Aspartame & MSG and autoimmune conditions. http://www.naturalnews.com/020550_excitotoxins_MSG.html

[Cristina_Romania]

"Monosodium Glutamate - promoter of liver inflammation"

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/181...

There is a big amount of research out there, studies and other medical articles. But this one is quite comprehensive and easy to understand.

It's not only about avoiding fats, sugars, fried stuff etc if you have PBC or any other autoimmune or inflammatory condition, it's also about the stuff you take in with food you think is ok for you (or doctors don't warn you about) but which on the long run, especially if your body is already facing a chronic condition, can only harm some more.

What foods you find aspartame and particularly MSG in - there is plenty of info online but also on food labels, if you know what to look for.

Want cheese? Don''t get fancy commercial brands but the most natural you can find. Want sweets? Make them yourself or have black chocolate or the similar simpler stuff. Want to drink? Water, tea, natural juices. Want meat? Avoid sausages, make yourself a steak or a steam boiled piece of meat or fish. Is not that difficult :).

[Cristina_Romania]

MSG, Obesity and Liver Disease ( a Romanian study)

jmed.ro/articole/193.pdf

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Not used MSG but I agree with you regarding Aspartame, I asked the question about it on 21 June, as I had been using it for years, since 1991 when I gave up smoking, as my weight started to increase I bought all diet foods and drinks which all contained Aspartame, my LFTs started to be raised from about a1996, when diagnosed with PBC in Jan 2010, started on Urso, I gave up all diet drinks and foods containing Aspartame, my LFTs are now near normal, my consultant wanted to know what I had been doing to warrant such a change, did the Urso kick in so quick or is it because the Aspartame has left my system??? Who knows!

[Cristina_Romania]

You have surely used MSG in some of the supermarket foods you have eaten as said it's often hidden, there are apparently above 20 "disguised" chemical forms in which MSG is introduced in foods.

As with about everything I post, there is substantial evidence, studies, medical articles online which you can check. I strongly recommend to lend an ear to what Dr Blaylock says :). All the best !

[Hidden in reply to Cristina_Romania]

I don't buy ready meals, never have done, never had fast food I.e McDonalds or anything like that, always cook from fresh ingredients, when I mentioned diet foods above, I was meaning yoghurts, diet drinks and puddings that are reduced fat, unless MSG is in biscuits or cereals, not sure if it is in these type of foods, now you have me confused!

[Cristina_Romania in reply to Hidden]

Diet products have often sweeteners and flavour enhancers, which over-stimulate the taste buds and taste receptors (which are not only on your tongue but all through your digestive system), so don't over-eat those light stuff either. Studies say, not me.

Yes MSG can be also in such products. Search online and you will find the more than 20 , they say, names under which MSG is hidden in foods, for ex "hydrolized protein", "caseine" etc.

I would say not to get too panicky about this but for this and 1.000 other reasons to try to keep an as natural diet as possible, varying foods, but having the as little processed and with chemical stuff in them as possible.

I'm thinking - just a thought after a lot of reading - if MSG has been clearly linked with ADHD syndrome in kids and adults as well (attention deficit and hyperactivity syndrome), could it have something to do with making the itch worse too? We might never know, but taking a bit care with what one eats can surely only do good, for many reasons, me thinks :).

[Hidden]

Like everything 'out there' I have basically decided myself WHAT I will eat/drink still. I have over the years avoided over-indulgence in alcohol (easy as no babysitters when my children were little as not much in way of family and then when my husband died in 1993 I never bothered going out much anyway, just didn't bother so was always the odd drinker at Christmas and odd family function), I have never smoked and I've never been one prone to fry-ups or a lot of sugary sweets and additives BUT I still get a medical label of PBC.

I laid off anything with MSG many many yrs ago (watch out for the Chinese take-aways in particular as they did or still do use MSG) and as far as artificial sweeteners go, for me I'd rather have the real thing (always made a cake or buns with golden granulated unrefined sugar).

This probably sounds a bit daft in itself but if you take a look at the additives in the urso and also other pharmaceuticals out there (what are called bulking agents I believe or to make them easy to swallow and dispense), every day we are taking in some form of toxin whether it be in make-up one wears (again I've never worn make-up my entire life and I'm 48 now) and even hair dye I think a case we could all go round and round in circles as at the end of the day we just do not know the answers.

I think in today's society it is very difficult to know exactly what is deemed good and what is deemed bad as each decade brings up differing views mainly from the Health Squad. My late gran who was born in 1910 was raised eating bread and dripping (all that saturated fat!) and butter with this and that, none of this low fat diet but understandably back then people hadn't such use of new technology and probably moved about more so needed more energy from food (ie farmworkers working the field for one without machinery, ie scythes).

Also a point to note is that what is considered healthy food and good for us doesn't always come within a price range to suit. I've brought my two children up from being quite young on my own, being widowed suddenly and I was not entitled to State Benefits so had to provide for my own children and being limited budget, sometimes certain things are just not possible. The famous fast food outlet with the golden arches was one place I deemed never to take my children and I never did (tho' my sister took them along on odd occasions with her 2 children).

I'm fortunate that I have never been into 'fizzy pop' or even the dilute 'fruit' drinks so have spared myself there some of the chemicals but I do think a lot of it is the luck of the draw where developing PBC is concerned. Even on the subject of raw meat, it may look like it is natural but none of us know exactly what vaccines, etc the cattle was raised on? Things are certainly different these days than they were decades ago and I think with having PBC as long as I try my best to do what I think is right (I don't have a bad diet at all, makes me laugh at times when I hear of what one should be eating as have all so i t goes against the grain really), all that matters otherwise I do think it would be a waste of precious time.

[Cristina_Romania]

You are very right - Chinese foods & sweets too are often full of MSG and flavour enhancers.

True also about quality of foods, especially meat (injected nowadays more then ever before) not having the same quality like decades ago.