Link between MSG and obesity

What food does not contain MSG?

http://www.sph.unc.edu/school_of_pub...8457_1957.html

UNC researchers find MSG use linked to obesity

August 14, 2008

People who use monosodium glutamate, or MSG, as a flavor enhancer in
their food are more likely than people who don’t use it to be
overweight or obese even though they have the same amount of physical
activity and total calorie intake, according to a University of North
Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Public Health study published this
month in the journal Obesity.

Researchers at UNC and in China studied more than 750 Chinese men and
women, aged between 40 and 59, in three rural villages in north and
south China. The majority of study participants prepared their meals
at home without commercially processed foods. About 82 percent of the
participants used MSG in their food. Those users were divided into
three groups, based on the amount of MSG they used. The third who used
the most MSG were nearly three times more likely to be overweight than
non-users.

“Animal studies have indicated for years that MSG might be associated
with weight gain,” said Ka He, MD, assistant professor of nutrition
and epidemiology at the UNC School of Public Health. “Ours is the
first study to show a link between MSG use and weight in humans.”

Because MSG is used as a flavor enhancer in many processed foods,
studying its potential effect on humans has been difficult. He and his
colleagues chose study participants living in rural Chinese villages
because they used very little commercially processed food, but many
regularly used MSG in food preparation.

“We found that prevalence of overweight was significantly higher in
MSG users than in non-users,” He said. “We saw this risk even when we
controlled for physical activity, total calorie intake and other
possible explanations for the difference in body mass. The positive
associations between MSG intake and overweight were consistent with
data from animal studies.”

As the percentage of overweight and obese people around the world
continues to increase, He said, finding clues to the cause could be
very important.

“The U.S. Food and Drug Administration and other health organizations
around the world have concluded that MSG is safe,” He said, “but the
question remains – is it healthy?”

Co-authors on the study included Liancheng Zhao and colleagues from Fu
Wai Hospital and Cardiovascular Institute at the Chinese Academy of
Medical Sciences in Beijing. Other researchers on this study were from
Northwestern University in Chicago and the INTERMAP Cooperative
Research Group.

The study is available online at: http://www.nature.com/oby/journal/v1...y2008274a.html

Note: He can be reached at (919) 843-2476 or kahe@unc.edukahe@unc.edu
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School of Public Health contact: Ramona DuBose, director of
communications, (919) 966-7467 or ramona_dubose@unc.edu.