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The Truth About Healthy Eating

Mij

Senior Member
Messages
2,353
Another interesting fact I learnt was that there is no such thing as "GMO Free" popcorn- it does not exist. So as someone who likes to eat popcorn on a regular basis this is good news to me.

Popcorn is different from field corn but it doesn't stop companies from fancying their packaging with this "GMO Free" label to sell their products..
 

Jigsaw

Senior Member
Messages
420
Location
UK
And then, after all of that, you have to obsessively read labels ... and are still often left with uncertainty as to whether or not a food item contains some form of the substance that makes you so sick. I don't blame anyone for free glutamic acid doing nasty things to me, but food manufacturers' persistence in playing games with my health (and sanity!) is inexcusable.
Yes, It's a nightmare! So many different names for the same thing. Do many people even know what "hydrogenated vegetable oil" is, for example? Someone did explain it to be once, but I've learnt to avoid it anyway because it triggers a migraine in me.

I'd like them to specify which vegetable they're talking about when they put "vegetable oil" on a label. I might be wrong (and being human, I often am!) but isn't Rapeseed counted as a "vegetable" in food labelling? I was having a very enlightening chat with a baker at one of our local big supermarkets about Tiger bread just under 2 weeks ago. I thought Tiger bread had cheese in the crust, but he said that no, it doesn't, what makes it Tiger bread is the stuff they put on top of the bread before it's baked. I asked what was in "the stuff". He said "vegetable oils, stuff like that. It makes it go very crusty, it's what gives it that crust distinctive to Tiger bread."

He brought out a big blue tub of "stuff" to show me. It didn't have an ingredients label. He then fetched a data sheet. It listed several vegetable oils, and one of them was indeed rapeseed oil. I reluctantly put my bargain reduced-to-10p loaf of Tiger bread back on the shelf.

Back to reading labels. This is why I largely stick to fresh foods, or fresh-frozen. I try to get organic where I can, because of depleted full-spectrum minerals in non-organic growing soils, antibiotics and hormones in fresh/ frozen non-organic animal meats, etc., etc., ad nauseam, pun intended.

Almost anything with an ingredients label (aside from bottled mineral water), with more than one or possibly two listed ingredients, is problematic for me. And I'm SO bored of having to read labels to check for rapeseed oil, BVO, aspartame, saccharin, yeast extract, glutamic acid, glutamate, MSG, nuts, soy, reduced fat, 0% fat, skimmed milk, semi-skimmed milk, etc., etc., as above.

I'm sorry to hear that glutamic acid causes you such horrible problems, and until reading your posts, I hadn't realised the extent of the labelling issue. Thanks for explaining it. All good information is useful. I hadn't, for instance, realised "yeast extract" is glutamic acid under another name.

What's the difference between glutamic acid and free glutamic acid and glutamate?
 
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Jigsaw

Senior Member
Messages
420
Location
UK
I think that most food manufacturers probably do go out of their way to hide the fact that their food product contains MSG. People have a fear of MSG and don't want to buy a product if they think that it contains it. About 10 years ago someone posted a list online that listed the approximately 35 different names or terms for variations of MSG. I read recently that in Australia they came up with a list of 129 names or terms for variations of MSG.
@TigerLilea
Wow! Really? That's incredible! Where can I find that list? @Valentijn
 

Jigsaw

Senior Member
Messages
420
Location
UK
Another interesting fact I learnt was that there is no such thing as "GMO Free" popcorn- it does not exist. So as someone who likes to eat popcorn on a regular basis this is good news to me.

Popcorn is different from field corn but it doesn't stop companies from fancying their packaging with this "GMO Free" label to sell their products..
Hi @Mij,

That's interesting.

How is that good news for you, as a popcorn eater?
 

Mij

Senior Member
Messages
2,353
@Jigsaw because we still don't understand fully how genes work and it's unpredictability causes concern for me. They can insert genes in plants that can possibly produce 'rogue' proteins, this can be toxic.

I like to avoid the uncertainty whenever possible.

I eat a lot of popcorn, a bowl every night. It helps me sleep.
 

Jigsaw

Senior Member
Messages
420
Location
UK
@Jigsaw because we still don't understand fully how genes work and it's unpredictability causes concern for me. They can insert genes in plants that can possibly produce 'rogue' proteins, this can be toxic.

I like to avoid the uncertainty whenever possible.

I eat a lot of popcorn, a bowl every night. It helps me sleep.
I'm still confused. I thought you were saying that non-genetically modified popcorn doesn't exist, and that therefore all popcorn was genetically modified.

I understand all the concerns over geneticall modified stuff, and you understand them, too, hence my confusion over you seeming to say that genetically modified popcorn is good news for you.

What am I misunderstanding? :confused:
 

Mij

Senior Member
Messages
2,353
@Jigsaw hahaha I was saying that I was happy to learn that there is no such thing as "GMO Free" popcorn because I used to buy brands labelled 'gmo free' that cost more. So now I just buy plain old organic popcorn from the bin at my health food store for a lot less!
 

