MSG

[MDS]

Like a lot of people I have an adverse effect from eating anything containing MSG. (mainly heart palpitations but in bad cases also chest pains)

I know how to ask, in Thai, for it not to be put into whatever I order to eat but it does not always get passed onto whoever does the cooking.

Does anyone know of something I can buy in a pharmacy that will help if/when I next get caught out and end up eating something that might include MSG ?

[thepool]

MSG, despite the fuss created by some, has never been proven to be harmful.

There is no "antidote" to MSG which is a naturally occurring non-essential amino acid.

Edited April 28, 2014 by thepool

[MDS]

I know there has been a lot of debate about MSG but please believe me when I say it does have an effect and much as I try I cannot always avoid it, not just in Thailand but in other countries where they may not always label it as MSG but use E621 instead.

[thepool]

<script type='text/javascript'>window.mod_pagespeed_start = Number(new Date());</script>

I know there has been a lot of debate about MSG but please believe me when I say it does have an effect and much as I try I cannot always avoid it, not just in Thailand but in other countries where they may not always label it as MSG but use E621 instead.

In addition to the "E" number MSG also has a HS code (29224220 )

Ref

HS code

[ubonjoe]

Moved to the health fourm

[infinity11]

i think it makes my palms itch

something in thailand does

could also be shrimp

or something else too

[ALFREDO]

I like MSG, I cook with it, I eat it!

[h90]

MSG, despite the fuss created by some, has never been proven to be harmful.

There is no "antidote" to MSG which is a naturally occurring non-essential amino acid.

There are other natural things that can be harmful...For example too much Vitamin A.

So that something is naturally occurring doesn't mean anything.

[partington]

There is a major problem with trying to find an "antidote" to MSG (monosodium glutamate) , because there is already glutamate in your blood at all times.

This is because glutamate is one of the 20 amino-acid building blocks that make up proteins (including, meat, fish, cheese, and so on)and your body's cells also manufacture glutamate so that they are able to build new proteins- new muscle and so on.

When you eat a protein-containing meal, your digestive enzymes chop the proteins you eat into these 20 individual amino acids, including glutamate, that the proteins are made of, and these go out of your gut as 20 individual types of molecules . So, after eating the concentration of glutamate in your blood can double.

If you eat MSG in your food, the glutamate concentration of your blood can go up further, triple or quadruple, but the glutamate from MSG is exactly the same molecule as the glutamate from digesting, say, a three cheese pizza.

Now you will find people on this forum, as well as people on dodgy websites claiming that the glutamate in MSG is somehow different from the glutamate in proteins, but that is not the case. Anyone who has had an education in chemistry at degree level or beyond would confirm this. That is, you could go to any biochemistry department of any university in the world, and you would not be able to find any teaching professor who would tell you that these are different .

So the problem is: how do you find an antidote to what is already entering your blood stream as a result of digestion, whether there is MSG added to your food or not?

Edited April 28, 2014 by partington

[h90]

There is a major problem with trying to find an "antidote" to MSG (monosodium glutamate) , because there is already glutamate in your blood at all times.

This is because glutamate is one of the 20 amino-acid building blocks that make up proteins (including, meat, fish, cheese, and so on)and your body's cells also manufacture glutamate so that they are able to build new proteins- new muscle and so on.

When you eat a protein-containing meal, your digestive enzymes chop the proteins you eat into these 20 individual amino acids, including glutamate, that the proteins are made of, and these go out of your gut as 20 individual types of molecules . So, after eating the concentration of glutamate in your blood can double.

If you eat MSG in your food, the glutamate concentration of your blood can go up further, triple or quadruple, but the glutamate from MSG is exactly the same molecule as the glutamate from digesting, say, a three cheese pizza.

Now you will find people on this forum, as well as people on dodgy websites claiming that the glutamate in MSG is somehow different from the glutamate in proteins, but that is not the case. Anyone who has had an education in chemistry at degree level or beyond would confirm this. That is, you could go to any biochemistry department of any university in the world, and you would not be able to find any teaching professor who would tell you that these are different .

