When I wrote my first book on nutrition, “Excitotoxins: The Taste That Kills,” I described research demonstrating conclusively that when baby mice were fed monosodium glutamate (MSG), they became grossly obese, and that their obesity was very difficult to reverse with dieting and/or exercise.

Since then, numerous studies, including human studies, have shown such food-borne excitotoxins do play a major role in obesity.

In fact, today MSG is used to fatten animals for obesity studies.

I predicted that we would see an epidemic of obesity based on the fact that the amount of MSG and other excitotoxins in our food supply was doubling every decade. Unfortunately, my prediction has come true. Obesity is now a national epidemic — not just among adults, but also among children, even the very young.

Another condition that has risen with the obesity epidemic is non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). This too is increasing among the very young.

A recent screening study across the United States found that among obese children, some 60 percent were also suffering from fatty liver disease. While fatty liver disease is not immediately harmful, it can progress in a smaller number of people to a condition called non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) — which is quite harmful.

With NASH, the liver becomes inflamed and can suffer from extensive scarring. This can lead to liver failure or liver cancer. One study found that a combination of low-dose MSG and high fructose corn syrup greatly increased the risk of developing both fatty liver disease and NASH.

Other studies have shown that consuming MSG produced prolonged generation of high levels of free radicals and lipid peroxidation products in the liver — which would explain the scarring and inflammation induced there.

The fact that young children are developing these liver disorders is frightening. Unfortunately, so-called medical authorities are not informing doctors or the population at large about this clear and present danger, or about its link to dietary food additives and high fructose corn syrup.

A large part of the problem is that the American Academy of Pediatrics is in bed with the soft drink companies. The cure for these epidemics is eating a healthy diet consisting of low levels of carbohydrates (no high fructose corn syrup), moderate proteins, no excitotoxin food additives, and lots of vegetables.

In addition, there are several natural compounds that can reduce liver inflammation, lower liver fat levels, improve liver detoxification, and repair damage caused by liver fibrosis. These include nanocurcumin, nanoquercetin, and nanosilymarin (One Planet Nutrition), mixed carotenoids, taurine, mixed tocopherols, vitamin C, L-carnitine and resveratrol (pterostilbene).

These same natural compounds can also be used to prevent and treat another complication of childhood obesity: heart damage.

A recent study found a high incidence of enlargement of the left ventricular wall in obese children compared to normal weight children. This enlargement can impair pumping of blood, eventually leading to heart failure.