Jigsaw

Senior Member
Messages
420
Location
UK
@Jigsaw hahaha I was saying that I was happy to learn that there is no such thing as "GMO Free" popcorn because I used to buy brands labelled 'gmo free' that cost more. So now I just buy plain old organic popcorn from the bin at my health food store for a lot less!
@Mij

Oh I see :)

- But it's still going to be genetically modified, no? Do you make an exception for popcorn when it comes to GM because it's helpful to you with sleep?
 

Mij

Senior Member
Messages
2,353
@Jigsaw there is no such thing as genetically modified popcorn. I was lead to believe years ago that some popcorn was GMO so bought brands that were labelled 'non gmo' so it avoid gmo. It's all a marketing ploy to promote their brand as safer to eat.
 

Jigsaw

Senior Member
Messages
420
Location
UK
@Jigsaw there is no such thing as genetically modified popcorn. I was lead to believe years ago that some popcorn was GMO so bought brands that were labelled 'non gmo' so it avoid gmo. It's all a marketing ploy to promote their brand as safer to eat.
Yes, I understand that :)

So if ALL popcorn IS GMO, then you are still eating genetically modified popcorn, yes?

My question was that if you usually avoid GMO because of understandable concerns, are you making an exception for popcorn because it helps you sleep?
 

Jigsaw

Senior Member
Messages
420
Location
UK
Yes, I understand that
Oh! Ok, I get it. There's no such thing as genetically modified popcorn. All popcorn is non-GMO.

I thought you were saying there was no such thing as NON genetically modified popcorn, that ALL popcorn was genetically modified! :confused: Sorry!
 

Valentijn

Senior Member
Messages
15,786
What's the difference between glutamic acid and free glutamic acid and glutamate?
Glutamate is a common amino acid, a normal and harmless component of most proteins. Free glutamic acid is a salt form of glutamate which dissolves much faster and is absorbed much easier. It's also an excitotoxin, and has been found to cause neurological damage to rodents at high doses.

I haven't done a lot of digging into it, but glutamate is a neurotransmitter, and it sounds like free glutamic acid might be causing problems due to spiking blood levels of that neurotransmitter too high after consuming MSG/E621.
 

TigerLilea

Senior Member
Messages
1,147
Location
Vancouver, British Columbia
I didn't know that! I don't recall ever having seen that on any table salt labels. Surely it should be listed so that diabetics can avoid it if necessary?
I've got my box of salt here and it lists all of the ingredients:
- Sodium Chloride
- Sodium Aluminum Silicate
- Dextrose
- Potassium Iodide
- Yellow Prussiate of Soda

Who knew there were so many ingredients in a simple box of salt??
 

Jigsaw

Senior Member
Messages
420
Location
UK
I've got my box of salt here and it lists all of the ingredients:
- Sodium Chloride
- Sodium Aluminum Silicate
- Dextrose
- Potassium Iodide
- Yellow Prussiate of Soda

Who knew there were so many ingredients in a simple box of salt??
Good grief!

Makes me glad I'm usimg pink Himalayan and sole water!

Yellow Prussiate of Soda? Is it yellow? And it has only iodIDE in it, not iodINE. Different body tissues and organs have a preference for one or the other, occasionally they use both, sometimes they will only use one,and not the other. So everyone needs iodINE and iodIDE

I wonder how many people simply pick up a pack of Table Salt without reading the label? - I used to expect table salt to be just, well, salt, not salt plus aluminium plus dextrose plus Yellow Prussiate of Soda! I'm going to go and look that up!

That's a new one on me! o_O
 

Jigsaw

Senior Member
Messages
420
Location
UK
I've got my box of salt here and it lists all of the ingredients:
- Sodium Chloride
- Sodium Aluminum Silicate
- Dextrose
- Potassium Iodide
- Yellow Prussiate of Soda

Who knew there were so many ingredients in a simple box of salt??
From good old Wiki -

Sodium ferrocyanide is the sodium salt of the coordination compound of formula [Fe(CN)6]4−. In its hydrous form, Na4Fe(CN)6·10H2O (sodium ferrocyanide decahydrate), it is sometimes known as yellow prussiate of soda. It is a yellow crystalline solid that is soluble in water and insoluble in alcohol. The yellow color is the color of ferrocyanide anion. Despite the presence of the cyanideligands, sodium ferrocyanide has low toxicity(acceptable daily intake 0–0.025 mg/kg body weight[2]). The ferrocyanidesare less toxic than many salts of cyanide, because they tend not to release free cyanide.[3] However, like all ferrocyanide salt solutions, addition of an acid can result in the production of hydrogen cyanide gas, which is toxic.
 

Jigsaw

Senior Member
Messages
420
Location
UK
Glutamate is a common amino acid, a normal and harmless component of most proteins. Free glutamic acid is a salt form of glutamate which dissolves much faster and is absorbed much easier. It's also an excitotoxin, and has been found to cause neurological damage to rodents at high doses.

I haven't done a lot of digging into it, but glutamate is a neurotransmitter, and it sounds like free glutamic acid might be causing problems due to spiking blood levels of that neurotransmitter too high after consuming MSG/E621.
Thanks, @Valentijn

I know the diferent forms of the same base substance can vary hugely in their action and effect(s). Thanks for the explanation.

I used to take glutamine, which was very helpful in healing my leaky gut. I got warned off it on here, in the methylation forums, as being a potential excitotoxin.