I am becoming more and more interested in the use of the amino acid Taurine as a food additive. As a person that is EXTREMELY sensitive to the added MSG that food processors are dumping into our food, the research I have done on Taurine has led me to believe that if Taurine was added to processed foods along with MSG, that the man-made problem of excitotoxins in processed foods might be curtailed.
MSG is being added (in greater and greater qualities) to processed foods as a flavor enhancer. The problem is that as MSG does not just “excite” our taste buds, making the foods we eat taste better. It overexcites our brain neurons to death and causes brain damage. MSG is a huge suspect in the health problem epidemics of Alzheimer’s Disease, autism, allergies, asthma and a slew of other chronic health conditions. MSG has also been proven to cause obesity in lab animals and is likely behind the American obesity epidemic.
If Taurine acts in exact reverse of MSG, it is the amino acid that calms and protects brain neurons. If added to food, would it just cancel out the effects of MSG that food processors desire? Or could it be designed to ameliorate only the harmful effects of MSG? I don’t know, but I think if I can’t escape MSG in the food supply completely, that I will start keeping a Taurine shaker on my table next to the salt!
Carole's Corner 