You’ve just
finished a yummy protein bar or a bag of flavoured potato chips and
20 minutes later you want more...and more but you’re not actually
hungry! It’s possible that these food choices are triggering
further food cravings and derailing your hard fought weight loss
efforts.
Glutamic Acid was
discovered as a flavour enhancer for food in 1866 when a German
chemist tasted the brown crystal residue left behind in a bowl of
Kombu soup (a type of kelp). This chemical was then patented
and manufactured as a salt of glutamic acid and so MSG (Monosodium
Glutamate) was born.
Glutamates make
food taste good, this is one reason why we tend to eat more,
because we simply like the flavour, but the real reason why it
triggers food cravings is a little more
undercover. Enter...the nervous system.
Glutamate is an
amino acid found naturally bound in foods such as cheese, milk,
mushrooms, meat and fish. It is also an excitatory
neurotransmitter in our nervous systems and at normal levels
ingested through our natural foods it is perfectly
harmless. Being excitatory, it plays a part in our ‘reward’
system pathways (the feeling of feeling good). Glutamates
found as additives are free bound which causes an overload in the
excitatory process and makes us crave more of the thing that
‘rewarded’ us – in this case it may have been a soup mix with MSG
or something from our local Chinese takeaway. It acts in the
same way that addictive drugs ‘reward’ the addict through use and
make them crave further use.
Glutamate as an
additive can come under different names, check the labels of some
of your most craved foods, do they contain any of the following
names? Glutamate, Glutamic acid, Gelatin, Monosodium
glutamate (MSG), Calcium caseinate Textured protein (TP or
TVP), Monopotassium glutamate, Sodium caseinate, Yeast nutrient,
Yeast extract, Yeast food, Autolyzed yeast, Hydrolyzed protein (HP
or HVP).
These are some
other terms you may find lurking in your most craved
foods: Carrageenan, Maltodextrin, Malt extract
Natural pork flavouring, Citric acid, Malt flavouring, Bouillon and
Broth Natural chicken flavouring, Soy protein isolate, Natural
beef flavouring, Ultra-pasteurized Soy sauce, Stock Barley
malt Soy sauce extract, Whey protein concentrate, Pectin Soy
protein, Whey protein Protease, Soy protein concentrate, Whey
protein isolate, Protease enzymes Anything protein fortified,
Flavours(s) & Flavouring(s), Anything enzyme modified,
Anything fermented, Natural flavour(s) & flavouring(s) Enzymes
anything, Seasonings, Flavour enhancer
Anything that is
called ‘something’ protein eg pea protein implies that it also
contains free bound glutamates.
Go and grab that
craved food now...have a look at the label. If you’ve
ever found yourself wanting to eat endless amounts of it and then
wanting to eat lots later on you may find some of these
names? Even our friends the protein bar contains free bound
glutamates. I discovered this after I ate 7 in a row and
couldn’t understand why.
Fresh and natural
is best to ward off food cravings and to help keep you on track of
your food plans.
There
are other common food triggers such as sugar, coffee, refind
carbohydrates and aspartate. For more information about
flavouring food more naturally or if you need help identifying why
you crave certain foods please contact me for a consultation.Stacey
June 2010
