We are receiving a growing number of inquiries about a connection between MSG, ADD, and ADHD. We have believed all along that the diet children largely get today is filled with hidden MSG, and that this is the real cause for these disorders of epidemic proportion. We hear from school principals, teachers, nurses, and parents who agree with us. We will begin to post some of their comments here.
Hi,
I thought I should tell you my story since I just read your book (cookbook) and
thoroughly enjoyed it. Since my daughter was 2 1/2, I realized she had some
food sensitivities because of her sporadic horrendous behavior. I narrowed it
down to chocolate about a year ago and she had been much better but still had
some bad "episodes" since then. For the past few months her bad
"episodes" were getting worse and more frequent. She would start
screaming, hitting, and would be uncontrollable for at least an hour. I got to
a point where I didn't want to have any friends over because I would get so
embarrassed about her behavior. If she was normal she was always sweet and
played so well with other children. She is not in school so I didn't have to
deal with that nightmare. Just two weeks ago I had friends over and she started
having severe tantrums "all of a sudden." I told my friend I know
this is a reaction to food and I have it narrowed down to a food additive but
didn't know which one. My daughter asked to eat a Chinese shredded pork that
was on the counter and I said no you have had enough. My friend who has some
allergies read the label and said that it has MSG in it. I knew at that moment
we found the answer to my prayers. I read the label of everything she ate that
day and it all had MSG. (It wasn't even disguised.) I graduated college with a
nutrition degree and never heard of this before. I did hear some people
couldn't tolerate it in Chinese food, but that was it! That night I went on the
Internet and through CBN (700 club) I found your book and ordered it. I read
the whole thing in two days and am so exited to start using the recipes. My
daughter already says to me, "Did you read the label? Is this going to
make me sick?" She remembers how she felt and doesn't want to feel that
way anymore. She said she felt really tired and her legs ached really bad. She
had absolutely no coping skills so I think there were other symptoms that she
didn't have the vocabulary for. I am so grateful for all the information I
received from your book. I do have a question though. You say many times that
you need to try a food and see if it affects you or not. Do you have any advice
in finding out how much something affects a child. My daughter is almost four
and it's hard to decide whether it's a kid trying to get her own way or the MSG
affecting her mood. I know it's very individual, but I thought you may have
some experience with this since you now have grandchildren. Thank you again for
all your hard work. The recipes look great!
Donna Goei
Hi Donna,
Thank you so much for sharing your daughter's story with me. This is where this
terrible scandal hits me the hardest ....children. I am confident that MSG is
at the root of the childhood epidemics we have of ADD, ADHD, rage disorder,
depression, asthma, and more. I am so happy that you were able to track down
the cause for your little daughter's symptoms and our book. As for your
question regarding trying to evaluate your daughter's reaction to MSG or just
normal "growing up" behavior, I would suggest that you write down all
the symptoms that you have noticed in the past as MSG related. Some of the
common reactions in children reported to us are, flushing, hyperactivity (often
the reason children become anxious, unfocussed and sometimes destructive and
demanding), complaining of stomach aches, crying or overreacting to little
things that normally they can handle, headaches, becoming more argumentive,
whiny. Many children become extremely tired and need to sleep it off. I realize
that this is difficult to distinguish sometimes from the normal developmental
patterns that are characteristic of children at this age. But as your daughter
matures in her ability to communicate her discomfort, she will be able
recognize for herself if she has gotten MSG by mistake. It's good to keep a
journal of everything she eats for at least a month so that you can correlate
"episodes" with a perhaps reoccurring food. Wish I could be of more
help, but I do know that my daughters now are certain when their child has had
MSG or is misbehaving. They can tell if their daughters have eaten something
they shouldn't have at school, or at a friend's house. If the child is not
coming down with an illness, has had plenty of sleep, and there are no other
obvious problems, it's a good bet that MSG is part of the problem. My daughter
who has an 8 year old, says that Chelsea can tell for herself if she is
reacting, and "hates how she gets". She now avoids drinking milk,
too, and that has helped immensely. She does better with whole organic milk as
opposed to regular whole or skim varieties of milk. She prefers Rice Dream rice
milk with calcium. She also reacts to chocolate. Of course most chocolates are
loaded with dry milk solids and lecithin, two good sources of free glutamic
acid. It is amazing to me that the national organization for dietitians accepts
what the glutamate industry and the FDA keep saying about MSG's safety. Of
course, most doctors do too, although more are starting to listen to us. The
FDA rubs shoulders, or should I say trades favors with the food industry all
the time, as you may have read about in Jack Samuel's site,
www.truthinlabeling.org. We have to get the word out to more
victims. Your story really touched my heart, and if other parents could read
what you and your daughter have gone through, it could make a difference. We
are getting more and more calls from frightened parents and even school
teachers who are mystified by the number of ADD and ADHD children popping
Ritilan pills in schools today. We need to do more to alert them and others of
this growing and terrible national health problem. I know your daughter is one
of the lucky ones to have a mother who went to great lengths to find the answer
to help her.
