I found this list breaking down the names for MSG in by what how sensitive you are to MSG in your diet. I am lucky not to be incredibly sensitive, so I do not have to avoid all of the foods on the second list, but I try to avoid them too, just to be sure!
If you are at all sensitive to MSG in any degree, all of these things will cause your symptoms:
Aspartame
Autolyzed Plant Protein
Autolyzed Yeast
Calcium Caseinate
Carrageenan
Gelatin
Glutamate
Glutamic Acid
Hydrolyzed Anything or Anything Hydrolyzed
Maltodextrin
Monopotassium glutamate
MSG
Monosodium glutamate
Senomyx
Sodium Caseinate
Textured Protein
Vegetable Protein Extract
Yeast Extract
Yeast food or nutrient
If you are highly sensitive you should also avoid all of the things listed below. They may or may not contain MSG, depending on how they were processed.
Any ambiguous terms such as, flavor, natural flavoring, spices, artificial flavoring or seasonings.
Any kind of extract (ie, yeast extract)
Anything “protien fortified”
Algae
Amino acids
Annatto
Barley malt
Bouillon
Broth
Citric Acid (when you do not know that it actually came from fruit and not corn)
Corn syrup
Corn syrup solids
Cornstarch fructose
Dextrates
Dextrose
Dough Conditioners
Dry Milk Solids
Enzyme modified proteins
Fermented proteins
Gluten and gluten flour
Gums (guar and vegetable)
High fructose corn syrup
Lecithin
Lipolyzed butter fat
Malt Extract
Malted Barley
Milk Powder
Modified food starch
Natural Chicken, Beef, or Pork
Pectin
Phytoplankton
Protease
Protease enzymes
Rice syrup brown
Sea vegetable
Soy Protein
Soy Protein Isolate or Concentrate
Soy Sauce
Stock
Ultra-pasteurized dairy products
Wheat, rice, corn, or oat protein
Whey Protein Isolate or Concentrate
Whey Protein or Whey
Yeast Nutrients
Taken from MSG Free!
Vanessa, I think that cancels out just about everything in our pantry!!! Agh!!! We already avoid apartame, with the exception of gum. My hubby is highly sensitive to it. So aspartame has msg in it, or it’s just another migraine trigger but doesn’t have msg?
There are a lot of things on the second list that I eat all the time because they don’t seem to trigger migraines…like gluten, milk powder, meat, and corn syrup/high fructose corn syrup (even though I know the hfcs is horrible for you, like you said, it’s in EVERYTHING!).
This was the first time I saw aspartame listed as having MSG’s so I’m not sure if it’s a trigger for those with MSG sensitivity or actually has MSG. I try not to eat it though because I have heard very few good things about it!
wow. quite the list!
Ohhhh, my head hurts just from reading that list!!
There is not necessarily anything wrong with the ingredients in the second list – they are additional things that may trigger problems in people who are sensitive to MSG.
Hope that helps the headache
Found your blog while browsing Google. Bookmarked. Looking forward to more nutrition tips.
Aspertame does not seem to have msg in it but people who are sensitive or allergic to the one will usually acquire the other. Check out truthinlabeling.com for even more info.
I love truthinlabeling!
Vanessa,
Thank you for the comprehensive list! You might want to “Google” Dr. Russell Blaylock and Excitotoxins to learn how brain cells are destroyed and the implications for brain function.