Posted on 09/01/2014 10:31:37 AM PDT by blam
Kevin Loria
August. 26, 2014
Monosodium glutamate, more commonly known as MSG, gets a bad rap.
People claim that it's a toxin that causes headaches and sweating, and that it leaves you feeling lethargic and flushed. The thing is, most research shows that that's not true at normal dietary levels.
Despite its umami flavor boosting power, rumors have given MSG a reputation so bad that many Chinese restaurants frequently put up "No-MSG" signs to assuage customer's fear. Some customers then put soy sauce on their food, adding the missing MSG in after the fact. Because it's delicious.
The folks at the American Chemical Society decided to bust some MSG myths in their latest Reactions video.
What Is MSG And What Does It Do?
MSG's flavor enhancing properties were first discovered in 1908 by Japanese chemist Kikunae Ikeda, who wanted to understand how seaweed, which had been used by chefs for centuries, enhanced the flavor of foods.
Ikeda found that the key was a common amino acid — one of the building blocks for a protein — called L-Glutamate.
(snip)
(Excerpt) Read more at businessinsider.com ...
I was a young puppy back then and allergic to doctors, so I didn’t have the symptoms checked back then. So you may he right.
Today, one minor symptom and I’m on the phone with my doctor. Sure sign of old age. :)
I havent had any of the symptoms for years as Ive refused to take any chances with MSG laced foods,
much better safe than sorry.
My husband is very sensitive to MSG.
It makes me retain water but does not give me a headache.
Also, watch the Chinese buffets. MSG makes your stomach retain
water, which makes you think you’re full and so you eat less.
Thanks.
The list has gotten longer since the last time I Googled it.
Is this stuff like L-Glutamine?
Check the link in #31.
Yeah and now HFC can be called Sugar apparently. Big Agra can get anything they want by filling the campaign coffers of the Washington Politiclowns.
Sitting next to my desk is a pasteboard drum I use
as a trash can, it came from the back of a Chinese
restaurant and is labeled, Monosodium Glutamate 99%
100 Lbs.
The stuff gives me a headache.
I always say NO Msg but who knows what you get.
You got to post a link before I did. MSG is everywhere, and rampant in many many foods or flavorings. Hard to escape it.
And as Appy said— it is in many Chinese ingredients, and will be present in the food, even without adding the MSG outright.
I taught Chinese Cooking for many years, and would read the ingredient list of the sauces that gave flavor to the different dishes, to my classes. You don’t escape it by not using the actual MSG shaker.
Japanese food is supposed to be notorious, but they never get the attention that Chinese food does.
I blow up like a bullfrog. I get a three day migraine that puts me completely out of commission, until I discovered a particular medication to combat this horror.
I went to a Chinese restaurant in 1986, ate something with MSG in it, and was in a dark room for three days after.
I made the connection much later when I repeated the pattern and discovered the situation.
I tried again in 1991, thinking people had gotten with it on this toxin, and the waiter said, no we don’t use MSG.
Next day hubby freaked out at how I had simply blown up like a balloon. THe headache was memorable.
It’s not like the much preferred natural childbirth, which is over in a mere 12 to 36 sleepless hours, and the ripping and repair work, which I have experienced.
It is much worse than that.
Restaurant food must be carefully chosen, and labels carefully perused.
Living in Germany fro four years was not a problem at all in this regard, as they don’t fool around with Chemicals. They eat food.
I did have an anchovy pizza there once and OOh I remember the days that followed.
It, like so many similarly processed meats, soups, sauces, and processed meals, must be avoided.
Never have I ever in the ensuing 20 years re entered a Chinese restaurant.
Names for it are hidden, and the FDA is fine with that, Autolysed protein, Natural flavor, and other things I have long forgotten as my food shopping has relegated me to the outer edges, and to Whole Foods.
That these people can write this trash, and I expect nothing of real value from the BI, is exactly why I don’t fool around with any substance that does not prove, nor seem to be safe.
They lie.
That’s a migraine trigger for me too. If I ate leftovers for a few meals it was a sure thing the headaches would soon follow.
I did not know that. I am allergic to corn so that makes it harder to avoid. I wondered about the occasional headaches that I have been having, I thought it was the heat.
I don't know. But I've been eating MSG since I was a kid with no after-effects. My family always had a jar of ajinomoto on the table to sprinkle on our food. Ajinomoto is the Japanese brand of msg. I still use it along with soy sauce on my food.
I believe the problem people suspect to be caused by msg is as you say, greatly-increased salt and fat in some restaurants, most notably some Chinese restaurants. I dislike the taste of Cantonese style food, while enjoying Szechuan, Mandarin and other styles. Seems to me that the Cantonese style uses more salt and fat, seems greasy and is harder to digest.
Nope not related
L Glutamine is a very useful amno acid
its know to normalize blood sugar levels among other “uses”
I;ve been taking l-glutamine in capsules for decades
Indeed, but Japanese food contains a lot of sashimi and other fresh, unadulterated vegetables and fruit.
At least, that is how I found the Japanese restaurants where I have eaten.
I think it is largely in people’s heads.
Yeah, I love headaches so I eat more MSG.
No. It is Monosodium Glutamate.
And it is bad, toxic, whether people react discernibly to it or not.
It is a chemical which is toxic.
And those, like me, who react to it can live in misery as far as those insensitive people are concerned, but I lived in Europe for four years, and never had a problem at all with it, or sulfites, so popular among fruit and vegetable producers here in the obesity plagued US, because they, regardless of their other shortcomings, eat food. Not the poison that we eat here in the Cancer, obesity, heart disease, pharmaceutical addicted US
THE KNICKS SUCK AND WILL NEVER BE ANY GOOD AS LONG AS LITTLE JIMMY DOLAN IS IN CHARGE
HFCS *is* sugar. That’s the F. Fructose is one of the most basic sugars - fruit sugar.
What I think you’re looking for is Cane Sugar, which is compound sugar, but which doesn’t involve corn.
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