Take care and God bless!
Debby
Hi Debby,
Congratulations on a fantastic website. I have taken msg & artificial
sugars out of the diet of my 2 boys (Luke 6yrs Downs & Jack 5yrs Autistic)
and myself, 18 months ago. You won't need me to tell you the difference that it
has made to us all. In the UK, the support group that I am involved in, Allergy
Induced Autism, recommends that msg & artificial sugars be taken out the
child's diet immediately. All who do this, report wonderful things. Keep
battling away. It is much appreciated.
With thanks & best wishes,
A friend in the United Kingdom who wishes to remain anonymous
I have asked this delightful mother to send more information about her son's autism and I will post more as it is received. She is an activist, author, and has given media interviews concerning autism and diet.
Thank you for all the valuable information on MSG!!! I have an 8 year old
daughter that is currently being checked for ADD-she has a difficult time
focusing (her grades in school are falling) figits, hyperactive, loud and can
be be very mean. She is also experiencing nausea, vomitting & headaches-the
doctor asked me to eliminate milk from her diet for 2 weeks. During this period
my Mother in Law told me to check into MSG (she owns a deli, and has many
customers asking for lunchmeat with no MSG). I began researching and decided to
eliminate MSG from her diet for 2 weeks-after having no MSG my daughter is a
new person-her school work has dramatically improved, she stays focused during
homework, less Hyper, no more headaches or vomitting! I CANT BELIEVE THE
DIFFERENCE!!!
Caren P.
Excerp from a posting by Debby Anglesey April 2001:
"Did anyone see the Montel Williams show on April 12, 2001? It's time to act again. Parents and specialists were on. Cluster areas where autism is 3 times the national average and growing,(Brick Township, N.J. and Staten Island, N.Y.) were discussed. Everyone wanted to know what was going on, and the following possibilities were mentioned: environment, food, vaccines (especially measles, mumps, and rubella----Jack Samuels says that this vaccine is especially high in glutamic acid and aspartic acid, as I recall), genetics. 1 in 10 of these children have a fragile X chromosome, 75% have some mental retardation, and 30% have seizures. A doctor who has a son who was diagnosed at 1 1/2 years is fine now at 4 1/2 years since his father did some researching and removed gluten and milk from his diet. He also gives him cod liver oil every day (vitamin A). His theories were barely discussed. The work of therapists took center stage, but the show did give viewers a lot to think about. I keep thinking about the results of the hundreds of lab tests done on animals over the years that demonstrated beyond a doubt what excess glutamate did to the neurological development (prenatally, eventually, in successive generations) of the lab animals and their offspring. I'm fearful that what is going on with our children is what was seen in the 2nd and 3rd generation of animals tested. They manifested an inability to learn (couldn't go through mazes), had mental retardation, and endocrine problems, birth defects, etc.. Most died obese and early. The doctor also made the observation that the autistic children of today are not the same as those of 30 years ago. Today, they are showing other puzzling physical symptoms: acrid diarrhea, seizures, and compromised immune systems. The doctor called these children "neurologically wounded children". A parent said each child is a "biological train wreck". These clusters are not just in N.J. or N.Y.. They are here in our town and around the world. I just received an e-mail from an alarmed man in Australia who said autism and ADD are epidemic there, too. I could cry. But as I always believed and still do, it will take the tragedy of our children to get people to demand some answers. It's going to happen....but oh, the cost." .
You can get to the Montel Williams web site at www.montelshow.com. Please feel free to follow the links and voice your opinion.
Except from an e mail received in April 2001 with permission to post:
"Hi Debby,
G'day! We are very health conscious in Oz (Australia), despite the image
sometimes portrayed, and your subject would be the answer to many people's
symptoms. On the health and lifestyle shows on TV the "experts" are
always answering questions on chronic fatigue, "digestion" problems,
asthma (and its huge incidental increase, especially in children), sleep
disorders, hyperactivity (once again especially in children.The dispensing of
drugs and ADHD medications to cover the effects of colours and flavours is
bordering on criminal, and has been receiving huge press coverage for some
time.), poor concentration, irritable bowel (another huge one!) and general
aches and pains not diagnosed as arthritis or any other condition. The general
treatment for this is painkillers!
Kind regards,
Nigel"