what's so bad about monosodium glutamate a.k.a. "MSG"? Why are so many people afraid of it?

Answer 1

MSG is derived from beet sugar and gluten of wheat and corn. It is used to enhance the salty flavour of foods, with no particular flavour of its own. Adverse reactions have been reported to include headaches, nausea, flushing, abdominal pain and asthma, occurring from one to 14 hours after ingestion. This syndrome is often referred to as “Chinese Restaurant Syndrome”, since many Chinese foodstuffs contain MSG.

It occurs more often in women than in men. MSG can also be found in prepared meats, meat extracts, soup mixes, crisps, spices, soya sauce, zest, canned foods and defatted products (to replace the flavour of fat). As little as 1 teaspoon can cause symptoms, although ingestion of food before ingestion of MSG delays its absorption. It should be noted that only a very small percentage of people are sensitive to MSG, and it should be avoided by those affected.

Answer 2

Many experts blame MSG for "Chinese Restaurant Syndrome" - the headaches, dizziness, and chest pains some people experience after dining at a Chinese restaurant. There is a debate among the scientific community over whether MSG is the culprit. While the U.S. FDA states that MSG is generally safe, it acknowledges the seasoning may pose problems for certain individuals. Specifically, asthmatics and people who can tolerate small, but not large, amounts of MSG may be at risk.

Answer 3

I like MSG. It seems to make foods taste better. I buy the 1 kilo box of MSG at CosCo and use it pretty much everything I cook in place of salt. My cooking hasn't killed anyone yet or even made anyone sick even tho I participate in many potlucks...people always say my dishes are the best...if they only knew!

Basically it is the salt that crystalizes out of seaweed soup:

In 1907, Japanese researcher Kikunae Ikeda of the Tokyo Imperial University identified brown crystals left behind after the evaporation of a large amount of kombu broth as glutamic acid. These crystals, when tasted, reproduced the ineffable but undeniable flavour he detected in many foods, most especially in seaweed. Professor Ikeda termed this flavour "umami." He then patented a method of mass-producing a crystalline form of glutamic acid, MSG.

A few people are allergic to it but not nearly as many as those who are allergic to nuts or wheat.

Answer 4

Abstract
An investigation was carried out on the effects of monosodium glutamate (MSG), a commonly ues food additive, on the spinal cord of adult Wistar rats. Twenty-four adult Wistar rats weighing between 180-250g were divided into four groups of six rats per group. Graduated doses of 6mg, 12mg and 18mg per kilogram body weight were administered orally to the three groups of animals labeled A, B &C. The fourth group served as control and received normal physiological saline. The spinal cord of the animals were dissected out and fixed in 10% formal saline. Spinal cord tissues were processed and stained by the Haematoxyline Eosine method. The results showed increased weight in the experimental animals, which is dose dependent. Histological examination of spinal cord tissues revealed a decreased haematoxylin uptake, which is suggestive of increased metabolic activities. This increase was also observed to be dose dependent. Evidence of cell damage and degeneration within the group also seem to be dose dependent.

Answer 5

To put it short, MSG doesn't affect some people. But it does affect others. The reason is because it's a chemical. MSG can do things from make your heart pump abnormally fast, make you feel sluggish, give you the inability to fall asleep to cause other health problems if you have it a lot. I suppose if you're allergic to it that could cause a possibly fatal reaction too.

Answer 6

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Answer 7

Beause it is a toxic additive. A poison, really. It is my opinion that there is an addictive effect when it is consumed, therefore creating a short-term craving for things like crisps (chips for our American friends) and the like. That's opinion, of course, but I believe it based on experience. I don't touch the stuff if I can avoid it!

Answer 8

I for one doesn't take msg because it doesnt agree with me. Whenever we eat chinese food in a restaurant, i tend to become very thirsty and very giddy, but when i cook chinese food at home, i didn't feel thirsty nor giddy because i don't put msg in the food.

Answer 9

This so - called 'flavor enhancer' is a chemical additive which some people are allergic to. Other than that it won't hurt you, it just isn't "all natural"

Answer 10

It is extra salt, and people who are salt sensitive have a difficult time with it, too much can actually cause a stroke.