Gully State
Member
Well the vilifying of MSG has given Chinese food a bad rap. I can't count how many times people will make a snide comment about Chinese food and MSG whenever the topic of Chinese food gets brought up...even here on GAF.
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MSG in foods - Yay or Nay?
- Thread starter Trojita
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Well the vilifying of MSG has given Chinese food a bad rap. I can't count how many times people will make a snide comment about Chinese food and MSG whenever the topic of Chinese food gets brought up...even here on GAF.
WaterAstro
Member
Because racism. The term brewed up when it was introduced in the Western market, and Western societies just start up shit.
Yeah, it's something else in your gravy powder that causes it, if it's your gravy powder to begin with. As far as I'm reading, all the poison claims have turned out to be bogus.
CornBurrito
Member
How is it any more of a cheat than other spices?
narcosis219
Member
Fucks with your nerves therefore nay.
Not trying to get brain damage
Lolwut
You consume glutamates every day in your diet. It only fucks with your brain if you end up ingesting hundreds of grams much like many other substances. Water could kill you. Better stop drinking it
Liquidsnake
Banned
Big yay. I remember when they took that out of a ton of foods, and it sucked. I still see Chinese restaurants touting MGS-free as if it matters, but thankfully most places put it back in.
I have some in my cupboard, too. It's great.
Not sure if their labeling is a result of the MSG hoax scare, but other than the ingredient list they don't mention MSG anywhere.
Me too, and I always associated it with being very bad for you.
CornBurrito
Member
Fucks with your nerves therefore nay.
Not trying to get brain damage
Oh cool, we can make things up now?
Tame Deity
Member
Instantly clicked cuz I read MGS.
instantly dissapointed
Well, yes and no. Everything you said about umami and what MSG is is true. However, some people do gave bad reactions to MSG, and it is a common migraine trigger, along with other significant naturally and non-naturally occuring sources of glutamates, such as tomatoes, mushrooms, aged cheeses, et al. I can only speak to it as a migraine trigger, but it is a common one, and as such I don't think it's a delusion amongst those suffering from migraines, even if the whys of it aren't well explained. When you start getting migraines, your neurologist will often recommend you remove all common migraine triggers from your diet, and then try to slowly work them back in to see what's a trigger for you personally.
I can't however speak to its veracity as any kind of allergen, and I understand there is a proven nocebo effect in studies showing it isn't an allergen. I can only speak to it as a migraine trigger. People sensitive to such triggers aren't allergic to the foods, but just as ingesting a chunk of a delicious aged Manchego can be a migraine trigger, so are commonly many other foods, such as MSG and similar products such as yeast extract, modified corn starch, etc.
Kuro Madoushi
Unconfirmed Member
Snaaaaaaaaaaakuuuuuuu!
I'd like to see these people with supposed MSG allergies prove it.
Isn't this fun? Have at it! People get something in there head, there's no getting it out sometimes.
Fluffhead14
Member
lol i love pseudo science. pour it all over my food, please.
My mom never let us eat anything with MSG, BHT, TBHQ, and one other acronym I can't remember. Immediately took most candy bars, breakfast cereals, and chips off the table. And I wasn't allowed to have ramen or even cup noodles til I graduated high school.
When it turned out MSG was nothing I was fairly pissed
When it turned out MSG was nothing I was fairly pissed
If you couldn't tell, I was partially joking.
MSG triggers my migraines.
I don't know what the long term effect of constant migraines (with auras) are on my brain are therefore I avoid it.
I use to get that shit multiple times a week about 13 years ago. Not fun at all.
Now I only get them about once or twice a year.
SolidusDave
Member
Back in the days my mother was also very anti-MSG and probably still is. I was also wary, mostly because it even has to be stated by restaurants when a dish contains it etc.
But then I actually looked up what it was and was like "why are people even debating this, how did that happen?!".
These are the 21 building blocks of ALL proteins of ALL life on earth (don't start with the 22nd now please ), the common amino acids:
See that glutamic acid on the top right? MSG is that with an ion (Sodium) to make it a salt you can put on stuff:
(the lower one is when it's used as neurotransmitter in your brain)
Not to mention the studies that there are no harmful effects and basically all of Asia using it just fine. Both to be expected when it's something you are literally made of...
Virtually the only thing I could imagine being harmful about MSG is an extreme overdose (in the sense that anything can have toxic effects in high quantities) and if there is a high amount of impurities during production (e.g. D-form instead of the L-form), which both might lead to unexpected mild side effects in very sensitive people.
As you said, allergy is non-factor at least if we talk actual allergies (your immune system attacking something, in that case a molecule found in every part of your own body).
The migraine trigger seems interesting though, do you know if there are studies for it? I'm not saying it's bullshit because I guess depending on how your body reacts to (suddenly) readily available glutamate, it might fuck with the balance of it as neurotransmitter (potentially switching some synapses on that shouldn't be).
Edit: googling seems to indicate that yeah, glutamate buildup at the synapse (not due to MSG in that case but if it were able to get there the effect would be the same) might trigger migraines.
But then I actually looked up what it was and was like "why are people even debating this, how did that happen?!".