So the problem is: how do you find an antidote to what is already entering your blood stream as a result of digestion, whether there is MSG added to your food or not?

I doubt the triple or quadruple....My uneducated guess is that we are speaking about 10 or 100 fold.

I specially think that because if three cheese pizzas, you need a long time to break up the proteins (who is doing liver?) while the MSG is shooting direct into the blood stream.

It is like biting all the day on coca leaves or take a nose full of cocaine. Same chemical different thing.

Or like eating some whole wheat bread vs, 5 big spoons of sugar.

[partington]

There is a major problem with trying to find an "antidote" to MSG (monosodium glutamate) , because there is already glutamate in your blood at all times.

This is because glutamate is one of the 20 amino-acid building blocks that make up proteins (including, meat, fish, cheese, and so on)and your body's cells also manufacture glutamate so that they are able to build new proteins- new muscle and so on.

When you eat a protein-containing meal, your digestive enzymes chop the proteins you eat into these 20 individual amino acids, including glutamate, that the proteins are made of, and these go out of your gut as 20 individual types of molecules . So, after eating the concentration of glutamate in your blood can double.

If you eat MSG in your food, the glutamate concentration of your blood can go up further, triple or quadruple, but the glutamate from MSG is exactly the same molecule as the glutamate from digesting, say, a three cheese pizza.

Now you will find people on this forum, as well as people on dodgy websites claiming that the glutamate in MSG is somehow different from the glutamate in proteins, but that is not the case. Anyone who has had an education in chemistry at degree level or beyond would confirm this. That is, you could go to any biochemistry department of any university in the world, and you would not be able to find any teaching professor who would tell you that these are different .

So the problem is: how do you find an antidote to what is already entering your blood stream as a result of digestion, whether there is MSG added to your food or not?

I doubt the triple or quadruple....My uneducated guess is that we are speaking about 10 or 100 fold.

I specially think that because if three cheese pizzas, you need a long time to break up the proteins (who is doing liver?) while the MSG is shooting direct into the blood stream.

It is like biting all the day on coca leaves or take a nose full of cocaine. Same chemical different thing.

Or like eating some whole wheat bread vs, 5 big spoons of sugar.

You would normally be correct about this, that a bulk quantity of the free amino acid would be absorbed much quicker than that resulting from digestion of proteins.

As it happens though, this does not apply to glutamate, whether it is bound up as protein, or ingested as free MSG.

This is because it is known that the vast majority of glutamate is metabolised, that is broken down to other simpler molecules, in the cells that line the gut. About half of it is burnt to produce energy, and turns into CO2 and water. Most of the rest is converted to other amino acids. So whether ingested as part of protein or as free glutamate in MSG, the blood concentration doesn't change very much, as most the glutamate never gets out of the cells of the gut.

When human infants were tested by being infused directly with a free glutamate (MSG) solution containing four times the amount of glutamate bound up in their normal dietary milk protein, their blood concentration of glutamate barely changed ( 84 umol to 90 umol) . So no 100-fold increases would be possible.

EDIT: In fact my doubling or tripling estimate may have been a huge exaggeration. I thought I read a paper once that described a two-fold increase, but can't find it. I can find one reference to humans being given nearly 10g of MSG ( 130mg per kg body weight) and their blood glutamate levels hardly changing at all...

This can be looked up here: Metabolic Fate and Function of Dietary Glutamate in the Gut- American Journal of Clinical Nutrition link: http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/90/3/850S.full

Excerpt: Glutamate is a main constituent of dietary protein and is also consumed in many prepared foods as an additive in the form of monosodium glutamate. Evidence from human and animal studies indicates that glutamate is a major oxidative fuel for the gut and that dietary glutamate is extensively metabolized in first pass by the intestine.

[................................................]

