Author Topic: MSG/Sodium Benzoate  (Read 25986 times)

Offline Tandy

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MSG/Sodium Benzoate
« on: August 29, 2011, 02:27:25 PM »
Hi everyone, this is my first time here and I am so glad I found you guys. I was seaching MSG and Olive Garden and this site popped up. There is a lot of good info here and I am going to spend a lot of time reading all of your posts! In reading the posts, I noticed that no one mentions Sodium Benzoate. I found out by asking at a Japanese restaurant that Sodium Benzoate is 1% MSG. In the state of Florida it is the law that Japanese restaurants must disclose this information to customers. This information was so valuable to me as I have severe reactions to MSG and it's "hidden" names and am trying to eliminate this from my diet as well. Sodium Benzoate, unfortunately, is usually found where ever MSG is not, example; Sprite (my favorite), Italian spices that Olive Garden may honestly not recognize as MSG, packaged/processed foods. I hope this information is helpful to others who are still looking for the reasons for their migraines, nausea, and in my case itching, swelling, blotches, and endless steroids packs and benadryll, etc. Phew! :)
I'm looking forward to comments,
Tandy

Offline misfitguy

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Re: MSG/Sodium Benzoate
« Reply #1 on: August 29, 2011, 05:48:54 PM »
Tandy,

Welcome to Misfit City Forum and thank you for joining and posting.  Sassafras, my wife and the administrator of this site, is extremely allergic to MSG and other excitotoxins.  You may also want to go to another site we have that is called www.saynotomsg.com 

You are right.  This site has a lot of topics beyond MSG.  You may want to browse and add to some of the other threads.

Sodium Benzoate is in a ton of things and we didn't know that there was any excitotoxins in it.  We will research this and share our findings.  You can even find this chemical in bottled water. 

Sass and I travel quite a bit and sometimes we are not able to get on line for a few days.  If you ever post and ask a question and we don't answer, please have patience as we may be on the road.

warmly,

Mick and Sassafras Zellar
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Offline Tandy

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Re: MSG/Sodium Benzoate
« Reply #2 on: August 30, 2011, 06:27:26 AM »
Thank you Mick and Sassafrass for the nice welcome, and for the link to the additional site. I'm excited to check it out too. I didn't know about bottled water. That's almost as sad as me finding it in children's cough syrup; Triaminic. My husband travels a lot as well and is in the habit of grabbing a case of water to take with him. Would you happen to know of any brands for us to avoid?
Thanks,
Tandy

Offline misfitguy

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Re: MSG/Sodium Benzoate
« Reply #3 on: August 30, 2011, 07:05:00 AM »
Would you happen to know of any brands for us to avoid?


Off the top of my head, Wal-Mart's brand, I think it says Sam's Club on it.  We read all labels including water.  If their are ingredients in your bottled water, then don't buy it.  By the way, one of the things we do offer through our Say No To MSG website is a pocket sized laminated card with many of the ingredients that sufferers of excitotoxins must avoid.  We started to accumulate this list in 1999 when Sassafras woke with a headache and feeling miserable told me, "I don't want to ever get sick again."  We started reading labels and using the internet and library to identify every chemical that was listed. 

Another thing you may need to know.  There is no hair conditioner on the market that does not have MSG in it. They all cause headaches to Sassafras and she has hair down to her waist.  She simply does not use conditioner anymore.  Most shampoos have some form of MSG.  She uses the clear Suave brand and all tooth pastes have carrageenan in them except for Arm and Hammer. 

I am still not sure about avoiding Sodium Benzoate as Sassafras has never reacted to it.

Any info we can share with you will be our pleasure.  If you want you own laminated pocket card with a list of excitotoxins to avoid on them, email us with your snail mail address and we will send one out to you ASAP.  You can also find a more complete list here http://www.misfitcityforum.com/forum/index.php?topic=220.0 or here http://www.misfitcityforum.com/forum/index.php?topic=220.0  and copy/paste to a word document and print it out for your use. 

warmly,

Mick
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Offline misfitguy

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Re: MSG/Sodium Benzoate
« Reply #4 on: August 30, 2011, 07:20:38 AM »
Tandy,

As I mentioned earlier, we travel a lot.  We are presently, in fact, in a motel in Grand Rapids, MI on the way to Lima, OH for 6 days.  We have our own line of sunglasses and goggles we sell in motorcycle and specialty shows.  You can go here  http://misfitscentral.net/misfitscentral_aboutus.htm to learn more about us if you care to. I am telling you this because we just may disappear from the internet for a bit.

