When my friends and I get together for cookouts, one dish that always makes the potluck menu is an Asian-Style Broccoli Slaw made with Ramen Noodles. As tasty as this popular Ramen Noodle Broccoli Slaw recipe is or this one by Paula Deen, both recipes are just so unhealthy. I mean just awful.

However, when you start eating clean and reducing artificial flavors from your diet and start using REAL ingredients, you will notice how common and popular foods begin to bother you. For me, I experience all the textbook reactions when I ingest Monosodium Glutamate (MSG). My most common reactions include severe headaches and extreme fatigue, but I’ve also suffered from such sever stroke-like symptoms by a numbness in my extremities.

Ramen noodles and the season packet are LOADED with MSG. At first glance, you will spot MSG on the ingredients list but when you take a closer look at all the ingredients, you will notice hydrolized protein and yeast extract which are also forms of MSG. See how awful Ramen noodles are?

But since I love this salad so much, I wanted to create a healthier version of it.

My healthy Asian-Style Broccoli Salad concoction satisfied my craving for a classic cookout companion. It has all the crunch without adding MSG. Now, I just need to make my own siracha sauce.

 [amd-zlrecipe-recipe:6]

When trying to avoid MSG, use this informative graphic from Natural Savvy which lists all the usual MSG suspects as known as “The Scary Seven”. This graphic is a wonderful tool to help you avoid all the hidden forms of MSG found in processed foods.