A recent study in premature infants showed that acute feedings of supplemental glutamate at 2- and 4-fold higher than normal did not increase the circulating plasma glutamate concentration (Dietary Glutamate Is Almost Entirely Removed in Its First Pass Through the Splanchnic Bed in Premature Infants http://www.nature.com/pr/journal/v62/n3/full/pr2007231a.html49). Thus, the available evidence indicates that supplemental glutamate is well tolerated and safe in premature infants.

Edited April 28, 2014 by partington

[h90]

There is a major problem with trying to find an "antidote" to MSG (monosodium glutamate) , because there is already glutamate in your blood at all times.

This is because glutamate is one of the 20 amino-acid building blocks that make up proteins (including, meat, fish, cheese, and so on)and your body's cells also manufacture glutamate so that they are able to build new proteins- new muscle and so on.

When you eat a protein-containing meal, your digestive enzymes chop the proteins you eat into these 20 individual amino acids, including glutamate, that the proteins are made of, and these go out of your gut as 20 individual types of molecules . So, after eating the concentration of glutamate in your blood can double.

If you eat MSG in your food, the glutamate concentration of your blood can go up further, triple or quadruple, but the glutamate from MSG is exactly the same molecule as the glutamate from digesting, say, a three cheese pizza.

Now you will find people on this forum, as well as people on dodgy websites claiming that the glutamate in MSG is somehow different from the glutamate in proteins, but that is not the case. Anyone who has had an education in chemistry at degree level or beyond would confirm this. That is, you could go to any biochemistry department of any university in the world, and you would not be able to find any teaching professor who would tell you that these are different .

So the problem is: how do you find an antidote to what is already entering your blood stream as a result of digestion, whether there is MSG added to your food or not?

I doubt the triple or quadruple....My uneducated guess is that we are speaking about 10 or 100 fold.

I specially think that because if three cheese pizzas, you need a long time to break up the proteins (who is doing liver?) while the MSG is shooting direct into the blood stream.

It is like biting all the day on coca leaves or take a nose full of cocaine. Same chemical different thing.

Or like eating some whole wheat bread vs, 5 big spoons of sugar.

You would normally be correct about this, that a bulk quantity of the free amino acid would be absorbed much quicker than that resulting from digestion of proteins.

As it happens though, this does not apply to glutamate, whether it is bound up as protein, or ingested as free MSG.

This is because it is known that the vast majority of glutamate is metabolised, that is broken down to other simpler molecules, in the cells that line the gut. About half of it is burnt to produce energy, and turns into CO2 and water. Most of the rest is converted to other amino acids. So whether ingested as part of protein or as free glutamate in MSG, the blood concentration doesn't change very much, as most the glutamate never gets out of the cells of the gut.

When human infants were tested by being infused directly with a free glutamate (MSG) solution containing four times the amount of glutamate bound up in their normal dietary milk protein, their blood concentration of glutamate barely changed ( 84 umol to 90 umol) . So no 100-fold increases would be possible.

EDIT: In fact my doubling or tripling estimate may have been a huge exaggeration. I thought I read a paper once that described a two-fold increase, but can't find it. I can find one reference to humans being given nearly 10g of MSG ( 130mg per kg body weight) and their blood glutamate levels hardly changing at all...

This can be looked up here: Metabolic Fate and Function of Dietary Glutamate in the Gut- American Journal of Clinical Nutrition link: http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/90/3/850S.full

Excerpt: Glutamate is a main constituent of dietary protein and is also consumed in many prepared foods as an additive in the form of monosodium glutamate. Evidence from human and animal studies indicates that glutamate is a major oxidative fuel for the gut and that dietary glutamate is extensively metabolized in first pass by the intestine.

[................................................]

A recent study in premature infants showed that acute feedings of supplemental glutamate at 2- and 4-fold higher than normal did not increase the circulating plasma glutamate concentration (Dietary Glutamate Is Almost Entirely Removed in Its First Pass Through the Splanchnic Bed in Premature Infants http://www.nature.com/pr/journal/v62/n3/full/pr2007231a.html49). Thus, the available evidence indicates that supplemental glutamate is well tolerated and safe in premature infants.

