MSG a major migraine trigger, says headache expert

Beware of the hidden forms of this migraine trigger in food

A good friend of mine suffers from migraines so severe that they can put her out of action for days.

When one strikes, she doesn’t waste a minute in going right for the heavy-duty meds to dull the pain.

And of all the food triggers she tries to avoid, the biggest one of all is monosodium glutamate, or MSG.

So when I saw a new report out from a migraine expert at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, I was very happy to see that the doctor made sure to call out MSG as a sure-fire migraine trigger.

But what he didn’t disclose is that even if you consider yourself a careful label reader, you’re probably still getting large doses of this toxic food additive at every meal.

Which is why you need to know exactly what to look for to stay safe.

Label lies

A new study has just come out by migraine expert Dr. Vincent Martin on ways to keep those debilitating headaches at bay.

After researching over 180 studies about migraines and diet, he said the top triggers are: skipping that daily cup of Joe (if you drink coffee every day), nitrites (preservatives added to deli meats and bacon) and alcoholic beverages – especially vodka and red wines.

So far, so good.

But also on his top-four list is MSG. And that isn’t as easy to avoid as you might think.

If you’ve ever purchased soup, gravy, bouillon cubes or scores of other processed foods that say “No MSG” on the label, chances are good you’ve been tricked. There’s even an industry term for that deception — it’s called “clean labeling.”

In other words, the label looks good enough to pass muster for a confirmed label-reader to put in their shopping cart. But if you know what to look for, it’s not so clean after all.

You see, the FDA requires food companies to list monosodium glutamate on the ingredient label if any is added. But here’s the giant loophole – courtesy of the FDA:

Manufacturers add other ingredients that still contain forms of MSG (I’ll give you a list in a minute), such as hydrolyzed protein or autolyzed yeast and then pretend their product is MSG-free! The FDA knows full well those additives contain enough MSG to cause a reaction — and at one time, decades ago, would step in and threaten to seize products over the deception.

But now, the agency simply looks the other way and pretends it doesn’t see a thing.

So here’s what you need to do. And considering how dangerous MSG is to ingest, it doesn’t matter if you’ve never had a migraine in your life, you still should avoid this brain-damaging chemical at all costs.

First, pay no attention to the big promises on the label of a product, and go directly to the ingredient list.

Even if a food claims to have “No MSG,” “No added MSG,” or “No MSG added,” if it contains any of these ingredients, leave it right on the store shelf:

anything “hydrolyzed” such as a “hydrolyzed protein,”
soy protein, including soy protein concentrate and soy protein isolate,
autolyzed yeast,
yeast extract,
monopotassium glutamate,
sodium caseinate, or
calcium caseinate.

And, of course, steer clear of anything with the Big Kahuna itself, monosodium glutamate in it!

Remember, MSG, including all of its aliases, doesn’t add one bit of nutritional value to food. It’s put there for one reason and one reason alone – to trick your brain into thinking those chips or soup or a frozen dinner taste better.

It’s a big, fat deception that allows manufacturers to use inferior ingredients (or, practically no ingredients at all), and yet still make a product that seems to tastes good.

One other tip for migraine sufferers from Dr. Martin is to be very careful of MSG added to liquids such as soups, which he called an especially big headache trigger.

“Diet can impact migraines” University of Cincinnati Academic Health Center, November 1, 2016, ScienceDaily, sciencedaily.com