MSG Anyone?

[blackcrystal22]

Sorry guys.. but I'm going to rant to you about this. I was looking through my pantry today and well, it angered me. A lot.

So as some may know, I am indeed a vegetarian. Becoming a vegetarian is a live choice, and unfortunately.. I can't ever go back.
After becoming a veg, I lost a lot of weight, had slight anemic problems, and protein/amino acid deficiencies. I'm not here to explain why I'm a vegetarian, that's for another time.. however when I went on a Europe trip a year ago, I ate meat. When I came home I became very ill and to be honest, the meat tasted like what it is. Dead animal. None of it tasted good anymore.

So now to my point. I've been getting really sick lately.. and it's hard for me to go to the doctor (health insurance is government provided) and when I finally did go I explained my symptoms and we narrowed it down to a few things.
One of them being an allergic reaction to a flavoring component in many foods; monosodium glutamate. So I think, great, found the problem lets get rid of the MSG foods I eat.
Guess what guys.

Next time your eating chips, a snack, making a box product.. check the label. I give you about a 75% chance on one of the ingredients on a main brand food naming down as MSG. I'm 17 and I built up this allergic tendency to this virtually poisonous flavor additive?
When I eat this stuff, I get headaches, stomach cramps, and worse of all. My food does not digest completely.

It is one of the most difficult things to get rid of seeing that my food choices are already small. RAMEN is one of the biggest things in my house and it has MSG.. it's cheap and it tastes great. Can't eat it.
Mac and cheese.
ALL CHIPS.
ANYTHING salt based. MSG comes in a salt-like form so it looks and tastes a bit like salt.
So yeah.. I'm getting kinda mad at companies right now.

Teenagers, don't you ever complain about food!

[mischevious21]

Wow does that suck!! I'm really sorry to hear that. But ya know, a friend of mine was a veg. for about 15 years- then she got pregnant and the doctor said that there was no way vitamins and supplements would be good enough. So she started slow with fish to chicken, ect, and she was pretty sick at first, but after awhile she got used to it again. She looks healthier now, to be honest (she couldent go back to a life with no meat after 9 months of it lol). Not saying you should go back to meat, just sharing a story- do what makes you happy

[kc261]

Most vegetarians I have known are also pretty big on eating organic foods and such, so MSG isn't a problem for them. I'm not sure it is related to you being vegetarian anyway. MSG bothers lots of people.

I'm pretty sure in ramen, the MSG is in the flavoring packet, so you could eat just the noodles. I bet you can flavor them up by adding veggies to the water. There are ways to make a pretty tasty vegetable-based soup stock.

If you want/need to get MSG out of your diet, for the most part your only choice is to avoid all those packaged processed foods.

[blackcrystal22]

Wow does that suck!! I'm really sorry to hear that. But ya know, a friend of mine was a veg. for about 15 years- then she got pregnant and the doctor said that there was no way vitamins and supplements would be good enough. So she started slow with fish to chicken, ect, and she was pretty sick at first, but after awhile she got used to it again. She looks healthier now, to be honest (she couldent go back to a life with no meat after 9 months of it lol). Not saying you should go back to meat, just sharing a story- do what makes you happy

Ahaah. Actually meat (usually red meats) is very fatty and not meant to be eaten by humans on a daily basis. One-two times a week is good but it should not be a 3 meal thing, even every day can be bad. Not just because it's fatty but if you want me to go into that.. well it's complex but I can explain if you want me to.

Anyway, generally since becoming a veg, I have become healthier (except for the vitamin problems) I lost a lot of access weight and have a lot more energy and have felt better in general.
I guess feeling good can come with consequences though.. :[

[blackcrystal22]

Most vegetarians I have known are also pretty big on eating organic foods and such, so MSG isn't a problem for them. I'm not sure it is related to you being vegetarian anyway. MSG bothers lots of people.

I'm pretty sure in ramen, the MSG is in the flavoring packet, so you could eat just the noodles. I bet you can flavor them up by adding veggies to the water. There are ways to make a pretty tasty vegetable-based soup stock.

If you want/need to get MSG out of your diet, for the most part your only choice is to avoid all those packaged processed foods.

I know it.. and we do buy a lot of organics!
It's just, well my family doesn't have a whole lot of money. So sometimes it's difficult to go to Trader Joe's instead of ALDI.

No, the MSG doesn't have anything to do with being a veg, except I feel like I have to become a vegetarian all over again with foods I didn't even realize were bad.. When I became veg I'd say 25-50% of my diet was gone, and now 75% of my current diet I have to eliminate or watch out for.
Basically I hardly have 15% of my original diet left. :[

[STORMS]

After becoming a veg, I lost a lot of weight, had slight anemic problems, and protein/amino acid deficiencies.
So now to my point. I've been getting really sick lately.. and it's hard for me to go to the doctor (health insurance is government provided) and when I finally did go I explained my symptoms and we narrowed it down to a few things.
I'm getting kinda mad at companies right now.