I read about the Glutamin supplements for bodybuilder.....and it basically says the same. You must eat huge amounts so that some of it ends in the blood, else it is just consumed in the guts.

So I was wrong with my ideas....Thanks for the information.

I just wonder why bodybuilder buy Glutamin very expensive if they could just add MSG cheaply to their food....

[partington]

I read about the Glutamin supplements for bodybuilder.....and it basically says the same. You must eat huge amounts so that some of it ends in the blood, else it is just consumed in the guts.

So I was wrong with my ideas....Thanks for the information.

I just wonder why bodybuilder buy Glutamin very expensive if they could just add MSG cheaply to their food....

Wait: glutamine and glutamate are not the same thing! They are two different (but quite similar in stucture, though not in chemical behaviour) members of the 20-amino acid family that make up proteins.

I take your word for it that, glutamine, like glutamate, is metabolised in the gut, but they are two different molecules.

Glutamate (what glutamic acid forms when dissolved in water) is an amino acid with two acidic groups, while glutamine just has one, therefore glutamine has a Nitrogen atom where Glutamic acid (glutamate) has an Oxygen atom:

Edited April 29, 2014 by partington

[MDS]

Thanks for the feedback. I appreciate it but it stands that I am one of the people that cannot handle any MSG in my food so I will continue to do my best to avoid it and when I can't, and eat it by accident, then I guess I just have to accept that I am going to feel crap for the few hours.

Cheers

[h90]

I read about the Glutamin supplements for bodybuilder.....and it basically says the same. You must eat huge amounts so that some of it ends in the blood, else it is just consumed in the guts.

So I was wrong with my ideas....Thanks for the information.

I just wonder why bodybuilder buy Glutamin very expensive if they could just add MSG cheaply to their food....

Wait: glutamine and glutamate are not the same thing! They are two different (but quite similar in stucture, though not in chemical behaviour) members of the 20-amino acid family that make up proteins.

I take your word for it that, glutamine, like glutamate, is metabolised in the gut, but they are two different molecules.

Glutamate (what glutamic acid forms when dissolved in water) is an amino acid with two acidic groups, while glutamine just has one, therefore glutamine has a Nitrogen atom where Glutamic acid (glutamate) has an Oxygen atom:

yep yes....switching between 2 languages is confusing me.....In my mind they were the same....but the are not....

[infinity11]

MSG completely unnecessary IMHO and why it is added to so many foods is beyond me.

Most all foods taste fine without it and not sure if better with it.

Thais have different tastes and they love it?

[wilcopops]

"Like a lot of people I have an adverse effect from eating anything containing MSG. (mainly heart palpitations but in bad cases also chest pains)" - you need to be aware that few of the claims of problems attributed to MSG have any basis in science.

Are you aware of the history of the substance and that it also occurs in a"natural" form? The Japanese were getting it from seaweed for centuries and the Romans got in their fermented fish sauce (sound familiar?)

Edited May 1, 2014 by wilcopops

[wilcopops]

Thanks for the feedback. I appreciate it but it stands that I am one of the people that cannot handle any MSG in my food so I will continue to do my best to avoid it and when I can't, and eat it by accident, then I guess I just have to accept that I am going to feel crap for the few hours.

Cheers

You might also consider attributing your problems to other causes....even outside of food.

[wilcopops]

This is from article in the Guardian

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2009/aug/12/msg-allergy-chinese-restaurant-syndrome-myth

"In May this year, the medical journal Clinical & Experimental Allergy published a review of more than a decade of scientific research into "the possible role of MSG in the so-called 'Chinese restaurant syndrome'".

Chinese restaurant syndrome is the popular slang for allergies or adverse reactions that some people claim they get after eating food containing the flavour-enhancer monsodium glutamate, or MSG, that is widely used in many processed foods and also added to many Asian dishes.

