Some complaints about MSG are relatively mild and temporary, including headaches, drowsiness, numbness and/or tingling feelings, nausea, and other symptoms of discomfort. The FDA lists MSG as “Generally Recognized As Safe” (GRAS).
However, there are other reactions that follow eating food that contains the toxic glutamate in MSG and the more than 40 other ingredients that contain it. They range from simple skin rash to migraine headache, heart irregularities, seizures, and anaphylactic shock. And these reactions can occur immediately upon eating MSG or something else with free glutamate in it or up to 48 hours later and last for short periods of time or days.
And everyone is unique. Sensitivity levels vary widely. People end up in the ER all the time from a life-threatening reaction to something their system couldn’t tolerate. Extreme, life-threatening reactions to MSG are difficult to diagnose, and the symptoms can vary widely, but they do happen. Just ask KT. Avoiding MSG is Harder Than You’d Think – It’s in the Food You Eat
MSG reminds me of someone on a wanted FBI poster with too many aliases to count. While manufacturers are required to list monosodium glutamate (MSG) as an ingredient on labels, TOXIC GLUTAMATE ISN’T LISTED, and few people realize that there are ingredients like hydrolyzed protein and autolyzed yeast that contain it.
MSG may also be listed by its food additive number: E621.
If the following ingredients are listed on a food label, they contain toxic manufactured free glutamate but the FDA DOESN’T require the label to list free glutamate as an ingredient. Foods With Manufactured Free Glutamate
Here’s a partial list of some of the most common ingredients containing manufactured free glutamate. You’ll find them listed on countless labels.
Yeast extract Autolyzed yeast Hydrolyzed yeast Hydrolyzed vegetable protein Protein isolate Soy extracts
There are no foods that naturally contain MSG, because MSG is manufactured." . . .
” . . .How to Avoid MSG
So, what can you do if you want to avoid consuming excessive quantities of MSG but still plan to continue eating?
It is useless to check the label for “No added MSG” or “No MSG,” because while there may be no MSG in the product, there will usually be some toxic free glutamate in ingredients like hydrolyzed proteins.
Occasionally a manufacturer who eliminates MSG to advertise “No MSG” will compensate by adding more salt.
The MSG problem can even begin on the farm. Certain fertilizers, fungicides, pesticides, and other products used to aid in faster plant growth can contain MSG. When these crops are brought to market, the crops may contain MSG residue. This is more common with foods grown outside the US.
Best solution: Eat unprocessed, natural, organic foods.
The Confusing Bottom Line on MSG
In all my research, I’ve never seen so much conflicting information on a topic. There are scientists and studies on all sides of the issue. As always, you have to take a hard look at who paid for the study. The Truth in Labeling Campaign claims to have traced all the MSG-related research and found everything that claims to show that MSG is safe to be badly flawed (https://www.truthinlabeling.org/assets/designed_for_deception_short.pdf).
MSG Sensitivity
MSG sensitivity isn’t technically an allergy, although the symptoms are similar. One person might react to a relatively small amount of MSG while someone else does not react to a larger dose.
Diagnosing MSG sensitivity is very difficult. There is no standard test to say conclusively that someone is intolerant of or sensitive to MSG. Because the reaction to MSG is a reaction to a poison, the only way to test for it is to feed various amounts of MSG to a person and observe him or her for the next 48 hours.
Diagnostic procedures for MSG sensitivity include:
Giving patients specific doses of MSG and monitoring for up to 48 hours, watching for delayed reactions.
Asking patients to keep accurate food diaries.
Asking patients to eat only unprocessed food and drinks for several weeks and then watching for symptoms as other foods are reintroduced one at a time. As you can imagine, this can be an extremely frustrating process.” . . .
All I know is donuts taste like crap without
it.
I know enough about how it adversely affects me that I will avoid MSG.
My mother was allergic to MSG. Her reaction to it (headaches, dizziness) became more sever as she got older.
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Double-plus FALSE. Chicken fat, for one thing, is loaded with it. But since it's natural, foods such as soups based on chicken stock don't have to list it. Just one thing about MSG that I had to learn when I became hypersensitive to it in my '50s.
Chinese take out tasted better before they all swore off MSG.
“There are no foods that naturally contain MSG, because MSG is manufactured.”
This is a bald-faced lie. Why do you post a bald-faced lie?
Please see:
https://www.goodrx.com/well-being/diet-nutrition/is-msg-bad-for-you
MSG naturally occurs in many food exp sea weed, mushrooms and tomatos
You need less of it to spark up the taste of food, than table salt. So, it’s good for people with hypertension.
Try it. It perks up your food esp steaks. Use it instead or salt.
Try a taste test with table salt and Accent.
It’s a much maligned condiment. Some people have headaches from it and other reactions, and they should avoid it.
My friend literally swells up and almost passes out if she injests food that contains MSG.
bmp
