There are many food additives that cause us to have insatiable cravings for more food. These substances actually trigger the satiety center of our brains and tell us “I need more food!” when in reality, we are not truly hungry. Fast food restaurants such as McDonald’s jam-pack their menu with foods containing additives because they want to ensure their customers will be back for more.

Here are the top 2:

MSG – monosodium glutimate, a by-product of soy. MSG is an excitotoxin, which are neurotoxins that can cross the blood/brain barrier and destroy certain types of brain cells.  These dangerous substances are present in almost ALL processed foods under disguised names such as “natural flavors,” citric acid,” and  “spices.”

Have you ever wondered why you are hunger an hour after eating Chinese food? Could be the white rice, which is mostly empty carbs and burns up very quickly in the body due to its lack of fiber, but the main culprit is the salty substance known as MSG. MSG is found in many Asian-style restaurants, and in many refined, packaged snack foods. Read your labels and ask at restaurants for NO MSG.

Aspartame (most commonly labeled “Nutrasweet”) found in most sugar-free candies, sodas and chewing gum is also an excitotoxin, causing major health ailments such as migraine headaches and digestive problems.

HFCS – High Fructose Corn Syrup, from Corn
HFCS is heated at extremely high temperatures to create this super sweet syrup that is found in hundreds of packaged foods including, cereals, chips crackers, breads, almost all sodas, candies, etc. This substance sends our blood glucose into a huge spike and then when we crash, we crave more to get us back up to normal, which starts the cycle all over again.

The two together are a perfect pair. Too salty makes us crave sweet and too sweet makes us crave salty. Thus the sweet/salty roller-coaster of cravings begins! Many foods contain both sweet and salty flavor, which leads us to overeat because the satiety receptors in the brain are dealing with sensory overload.

David Katz speaks to this concept in his book, The Flavor Point Diet. Here’s an excerpt:

“…Our culinary landscape has become crowded with an overabundance of conflicting flavors that overstimulate important appetite-controlling cells in our brains, making us need more and more food to reach the Flavor Point. When you taste too many flavors at once-whether from too many different foods or too many flavors processed into one food-you overeat without feeling full.”

Here’s an article from ABC.com with descriptive information about the phases of his diet plan, The Flavor Point Diet.
http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/Diet/story?id=1486534

On principle, I’m not a huge supporter of “diets,” But Katz’s research on flavor organization is compelling. I am for individuals learning all there is to learn about their bodies and their own unique relationship with food.

To your education and exploration!

Side effects of MSG: http://www.ezhealthydiet.com/msg-side-effects.html

Excitotoxins: http://www.joyfulaging.com/Excitotoxins.htm

The Double Danger of HFCS: http://www.westonaprice.org/modernfood/highfructose.html