What is amazing about the publication of this research is not that it concludes MSG allergy is a myth, but that a scientific journal still needs to bother debunking such pseudoscience at all. As the New York Times put it in an article by Julia Moskin published last year, "'Chinese restaurant syndrome' has been thoroughly debunked (virtually all studies since then confirm that monosodium glutamate in normal concentrations has no effect on the overwhelming majority of people)"."

with a lot of things like this it helps to take a deep breath and stand back and take an overall look at the subject......just think about China where MSG is a common as salt and pepper........literally millions of people have no ill effect whatsoever.

Edited May 1, 2014 by wilcopops

[wilcopops]

Here is a paragraph from wiki on how the "story" began.....

"MSG has been used for more than 100 years to season food. During this period, many studies have been conducted on the safety of MSG. At this point, international and national bodies for the safety of food additives consider MSG safe for human consumption as a flavor enhancer.^[18] The "MSG symptom complex" was originally termed the "Chinese Restaurant Syndrome" when Robert Ho Man Kwok anecdotally reported the symptoms he felt after an American-Chinese meal. Kwok suggested multiple reasons behind the symptoms, including alcohol from cooking with wine, the sodium content, or the MSG seasoning. But MSG became the focus and the symptoms have been associated with MSG ever since."

Edited May 1, 2014 by wilcopops

[partington]

MSG completely unnecessary IMHO and why it is added to so many foods is beyond me.

Most all foods taste fine without it and not sure if better with it.

Thais have different tastes and they love it?

MSG is one of the basic tastes, in biological terms, so in that sense your HO is factually incorrect.

Your tongue has receptor molecules that respond to MSG, just as your retina has cells that respond to red, blue, and green light.

It was discovered soon after the receptors for sweet and sour, that there are also receptors composed of two proteins that respond specifically to the glutamate molecule (known as the umami receptor) on the human tongue. This is present in all humans, and means that evolution has designed your tongue to respond to this molecule as a way of recognising palatable tastes.

Many cultures have used seasonings containing natural MSG to improve the taste of their food for centuries. The term umami was used to describe the flavour derived from the naturally MSG-rich seaweed the Japanese commonly add to improve the taste of dishes . The Parmesan cheese used by Italians for the same purpose is also rich in MSG.

Far from being unnatural or unnecessary, MSG is as basic to the human eating experience as blue light is to human vision:

e.g.

Glutamate has a long history in cooking.^[14] Fermented fish sauces (garum), which are rich in glutamate, were used in ancient Rome.^[15] In the late 1800s, chef Auguste Escoffier, who opened restaurants in Paris and London, created meals that combined umami with salty, sour, sweet and bitter tastes.^[6] He did not know the chemical source of this unique quality, however.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Umami

Edited May 1, 2014 by partington

[h90]

MSG completely unnecessary IMHO and why it is added to so many foods is beyond me.

Most all foods taste fine without it and not sure if better with it.

Thais have different tastes and they love it?

MSG is one of the basic tastes, in biological terms, so in that sense your HO is factually incorrect.

Your tongue has receptor molecules that respond to MSG, just as your retina has cells that respond to red, blue, and green light.

It was discovered soon after the receptors for sweet and sour, that there are also receptors composed of two proteins that respond specifically to the glutamate molecule (known as the umami receptor) on the human tongue. This is present in all humans, and means that evolution has designed your tongue to respond to this molecule as a way of recognising palatable tastes.

Many cultures have used seasonings containing natural MSG to improve the taste of their food for centuries. The term umami was used to describe the flavour derived from the naturally MSG-rich seaweed the Japanese commonly add to improve the taste of dishes . The Parmesan cheese used by Italians for the same purpose is also rich in MSG.

Far from being unnatural or unnecessary, MSG is as basic to the human eating experience as blue light is to human vision:

e.g.