 I just spent some time looking up Sodium Benzoate on the internet and I found some disturbing information concerning cancer, Parkinsons's disease and ADHD.  All are things we need to concern ourselves with but I couldn't connect this chemical with the excitotoxins that affect Sassafras and other sufferers.  I don't think you will react to this chemical while eating pickles, for instance or drinking Sprite, but if you do, we would really like to hear about it.  Wikipedia had quite a bit of information on it as well as this site, http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-sodium-benzoate.htm or this site http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/health-news/caution-some-soft-drinks-may-seriously-harm-your-health-450593.html 

Research is very time consuming, but since we are so dependent on our food industry today, it is important for us to know just what they have added to our food.

warmly,

Mick
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Offline Sassafras

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Re: MSG/Sodium Benzoate
« Reply #5 on: August 30, 2011, 09:26:59 AM »
Tandy,

Thank you for joining our Forum.   [welcome]  I hope we can help each other concerning MSG and other excitotoxins.  Sodium Benzoate maybe an excitotoxin, but it would be low on the list next to Citric Acid.  I can eat foods and use  bath washes and shampoo with both ingredients.  It is when they are used in conjunction with other excitotoxins.  Like creating an overload.

I will add more information to this thread.  I am pressed for time right now since breakfast is waiting at Bob Evan's and Mick and the dog are in the van right now. ::D

 [peace] (;D)b W==(:D)==

Thank you again for joining and hope to share with you in more areas for the City than just MSG.

___________
Just Me
Sass


It is not for him to pride himself who loveth his own country, but rather for him who loveth the whole world. The earth is but one country, and mankind its citizens. ~~Baha'u'llah

The chief idols in the desecrated temple of mankind are none other than the triple gods of Nationalism, Racialism and Communism, at whose altars governments and peoples, whether democratic or totalitarian, at peace or at war, of the East or of the West, Christian or Islamic, are, in various forms and in different degrees, now worshiping. ~~Shoghi Effendi, The Promised Day is Come

Offline Sassafras

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Re: MSG/Sodium Benzoate
« Reply #6 on: August 30, 2011, 10:18:10 AM »
Would you happen to know of any brands for us to avoid?


Off the top of my head, Wal-Mart's brand, I think it says Sam's Club on it.

Another thing you may need to know.  There is no hair conditioner on the market that does not have MSG in it. She uses the clear Suave brand...

and all tooth pastes have carrageenan in them except for Arm and Hammer. 


I quoted Mick and broke his earlier message apart a bit.

Water... There is another brand I can think of, Nestle.  I don't know why companies add ingredients to their water, but some do.

Shampoo... Suave did at one time carry a clear variety of shampoo, now the "Clarifying" (I think is what they call it) shampoo has a faint blue color and fragrance.  Also to label on the bottle said at one time, "More manageable!"  which translates to "We use MSG/excitotoxins in this shampoo!"

I have stock piled the clear variety of this shampoo before it was taken off the shelf.  I have a lot!!  But I know that there are people like you that are not able to obtain this shampoo, so I have been experimenting with Irish Spring body wash, regular or original only, and Johnson's and Johnson's Baby Shampoo.  And... I have been doing fine with this combination.  I used to use the Irish Spring as a "conditioner" but now I have cut out the Suave totally.  The Johnson's and Johnson's is probably an overkill.  My hair is clean and "manageable" without it, but again, it is an experiment.  There is a lot of frangrance in the J&J.  When I started using it, I thought the fragrance along was going to give me a headache, but it didn't.  Now, I have to say that both items have Citric Acid.  Sometimes it is unavailable.  When I run out of J&J, I will try something else.

Toothpaste...  Arm and Hammer, like Mick said, is the only toothpaste we have found that doesn't have carrageenan or xantham gum.

When looking for shampoos and toothpaste, you have to remember, "all natural" doesn't mean squat concerning MSG.  Extracts are the worst!!!

I hope this additional information helps you.  Mick and I are have finished our breakfast and are off the Ohio.

Even though Mick and I are away from the City for 6 days, there is another Moderator with administrative capabilities running around protecting us from the evil spammers who like to trash our beloved City.  His name is EdisonBoy!!  He may pop in here and say hey.  If not, introduce yourself in another part of the Forum and he will come running... with cape flowing in the wind. 