Teenagers, don't you ever complain about food!

I hate to say this...don't take it the wrong way, but it looks like your body is trying to tell you something. No rudeness intended. Im huge on nutrition and eating right. Lets be realistic you can't get everything your body needs from fruits & veggies. Thats just not gonna happen. If you are allergic to MSG its safe to say you cant eat 90% of processed food thats on the shelves at the grocery store. Basically you are looking at organic fruits and veggies which means huge lack of protien among other nutrients. And really you can not be mad at the food companies for a choice that you made. I know its gotta suck but no one forced you to stop eating meat. I am also very aware of what I put in my body - I do my best to only eat organically grown food (during the summer most of our veggies come from our garden) - nothing processed here I love to cook, so everything my family eats is from scratch (never out of a box) I have so many organic cookbooks its not even funny. I do not add salt or any other types of additives to meat or anything else.

I really hope you find something that works for you so you are able to stay healthy. I see nothing wrong with being a vegetarian, but if it is making you sick I think you need to find another option.

Curious...I have a few vegetarian friends, some of which eat fish - do you eat fish? or no critter meat whatsoever???

One more ? - do you take vitamin/mineral supplements? If so, what kind?

I wish you the best of luck in getting healthy

[blackcrystal22]

I hate to say this...don't take it the wrong way, but it looks like your body is trying to tell you something. No rudeness intended. Im huge on nutrition and eating right. Lets be realistic you can't get everything your body needs from fruits & veggies. Thats just not gonna happen. If you are allergic to MSG its safe to say you cant eat 90% of processed food thats on the shelves at the grocery store. Basically you are looking at organic fruits and veggies which means huge lack of protien among other nutrients. And really you can not be mad at the food companies for a choice that you made. I know its gotta suck but no one forced you to stop eating meat. I am also very aware of what I put in my body - I do my best to only eat organically grown food (during the summer most of our veggies come from our garden) - nothing processed here I love to cook, so everything my family eats is from scratch (never out of a box) I have so many organic cookbooks its not even funny. I do not add salt or any other types of additives to meat or anything else.

I really hope you find something that works for you so you are able to stay healthy. I see nothing wrong with being a vegetarian, but if it is making you sick I think you need to find another option.

Curious...I have a few vegetarian friends, some of which eat fish - do you eat fish? or no critter meat whatsoever???

One more ? - do you take vitamin/mineral supplements? If so, what kind?

I wish you the best of luck in getting healthy

Unfortunately, I eat two types of shellfish. Shrimp and scallops, which give me the iron, amino acids, and proteins I need.. I hate eating the buggers but they don't make me sick and doctors orders.

I take protein and iron supplements. And a children's multivitamin. I also eat a large amount of veggies that attribute to proteins and irons. I also eat a lot of rice and beans for protein! :]

Thank you, I'm doing my best here.

[McAdry]

as for msg if your allergic to it you just have to avoid it seems to me its just somthing you must do read the product lables and dont eat anything you find with msg. ON the other point the human body is desinged to be omniverous, that means it does best on a balanced diet. If you want to be a vegitarian that's cool but if it was good for you you shouldn't need to eat all those supplements now should you. I live by the doctrine if it dosn't eat me first I'm willing eat it lol, or I didn't crawl climb and fight my way to the top of the food chain to eat grass.I hope you succede in finding a way to live without msg I don't think it's really good for anyone.

[edie]

This has nothing to do with being vegetarian, it has to do with a poor diet. I have been vegetarian, almost vegan, for 5-6 years now and haven't had any health problems besides a couple that are not diet related. The foods you listed would be bad for anyone to eat, not just someone without meat in their diets.

And the human body does not need meat to survive, you just have to be smart about your diet.. but you meat eaters also need to be smart about your diet! Just because you eat meat does not make you healthier than people who do not, in most cases I eat way better than anyone I know who eats meat. I'm lucky, I have a Sprouts and a Whole Foods within 2 miles of me and we get organic fruits/veggies delivered to our house so it is easy for me to eat healthy without eating meat.

[PythonWallace]

I think Lena nailed it. You can get all the nutrition your body needs from a vegan diet, but all the processed foods you named sound like you have a lot of changes to make. You should do a search for raw vegan diets to get a good understanding of which foods are needed for all the different nutrients and proteins you need to stay healthy. You're not even vegan, so it should be really easy once you have an understanding of what your body needs and which foods provide what. It's a shame that most processed foods are so unhealthy and use so many goofy ingredients when it seems like most of them shouldn't have to, but that's how it is.

Or you could just make up a plate a couple of times a week with greens, a baked potato and a medium rare filet mignon. Maybe a little cottage cheese... no msg there. The steak could be replaced with a nice trout filet even. You can start making a lot of vegetable based soups with beans and lentils, eat salads and yogurt with flax, hemp seeds, chick peas, grated almonds etc. There's plenty out there to have an unlimited vegetarian menu that gives you everything you need.