MSG- What?

I now have the answer I've been looking for, it just isn't the answer I want.  I've been feeling really sick after I eat most days.  I knew I must be allergic to something I was eating, but I couldn't figure out what on earth it was.  I would eat things that seemed to be from similar food groups and one time I would get really sick, and another only slightly sick.  Yeah, believe it or not it was pretty much a variance of degrees of sickness, there weren't many times I ate something and felt great afterward.   Perhaps this is why I've never understood why some of my friends love food.  I have a love hate relationship with food.  It tasted good, and it gives me energy, but then most of the time I feel like crap after I've eaten it.  Doesn't really make you want to eat.  I have the luck of also being hypoglycemic, so if I don't eat my blood pressure drops and I become a zombie- no one wants that.  So not eating just wasn't an option for me- which meant finding out what I was allergic to was very pressing.

It was my dad or my sister who suggested MSG.  My grandmother Rolison is allergic to it as well.  So I did what any person would do.  I went to the internet.  I found a reputable site that had information on MSG and what side effects they could have on someone.  What do you know- every single side effect I had was on that list.  I was one step closer to diagnosing myself (I hate going to the doctors office).  Then once I read up on it- which was crazy and I highly suggest you do some research for yourself.  Did you know that MSG can cause brain damage and reproduction problems?  Yeah, kinda frightening.  Anyway, so now I had an idea of what might be wrong, so I did a test.   I looked up the things I had been eating that had made me really sick- every one of them contained MSG.  Then I had some meals with absolutely no MSG, and made sure I went without it for a day.  I felt great that day- well compared to normal anyway.   I didn't feel sick at all after I ate, it was fantastic!

So now I breathed a sigh of relief- I know what is wrong with me, and it's something I can fix.  I just need to not eat things with MSG in it.  Easy, right?
      Yeah... not so much.  Just about EVERYTHING has MSG in it.  Except they don't just say MSG, they have code words- lots and lots of code words.  "Seasoning", "Natural Flavors", "Yeast Extract" the list goes on an on and on and on.  I do not understand how something that can cause brain legions is allowed to not be properly labeled.  Someone is making a lot of money for looking the other way, that's for sure. 

But now I am off to an MSG free life- which is a healthier life and also a cooking life since pretty much everything that is prepackaged contains the offending product.  So now I am going to attempt to cook, and find a way to live and eat without having MSG.  It's daunting- let me tell you.  But my sister is a great cook, and she eats healthy and doesn't used over processed foods.  So I am going to try and take after her and see if I can come halfway to being as good a cook as she is (it's doubtful, people) 

Here's to a healthier life that is sure to be full of tons of FAILED attempts at cooking!