personally am starting to prepare most of my food at home from raw ingredients. I am going through the refrigerator and pantry and throwing away everything that contain any of these food additives.

MSG is a "flavor enhancer" used in steak sauces, salad dressings, soups, soup stocks, chips, vegetable seasoning, and in too many other things to mention. Even if the label says "No MSG" or "No MSG Added" it may still contain MSG. It can be labeled as "natural flavorings, sodium caseinate, calcium caseinate, isolated soy protein" and several other names.

A partial list of foods that contain Sulfites include:

Alcoholic Beverages (labeling of sulfites in alcoholic beverages is required if the concentration is 10 parts per million or greater)

Bakery Items: Breads containing dough conditioners, cookies, crackers, pie and pizza crusts, tortillas, waffles

Beverages: Beverages containing sugar or corn syrup, dried citrus fruit beverages, canned bottled, and frozen fruit juices.

Condiments: Horseradish, relishes, pickles, olives, wine vinegar.

Dairy: Processed cheese foods.

Dried Foods: Dried herbs and spices, dried fruits, trail mixes.

Fish and Shellfish: Fresh shrimp and scallops frozen, canned or dried clams, shrimp, lobster, crab, scallops, dried cod.

Fruits: Fresh grapes, dried fruits (including raisins and prunes and especially pale fruits that have not discolored), canned, bottled and frozen fruit and juices, maraschino cherries, glazed fruit.

Gelatins, Fillings, Frostings: Fruit fillings, flavored and unflavored gelatin, pectin, jelling agents, canned frostings and frosting mixes.

Grain Products: Cornstarch, modified food starch, spinach pasta, gravies, hominy, breading, batters, noodle and rice mixes.

Hard Candies

Jams and Jellies

Nuts: Shredded coconut.

Plant Protein Products: Soy protein products including tofu, textured vegetable protein, infant formula.

Potatoes: Instant potatoes, fresh cut frozen potatoes, french fries in restaurants (made from cut frozen potatoes to which sulfite is always added). Whole potatoes you cut and cook yourself do not contain sulfites.

Snack Foods: Filled crackers, dried fruit snacks, trail mixes, tortilla chips, potato chips.

Sugars: Brown, white, powdered and raw sugars.

Vegetables: Vegetable juices, canned vegetables (including potatoes), pickled vegetables (including cauliflower, peppers, sauerkraut), "fresh cut" potatoes (as delivered to restaurants), frozen vegetables (including french fries and deli potato salad).

Aspartame (nutrasweet) is of course in diet drinks, low calorie yogurt, etc. etc.

If you do a search for nutrasweet, aspartame, sulfites, and msg you will turn up several sites which explain this in more depth.

Somatosensory primary afferent axons that respond specifically to tissue-damaging stimuli (nociceptors) use glutamate (and aspartate) as a neurotransmitter. Neurons in the spinal cord dorsal horn that respond to nociceptor input express all three subtypes of glutamate receptor.