I have a suffered a few outbreaks of joint pain over the last 8 months.
Shoulder pain,some wrist pain and one knee.This pain followed overuse such as cutting a load of firewood or lugging heavy timber.It generally lasted a few days.
In December I was diagnosed with RA as a result of a positive RA factor and another blood test indicator-CCA?
In January a Rheumatoligist saw me at a time when symptons had subsided and said that apart from the blood tests he could see no evidence I had RA.
Apart from some minor wrist pain I have had no problems since-and as I use vibrating sanders for extensive periods in my business have put this down to perhaps early Carpel Tunnel.Many woodworkers get this.
Looking back It seems to me that these joint problems all closely coincide with periods of dieting using frozen meals such as Lean Cuisine and Healthy choice[twice a day usually]
I have since realised that these so called healthy meals are full of MSG and its cousin Hydrolyzed Vegetable Protein as well as a host of other nasties.
Pehaps I overdosed on these excitotoxins and this triggered an RA outbreak.
Since avoiding all processed food I have had no problems and blood tests done in February are clear for PA.
All anecdotal I know,but have any others suspected flavour enhancers as a trigger.?
Ya never know! Thanks for writing your experiences, we can all benefit from hearing 'what happens' to other people. I eat very little prepared foods as I don't need the sodium, but I'm sure there are other things in them. Canned foods are loaded with salt (soups, vegs,etc. ugh) also the fats are everywhere you eat out and the sodium ....so, it's a constant reading of the labels!! My current craze is Cherrios, they are tasty, snack food with out much sodium and no fats!Hurts,
Well this is perhaps only an interest for people with allergic reactions to MSG-something I have had for years. Maybe it has wider implications too though.MSG is of course just another sodium.
What I didn't realise though is that other flavour enhancers like Hydrolysed Vegetable Protein are chemically similar substances and that this stuff is everywhere-soups,stock,sauces,sausages,marinated meats,pies,gravy,fries, etc etc.Sometimes it is even just called natural flavours-which it certainly isn't.
There is some mention on the web that this stuff has been implicated as a trigger for all sorts of problems including arthritis but it seems that no exhaustive trial work has been done.
The term excitotoxins for these sort of additives may be a recent nomenclature but it certainly seems to be catching on-and probably for good reason.
In any regard this is clearly nasty stuff and worth avoiding.
Very interesting. Will have to keep this in mind. Thanks for bringing this to our attention busster. I will certainly be more aware. We know darn well that his stuff is poison, but we all have our weak moments. Hey Hurts, my current craze is Cheerios too! I sprinkle a little Wheat Germ on top too. Maybe a sliced banana. Now i have my 9 year old son eating them every single morning. FYI Shocking as it may be the word natural has no real meaning when it comes to food labels. Natural does not mean a thing in product labeling. There ought to be a law!!! Read label...if there are any words you don't know in the fine print, it probably is not natural.