Weight management is a struggle for many people. The reasons for this are complex and varied. But our mass culture largely ignores the subtle influences that drive weight gain. Instead society conditions us not only to hate fat, but fat people as well. With high condescension, the overweight are deemed a bunch of lazy gluttons. But this is the farthest thing from the truth.
You see, the human body desires stable internal conditions. And we have evolved robust mechanisms to ensure a steady weight over the long term. Consider that until recent decades, obesity has been a rarity. This is not a coincidence. There is something about modern food that breaks down our weight regulatory systems. Indeed, certain ingredients in highly processed foods create hormonal disruptions in the body that lead to runaway weight gain. And one of the biggest offenders is seasoning cubes.
But first, let us debunk one of the biggest myths of our time. We have been repeatedly told that a calorie is a calorie; irrespective of the source. That is, if you eat more, you gain more weight. So the obvious solution is to diet. But notice that there is no distinction about what you ate. And therein lays the basic problem. Because food is much more than just energy or raw materials; it also contains information. Substances in food modulate how the body operates; either promoting harmony or disharmony.
How Seasoning cubes make you fat
A seasoning cube does not make you fat because of its caloric content, which is minimal. It is all the about the neurotoxic effects of a chemical it contains. The active ingredient in seasoning cubes is monosodium glutamate (MSG). It adds savoriness to food, giving a certain heartiness and robustness to meals.
However, glutamate has other functions in the body besides taste enhancement. It is also an important neurotransmitter. That is, it excites brain cells and stimulates electrical activity in the brain. But, seasoning cubes contain unnaturally high concentrations of glutamate. When you consume foods seasoned by MSG, the brain is overstimulated by the rush of glutamate. In fact, certain brain cells are stimulated to the point of death. In that way, seasoning cubes directly damage brain tissue over time.
This damage has huge implications for weight management. This is because body weight is regulated by a subconscious region of the brain known as the hypothalamus. The hypothalamus regulates appetite and how much fat you either store or burn off. Damage to the hypothalamus prevents it from communicating with fat stores in the body. Your brain is no longer able to determine how much fat is stored. And to make matters worse, the brain interprets this loss of communication as the absence of fat. That is, the brain thinks you are starving. It kicks appetite into overdrive and shuts downs your metabolism. You not only eat more, but the body zealously blocks fat burning. After all, it is desperately trying to rebuild fat stores (even if you are obese).
Notice that all this is unfolding subconsciously. So, it is near futile to try to will yourself to lose MSG-induced body fat. You might succeed for a while, but the long term solution is to eliminate MSG from the diet. And to eat a nourishing diet that will heal damaged brain tissue. For if you can switch back on the hypothalamus, the body will gradually burn excess fat stores.
Going beyond seasoning cubes
MSG takes advantage of our biologically hard-wired taste receptors and makes it very hard to stop eating foods poisoned by this ingredient. It is a virtual miracle worker in turning disgusting into delicious. For this reason it is widely used in processed foods. But many products try to conceal this fact. Here are some of its many disguises on food labels: glutamic acid, hydrolyzed protein, autolyzed protein, textured protein, yeast extract, autolyzed yeast extract, protein isolate, soy sauce, modified food starch, modified corn starch, calcium caseinate, sodium caseinate, broth, maltodextrin, seasonings, natural flavor, monopotassium glutamate, glutamate, gelatin, hydrolyzed vegetable protein, hydrolyzed plant protein, textured protein, yeast food, yeast nutrient, and torula yeast.
Reference:
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Kate S Collison, M Zaidi, SM Saleh, A Inglis, R Mondreal, NJ Makhoul, R Bakheet, J Burrows, NW Milgram, FA Al-Mohanna. “Effect of trans-fat, fructose and monosodium glutamate feeding on feline weight gain, adiposity, insulin sensitivity, adipokine and lipid profile”. The British Journal of Nutrition. 2011. Web
Ezenwa Onwugbenu is a nutritional healer and public speaker on natural health matters. You can find out more about him and his passion for natural health and living on Creative Juices