Hi everybody this is Monica Reinagle.

Welcome back to the nutrition divas quick and dirty tips for eating well and feeling fabulous.

Several listeners have written with questions about MSG.

Kala wants to know exactly what MSG is and what foods it's found in.

And Miriam has read conflicting claims that it causes migraines and other problems,

but also that it's a natural ingredient that has been proven to be safe.

And Brooke wants me to address concerns about MSG in nutritional yeast and other so-called health foods.

There's a lot to cover so I'm going to tackle this topic in two installments.

In this week's podcast I'm going to take a look at what MSG is, how it acts in the body, and how it's used in the food supply.

And next week we'll take a closer look at charges that MSG causes headaches, flushing, neurological damage,

or that it has harmful effects on insulin, diabetes risk, or even obesity.

So what is MSG? Let me start with a quick overview of a few terms.

Glutomic acid is an amino acid, it's one of the building blocks of proteins.

Glutomic acid is naturally found in all living cells, both plant and animal,

and it's especially abundant in protein foods.

Your body also produces its own glutamic acid.

It's particularly important to the brain

where it acts as a neurotransmitter,

and it also detoxifies the body and the brain of harmful ammonia.

Some researchers are even investigating whether glutamic acid could be useful in the treatment

of Parkinson's disease, epilepsy, and other neurological conditions.

Glutomate is a term that's often used interchangeably with glutamic acid, but technically

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