______________
Just Me
Sass

« Last Edit: August 30, 2011, 10:22:46 AM by Sassafras »


It is not for him to pride himself who loveth his own country, but rather for him who loveth the whole world. The earth is but one country, and mankind its citizens. ~~Baha'u'llah

The chief idols in the desecrated temple of mankind are none other than the triple gods of Nationalism, Racialism and Communism, at whose altars governments and peoples, whether democratic or totalitarian, at peace or at war, of the East or of the West, Christian or Islamic, are, in various forms and in different degrees, now worshiping. ~~Shoghi Effendi, The Promised Day is Come

Offline Tandy

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Re: MSG/Sodium Benzoate
« Reply #7 on: September 01, 2011, 06:02:03 AM »
Thank you Mick and Sass for the information on water, conditioners and toothpastes. I started checking labels on everything and knew msg was in shampoos and conditioners but had not begun to check toothpastes and water as of yet. I also appreciate you both researching sodium benzoate and its association to msg. A japanesse restaurant manager is the first person to tell me about it. Although I have not researched this, she said it was a law in FL that she had to disclose that sodium benzoate was 1% msg to customers who asked about msg. I do react to sodium benzoate with nausea and migraines, but not the other severe symtoms of msg. The migraine is enough for me to avoid it all together so I will be on the lookout for it in water and toothpastes as well.
Thank you so much for the quick responses and I would love know more about the laminated list you have:)
Enjoy your travels,
Tandy

Offline chibimyuutsu

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Re: MSG/Sodium Benzoate
« Reply #8 on: September 28, 2011, 06:37:22 PM »

Another thing you may need to know.  There is no hair conditioner on the market that does not have MSG in it. They all cause headaches to Sassafras and she has hair down to her waist.  She simply does not use conditioner anymore.  Most shampoos have some form of MSG.  She uses the clear Suave brand and all tooth pastes have carrageenan in them except for Arm and Hammer. 

Mick

I have a brand of Natural Conditioner called Nature's Gate, it's a bit hard to rinse out, but make's one's hair silky while being reassured that you are using a natural product. 

http://www.google.com/products/catalog?q=nature%27s+gate+aloe+vera&hl=en&client=firefox-a&hs=fLP&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&prmd=imvns&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.&biw=979&bih=640&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tbm=shop&cid=5386216811767139746&sa=X&ei=oq-DTraIDavF0AHd04SdAQ&ved=0CGgQ8wIwAQ
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Offline misfitguy

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Re: MSG/Sodium Benzoate
« Reply #9 on: October 04, 2011, 04:44:52 PM »
Thank you for the link and welcome to the Misfit City Forum.  We welcome all and are happy to see new members posting and sharing their thoughts and ideas.  We will research the shampoo and if the ingredients look safe, we will order it and Sassafras will be the guinea pig again.  I hope this is really a good product for two reasons.  It will be a blessing for those such as Sassafras that suffer from MSG and I won't have to respond to spam. When you say you have a product, do you mean you have found this product is safe from your own use?  Have you suffered from using other brands of shampoo in the past? 

Natural or All Natural has no meaning that a consumer can take to the bank.  It really isn't much difference than using the phrase, "All New", "Giant Size", "New and Improved", etc.  That is why we still read ingredients before Sassafras uses a product.
 
So welcome again and I hope you continue to share with us.


warmly,

Mick
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Offline chibimyuutsu

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Re: MSG/Sodium Benzoate
« Reply #10 on: October 05, 2011, 11:02:45 AM »
I use and have the product, and the ingredients seem harmless and natural enough. :P

Thank you for the welcome.  I myself do not have any MSG allergies, but my father gets violently ill when he consumes it.  I try to avoid it, as I feel it is a detriment to my health.
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Offline misfitguy

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Re: MSG/Sodium Benzoate
« Reply #11 on: October 06, 2011, 04:59:04 PM »
Yes it is unhealthy.  It has no health benefits and simply is a flavor enhancer that masks package tastes, age tastes, freezer tastes or enhances things like flavored chips, boxed meals like Ramen noodles, or macaroni and cheese.  It literally kills brain cells, whether you symptomize or not.  If you eat a lot of it, headaches will slowly become part of your life.  Ranch dressing seems to be the culprit that most headache sufferers love and eat to an excess.  Avoiding all the excitotoxins that are put in our food is a really good idea.

For instance, I am not a big pop/soda drinker, but occasionally will have one with pizza, for example.  Because I am diabetic, I have always bought diet free pops/sodas with Aspartame.  I have recently switched to regular pop/soda with "ugh" high fructose corn syrup and it hasn't affected my diabetes, probably because I seldom drink a half of a bottle and only drink it a couple of times a month.

Aspartame, Nutra-Sweet, maltodextrin and other fake sugars always cause brain lesions.  Some of these may become brain tumors, which explains why we all know somebody that has suffered or died from a brain tumor.  And all those friends and family members I know drank diet pop/soda exclusively.

Mick
Go to www.misfitscentral.net  Why not?

Military justice is to justice what military music is to music.

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"The world is one country and mankind is its citizens..."  Baha'u'llah