These are the 21 building blocks of ALL proteins of ALL life on earth (don't start with the 22nd now please
), the common amino acids:
See that glutamic acid on the top right? MSG is that with an ion (Sodium) to make it a salt you can put on stuff:
(the lower one is when it's used as neurotransmitter in your brain)
Not to mention the studies that there are no harmful effects and basically all of Asia using it just fine. Both to be expected when it's something you are literally made of...
Virtually the only thing I could imagine being harmful about MSG is an extreme overdose (in the sense that anything can have toxic effects in high quantities) and if there is a high amount of impurities during production (e.g. D-form instead of the L-form), which both might lead to unexpected mild side effects in very sensitive people.
As you said, allergy is non-factor at least if we talk actual allergies (your immune system attacking something, in that case a molecule found in every part of your own body).
The migraine trigger seems interesting though, do you know if there are studies for it? I'm not saying it's bullshit because I guess depending on how your body reacts to (suddenly) readily available glutamate, it might fuck with the balance of it as neurotransmitter (potentially switching some synapses on that shouldn't be).
Edit: googling seems to indicate that yeah, glutamate buildup at the synapse (not due to MSG in that case but if it were able to get there the effect would be the same) might trigger migraines.
WaterAstro
Member
HomerSimpson-Man
Member
Yay cause I ain't about all that anti-science BS they piled against it that started out as thinly veiled racism.
The thing with MSG is that its effect kind of tops off after a while.
With stuff like salt or sugar, it's really easy to tell if you've added too much, but with MSG it's difficult to say, so this could lead to people adding more than is necessary.
But other than that, there's nothing to worry about with MSG. I'll gladly eat food with MSG and even use it when I'm cooking at home. Misconceptions about MSG drive me up a wall.
That's true lol. She herself aged pretty well (58 but looks around mid 40s) so more power to her. We'll see for the rest of my family. It's too late for me though-- maybe being perpetually broke will have the same effect.
itwasTuesday
He wasn't alone.
davepoobond
you can't put a price on sparks
"NO MSG"
:uts something worse in there::
"NO MSG"
:
uts something worse in there::"NO MSG"
umop_3pisdn
Member
MSG is great. Umami is great.
It's crazy how much misinformation is spread about it. I even was convinced for years just because of all the bad things people heard it does.
Looking into it, it really is like gluten allergy levels of overreaction/self-diagnosis but with the added scares of serious health effects and xenophobia, especially when you find out the tested sorts of reactions some people can actually get from it compared to what some claim and the science behind where it comes from, what it is actually made out of (not being some synthetic chemical as many assume based on the name, though I supposed MSG itself is still synthesized but from natural sources like soy), the fact that glutamatic acid is natural occurring in foods we eat all the time, and glutamate is something that not only exists in the body but something that we are wired to seek out in food (due to it being an amino acid that we have a specific "umami" taste receptor for).
I really had to do a lot of research just to make sure what I was reading as legit since it's such a widely held belief that even now, I have some in my spice rack but I'm hesitant to use is as often as a salt since in the back of my mind, I have this fear that it is bad for you, even though I know that chemically it is basically just table salt except that it can be used sparingly to lessen sodium intake.
Granted, some people can get legit reactions, but I know I'm not one of them and it's still hard to shake the stigma since so many people believe it.
Looking into it, it really is like gluten allergy levels of overreaction/self-diagnosis but with the added scares of serious health effects and xenophobia, especially when you find out the tested sorts of reactions some people can actually get from it compared to what some claim and the science behind where it comes from, what it is actually made out of (not being some synthetic chemical as many assume based on the name, though I supposed MSG itself is still synthesized but from natural sources like soy), the fact that glutamatic acid is natural occurring in foods we eat all the time, and glutamate is something that not only exists in the body but something that we are wired to seek out in food (due to it being an amino acid that we have a specific "umami" taste receptor for).
I really had to do a lot of research just to make sure what I was reading as legit since it's such a widely held belief that even now, I have some in my spice rack but I'm hesitant to use is as often as a salt since in the back of my mind, I have this fear that it is bad for you, even though I know that chemically it is basically just table salt except that it can be used sparingly to lessen sodium intake.
Granted, some people can get legit reactions, but I know I'm not one of them and it's still hard to shake the stigma since so many people believe it.
Septimus Prime
Member
One time, I was making tea at someone else's house and dumped in a bunch of MSG, thinking it was sugar. That tea was awful.
triplestation
Member
if you make a msg shake with just msg and water will it taste good?
That's basically Marmite. My sister used to drink that stuff (diluted, thankfully) all the time.
It enhances flavor, does water have flavor in it?
ugaboga232
Member
MSG is safe, it just happens to be eaten with crappy food which can make you feel crappy.
There is a chance that flooding your system with glutamate which is a very important neurotransmitter could cause some effects but given that we don't know shit about the gut-brain axis or even the brain, just try to do some unbiased tests on yourself and go from there.
There is a chance that flooding your system with glutamate which is a very important neurotransmitter could cause some effects but given that we don't know shit about the gut-brain axis or even the brain, just try to do some unbiased tests on yourself and go from there.
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