msg

[marsupial]

My son gets headaches nearly every day. The pediatric neurologist recommended that he avoid caffeine, sodium nitrate and msg.

So, he's cut back on the espressos, I now pay more for the uncured deli meats and I thought I had been pretty good about buying snack foods without msg until I just read that msg isn't always labeled as such on ingredient lists.

Apparently things like hydrolyzed vegetable proteins and autolyzed yeast are just sneaky ways to say msg. Seriously, this stuff is everywhere. I was wondering if any of you have also been concerned about msg and have found some snack foods that don't contain it.

[RobinFinderson]

Buy a lot of fresh fruit. Apples, bananas and oranges are the best snacks. Try avoiding processed foods. It isn't as hard as you might think, but it will require cooking (as opposed to warming things up in the microwave).

[marsupial]

Buy a lot of fresh fruit. Apples, bananas and oranges are the best snacks. Try avoiding processed foods. It isn't as hard as you might think, but it will require cooking (as opposed to warming things up in the microwave).

I wish. I eat a lot of fresh fruit. He won't. I make him smoothies almost every day with frozen (unsweetenend fruit) otherwise the kid would get scurvy.

[Babs]

I avoid MSG, but I didn't know about that yeast or protein thing. MSG creeps me out.

Envirokidz peanut butter crisp bars (or something like that) are so good they're addictive. They're from the health food store, so I'm sure they're MSG-free, but they're not cheap.

[YOhio]

Carrot sticks (not baby carrots, but fresh peeled carrots), celery, cucumber, lightly steamed green beans, edamame...my daughter loves that kind of thing. If he has to drown it in ranch, then so be it.

[myboynoah]

Carrot sticks (not baby carrots, but fresh peeled carrots), celery, cucumber, lightly steamed green beans, edamame...my daughter loves that kind of thing. If he has to drown it in ranch, then so be it.

We once saw a family at EuroDisney snacking on exactly that (sans the ranch dressing). Freaked the hell out of us.

[Babs]

Soup, it sounds like yours is like mine in that he's not oging to make things easy for you by munching on an apple or a carrot.

Do you need sweet snacks or salty? Or both? I remember when I first started reading about this stuff a long time ago, they said that the only chips you could buy at a regular store are regular Ruffles and regular Lays. They're just potatoes and sunflower oil and salt. The blue tostitos didn't exist back then, but I think that they're okay, too.

I'll see if I can think of anything else.

[RobinFinderson]

How about nuts? Roasted almonds are a Finderson house favorite.

[Babs]

How about nuts? Roasted almonds are a Finderson house favorite.

most of the nuts at the regular store have all kinds of chemical preservatives.

[TripletDaddy]

Is this something that I should be monitoring at home or is it more of a concern if your child has an allergy or reaction to the MSG?

I can appreciate the call for healthier eating, in general (I worry that my kids love ranch dressing way too much), but is there something especially harmful in these general additives that are in all these products?

[myboynoah]

Is this something that I should be monitoring at home or is it more of a concern if your child has an allergy or reaction to the MSG?

I can appreciate the call for healthier eating, in general (I worry that my kids love ranch dressing way too much), but is there something especially harmful in these general additives that are in all these products?

I suggest you grow your own food. First, buy lots of dung.

[Babs]

Is this something that I should be monitoring at home or is it more of a concern if your child has an allergy or reaction to the MSG?

I can appreciate the call for healthier eating, in general (I worry that my kids love ranch dressing way too much), but is there something especially harmful in these general additives that are in all these products?

msg works (seriously) kind of like a mostly-benign form of meth. It tells your brain that you're experiencing more pleasure than you are, so food starts tasting better. Now, I don't know about you, but foods that directly manipulate my neurology -- that's kinda creepy. Nobody really knows for certain what the long-term effects are, but us conspiracy theorists don't want to find out.

Now where did I put my tinfoil hat?

[TripletDaddy]

The double reply was a nice "I am a paranoid lunatic" touch.

[Babs]

The double reply was a nice "I am a paranoid lunatic" touch.

thanks. I did that on purpose.

[marsupial]

Carrot sticks (not baby carrots, but fresh peeled carrots), celery, cucumber, lightly steamed green beans, edamame...my daughter loves that kind of thing. If he has to drown it in ranch, then so be it.

Ranch dressing has msg. I spent 10 minutes looking at all the labels in the salad dressing aisle trying to find a dip without msg. The dip I bought has hydrolyzed vegetable protein in it.