MSG in food

[beppi]

Beppi-style:
'And thus I am proved right [ignoring all the points, bar maybe one low-hanging one, that you made]'.
About right?

I would rather call it "making my point and strengthen it with independently verified information" - but you are entitled to a differing opinion.

[JR8]

It also may be like Lactose. Asians are more predisposed to Lactose Intolerance than Westerners. So the good effects of MSG may be outweighed by certain ill effects in predisposed races? I don't know. I don't have a problem with it, but my wife sure does.

AFAIR the issue with lactose is that peoples of the Pacific Rim are genetically predisposed to lack the ability to produce lactase, the enzyme that breaks down lactose. [This conjures parallels with their relative ability to metabolise alcohol]).

One then wonders if this is a chicken and egg situation: Are Pacific-Rim people lactose intolerant, because they historically haven't eaten dairy products, or vice versa?

To make a parallel between LI and MSG (in my crusty-old and inexpert opinion) I would have thought the MSG would need to be an issue in how effectively the body can synthesis it, or more specifically cannot. And I (again IMC-OAIO) thought the issue with MSG was the huge sodium hit your system gets? You know a night out on the severe lash + a Chinese take-out guarantees a legendary hang-over as you battle dehydration of epic proportions (the problem of course being 100% due to the food! ).

It's not a big issue for me at all. And I am a big fan of the likes of miso soup (MSG-central). But there have been some occasions when way way too much of it has been added into meals, and you get this rather... ummm... thin hard shallow flavour... sort of a little like salt, but not as aggressive and 'bitter/drying' on the palette. It's at that point you know that what you're eating is arguably a direct health-risk, like the hawker meal I mentioned recently that wiped me out. That's never happened before, and I hope it won't get a repeat either.

p.s. MSG is perhaps already included in sauces at hawker centres. But also watch out for them working up a sauce and adding from a dish/cup what looks like a teaspoon or two of granulated sugar!...

[Sergei82]

So the issue with MSG is not glutamine, but sodium. You can eat a bucket-load of glutamine - the only negative effect on your body will be: you will get fat (lots of calories). Sodium is a bitch. I do wonder why they don't produce monopotassium glutamate instead of monosodium glutamate? That'd have been much healthier!

[PNGMK]

I eat glutamine as supplement now. 30 grams in one go sometimes several times a day. And I add salt when I cook. Who wants to say that he is healthier than me?

Strength is not equal to health. I'd like to cut you open and check your arteries and heart if you'll let me. Post back here when you're >45 and tell us your BP, cholesterol and resting pulse rate please.

Secondly although MSG may be a component of food in it's natural form, to add it in such amounts as they do here cannot be good. It should always be something we can opt out of.

Come on Sergei - just because the Ukraine is going down in flames doesn't mean you have to as well mate.

[Sergei82]

Start cutting yourself open first.
Glutamine is most abundant aminoacid in organism and in nature in general. You can easily consume 50g a day of it just with usual food without any supplements. 1-2-3 grams added to meal do nothing.
Moreover, I thought we all converge to idea of MSG being harmful only because of sodium in it. That way you should stay away from carbonated drinks as well (me myself drinking at least 2-4 liters of coke zero a day)

[JR8]

So the issue with MSG is not glutamine, but sodium. You can eat a bucket-load of glutamine - the only negative effect on your body will be: you will get fat (lots of calories). Sodium is a bitch. I do wonder why they don't produce monopotassium glutamate instead of monosodium glutamate? That'd have been much healthier!

Absolutely, this is a parallel of my understanding.

For those who are unaware of the health issues with MSG, I expect they still might be aware of the issues with 'salt' and the globally recognised healthier 'low salt diet'.

Well, MSG is like a turbo-charged 'salt'.

[sundaymorningstaple]

Well, I reckon Sergei wont be any healthier that I am by the time he's my age now. Probably less so. Of course, he's got a lot of time left to wise up as he's got at least 2 decades before he's even somewhere close.

[Sergei82]

The secret of SMS's youth is not eating MSG!
Then you should go yoga, vegan and voodoo at the same time, so that way you will become immortal.

Btw, do you know that there is strong evidence that Asians' longer life span cased by their genetics, not by what they eat (which often worse than Europeans eat). So who knows, SMS, maybe you look like that because you're smart, but maybe because your dad and dad's dad had good genetics?

[sundaymorningstaple]

Who cares, if I win. It's not how you play the game, it's if you win or lose!

[sundaymorningstaple]

If I did all you just suggested, I probably wouldn't live any longer, but it would damn sure feel like it!

[PNGMK]

Start cutting yourself open first.
because of sodium in it. That way you should stay away from carbonated drinks as well (me myself drinking at least 2-4 liters of coke zero a day)

Do you have any teeth left? You'll end up with mountain dew mouth if you keep that up.... (the teeth rot from the inside).

[Sergei82]

Have plenty of teeth.
The thing you showed is result of bad genetics. You can get that from eating fruits if you're predisposed to having it.

[Thrandos]

It seems to be a bit more complicated than that.

For the most part, MSG is a safe compound. In the amounts we encounter on a daily basis, a healthy adult has little to worry about. But to say glutamate is just glutamate and it has no effects on the body is completely wrong.

Glutamate is actually THE major excitatory neurotransmitter in our nervous system and is involved in cognitive functions like memory and learning.

Excessive stimulation by neurotransmitters can damage and kill nerve cells.

Excess glutamate is one of the major contributors to brain damage during a stroke-During an ischemic attack, lack of blood flow causes the build up of glutamate in fluids outside the cells which overwhelms the cell receptors and resulting in the damage and eventual death of the nerve cells.

Glutamate has also been identified as a potential trigger in epileptic seizures. There are new anti-convulsion drugs that specifically block glutamine receptors.

We might consider the argument that while foods do contain significant amounts of glutamate but that the glutamate found in food is bound to the food that it is found in and does not enter the blood stream and reach the brain as rapidly as MSG. This would obviously not be enough to result in full blown excitotoxicity but this could explain the "MSG effect" that some people are sensitive to.

[PNGMK]

Have plenty of teeth.
The thing you showed is result of bad genetics. You can get that from eating fruits if you're predisposed to having it.

Surely you can't be that ignorant?

Coke is acidic and corrosive. Drop a penny in a glass of coke overnight and decide if you want your teeth to be exposed to 4 litres of that every day.

[Sergei82]

WTH C'MOOOOOON!!!!! Many aminoacids act as neurotransmitters and building blocks to hormones and tissues. It doesn't mean their intake should be severely limited. Organism will take what it needs to excite what is necessary elsewhere if you don't provide the nutrient to it. Elsewhere may be liver, kidneys, muscles etc. You want problems with those? You better supply what your organism needs. Excess of glutamine is easily converted into glucose or just burned as energy, that's it!
You start killer-aspartame-like debate with no grounds. You see, there are some people who are sensitive to phenilalanine, therefore (conclusion!) aspartame is bad!

I know one woman, she was allergic to almonds and coconuts. ALMONDS AND COCONUTS ARE BAD BAD BAD!!!!!! Stop eating them, people! You are killing yourself!

I know another one - allergic to alcohol. BAD BAD BAD BAD!!! Don't! Don't drink alcohol!!! Fear of death!!!

Another one was allergic to shrimps. Does anyone here eat shrimps? AAAAWWWMAAAAIIGAAAAAWWWWDDDD!!!!!!!

Should I continue?