Glutamate has a long history in cooking.^[14] Fermented fish sauces (garum), which are rich in glutamate, were used in ancient Rome.^[15] In the late 1800s, chef Auguste Escoffier, who opened restaurants in Paris and London, created meals that combined umami with salty, sour, sweet and bitter tastes.^[6] He did not know the chemical source of this unique quality, however.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Umami

Actually that taste signals a good source of protein, therefor we like it. Like sweet signals that there are plenty of easy carbohydrates.

In foodtechnology it is a great solution to make good tasting food with lower quality meat.....A soup with less meat and some MSG will taste great. Or just seen in expensive dried sausage (don't want to write the brand but one of the biggest in Thailand). Added soy protein and MSG as this is cheaper than pork.

[h90]

MSG completely unnecessary IMHO and why it is added to so many foods is beyond me.

Most all foods taste fine without it and not sure if better with it.

Thais have different tastes and they love it?

MSG is one of the basic tastes, in biological terms, so in that sense your HO is factually incorrect.

Your tongue has receptor molecules that respond to MSG, just as your retina has cells that respond to red, blue, and green light.

It was discovered soon after the receptors for sweet and sour, that there are also receptors composed of two proteins that respond specifically to the glutamate molecule (known as the umami receptor) on the human tongue. This is present in all humans, and means that evolution has designed your tongue to respond to this molecule as a way of recognising palatable tastes.

Many cultures have used seasonings containing natural MSG to improve the taste of their food for centuries. The term umami was used to describe the flavour derived from the naturally MSG-rich seaweed the Japanese commonly add to improve the taste of dishes . The Parmesan cheese used by Italians for the same purpose is also rich in MSG.

Far from being unnatural or unnecessary, MSG is as basic to the human eating experience as blue light is to human vision:

e.g.

Glutamate has a long history in cooking.^[14] Fermented fish sauces (garum), which are rich in glutamate, were used in ancient Rome.^[15] In the late 1800s, chef Auguste Escoffier, who opened restaurants in Paris and London, created meals that combined umami with salty, sour, sweet and bitter tastes.^[6] He did not know the chemical source of this unique quality, however.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Umami

Add: now often instead of Glutamate they use yeast extract...which contains a lot Glutamate (I think...not sure on it)

[Sheryl]

.... As the New York Times put it in an article by Julia Moskin published last year, "'Chinese restaurant syndrome' has been thoroughly debunked (virtually all studies since then confirm that monosodium glutamate in normal concentrations has no effect on the overwhelming majority of people)"."

I don't think anyone has suggested that it was other than a minority of people who have this problem. But that minority does exist, and if living in a place like SE Asia where MSG use is ubiquitous, they have a particular difficulty.

The OP is apparently one of the minority.

Totally aside from the problems of the minority of people, like the OP, who have an intolerance to large amounts of MSG in food, there are some legitimate health concerns for the population in general regarding the overuse of MSG in processed foods and, in SE Asia, in just about all food preparation - these however are not with the glutamine aspect but simply the sodium, which is the "s" in MSG.

[Thai at Heart]

MSG, despite the fuss created by some, has never been proven to be harmful.

There is no "antidote" to MSG which is a naturally occurring non-essential amino acid.

I have to agree. Its psychosomatic. But put too much of anything in anything and it can be a problem.

Its sodium, so don't put too much.

[canman]

There are people who are sensitive to MSG. My son is one of them, since he was around 3 he has suffered from what at the time I thought was hay fever with blocked sinuses most of the time. Did all the things the allergy guys suggest like non alergenic pillows and bed linen, no mats or carpets in the bed room, washing the bed linen every week in very hot water, etc. Nothing seemed to work until my wife went away for a month and i looked after him. My wife uses MSG in just about everything she cooks. Within a week of me cooking for my son his "allergies" cleared up. I didn't make the connection until she came back and resumed kitchen duties and the allergies flared up again.

Much to the displeasure of my wife MSG is now banned in our house and my boy now rarely suffers from any allergy attacks.

[impulse]

There's naturally occurring arsenic and mycotoxins in a lot of foods, too. Doesn't mean they're not bad for you in higher doses.

You guys can debate all day long about the lack of scientific evidence that MSG affects people negatively.

I know how I feel after I've eaten it- and all the documents in the world are not going to convince me that it doesn't affect me- in the doses snuck in on us in SEA.

[thepool]

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There are people who are sensitive to MSG. My son is one of them, since he was around 3 he has suffered from what at the time I thought was hay fever with blocked sinuses most of the time. Did all the things the allergy guys suggest like non alergenic pillows and bed linen, no mats or carpets in the bed room, washing the bed linen every week in very hot water, etc. Nothing seemed to work until my wife went away for a month and i looked after him. My wife uses MSG in just about everything she cooks. Within a week of me cooking for my son his "allergies" cleared up. I didn't make the connection until she came back and resumed kitchen duties and the allergies flared up again.

Much to the displeasure of my wife MSG is now banned in our house and my boy now rarely suffers from any allergy attacks.

Hope you do not feed the boy potato cos there is 102 mgm of natural MSG in each 100G serving !

Ban peas ! 200mgm of MSG per 100 Grams !

No Walnuts! 658 mgm/100G

The point is that MSG is a naturally occurring substance and is impossible to avoid most natural "healthy" food contains MSG even broccoli ! (`176mgm/100G

[wilcopops]

.... As the New York Times put it in an article by Julia Moskin published last year, "'Chinese restaurant syndrome' has been thoroughly debunked (virtually all studies since then confirm that monosodium glutamate in normal concentrations has no effect on the overwhelming majority of people)"."

I don't think anyone has suggested that it was other than a minority of people who have this problem. But that minority does exist, and if living in a place like SE Asia where MSG use is ubiquitous, they have a particular difficulty.

The OP is apparently one of the minority.

Totally aside from the problems of the minority of people, like the OP, who have an intolerance to large amounts of MSG in food, there are some legitimate health concerns for the population in general regarding the overuse of MSG in processed foods and, in SE Asia, in just about all food preparation - these however are not with the glutamine aspect but simply the sodium, which is the "s" in MSG.

I would not be so sure - how these people decide they are "sensitive" to MSG and the numbers in this "minority" are highly dubious.........obviously if they think they are they will avoid the stuff.....BUT the problem is that the issue in reality is still unsolved. This is a bit like "gluten" - everyone wants to jump o the bandwagon.....because they read about it in the press.......

It is no way as simple as people are suggesting on this thread to conclude any adverse reaction to a substance ....they really need to get a PROPER MEDICAL DIAGNOSIS or OPINION - not some "allergenic" quack or self diagnosis.

If one looks at populations where MSG is common you will find hardly anyone is reporting adverse reactions.....so why should these people assume they are part of this "minority"? There is no real reason.....they could in fact be diverting attention from the REAL cause of the problem

Edited May 2, 2014 by wilcopops

[wilcopops]

There are people who are sensitive to MSG. My son is one of them, since he was around 3 he has suffered from what at the time I thought was hay fever with blocked sinuses most of the time. Did all the things the allergy guys suggest like non alergenic pillows and bed linen, no mats or carpets in the bed room, washing the bed linen every week in very hot water, etc. Nothing seemed to work until my wife went away for a month and i looked after him. My wife uses MSG in just about everything she cooks. Within a week of me cooking for my son his "allergies" cleared up. I didn't make the connection until she came back and resumed kitchen duties and the allergies flared up again.

Much to the displeasure of my wife MSG is now banned in our house and my boy now rarely suffers from any allergy attacks.

One is tempted to take this with a "pinch of salt" - you might consider a whole raft of other things that caused the symptoms in your boy......even a sensitivity to his mother!...or telling the boy he's sensitive to MSG.

Edited May 2, 2014 by wilcopops