As we know it now, MSG, short for monosodium glutamate, is a world-wide popular food additive
that has been deemed unhealthy and dangerous for your health.
So dangerous that petitions have rise in multiple countries, to put an end to its use in our
foods.
Along with that, we even see restaurants or food products advertising that their food
is "healthier" because it has no added MSG.
And there are even people that are attempting to blame MSG for causing OBESITY.
Quite significant if true.
So what's the exact deal with MSG, and should we really be afraid of it?
Again, MSG acts as flavor enhancer.
In fact, its main use is to enhance the savory and meaty taste known as Umami.
The flavor comes from the glutamate in MSG, and all types of food high in glutamate, such
as tomatoes, chicken, soy, and mushrooms, share the same unique Umami flavor.
As this flavor became more and more popular, MSG's popularity rose as well.
But just as anything that becomes popular, it also becomes highly scrutinized.
In the case of MSG, self-reported symptoms of headaches, fatigue, muscle tightness, and
cramping began to develop.
These symptoms derived after eating Chinese food.
And fittingly, it was coined the "Chinese Restaurant Syndrome."
Since many Chinese meals contain high amounts of MSG, people quickly blamed MSG for causing
these symptoms.
Then, finally, when studies began to surface about MSG and its side effects, these symptoms,
in fact were found to be connected.
But, there was a catch.
A lot of the early MSG research ran double-blinded studies, however, since MSG has a rather unique
flavoring, it was very possible that the subjects were able to easily identify the MSG flavor,
which invalidates the blind factor of the study.
When a study had MSG consumed in pill form, thus removing the flavor, both MSG and a placebo
had roughly the same effect.
But there are still correlations that MSG might induce some sort of negative effect
on the body, and consumption should be monitored if you're sensitive to it.
Just like if you're sensitive to caffine, you simply don't want to drink too much of
it.
Generally, however, the effects aren't really significant.
Another claim of avoiding MSG is because MSG increase glutamate plasma levels within the
body.
Since studies have linked neurological disorders from mice that were injected with glutamate
or even MSG directly, the fear-mongering claimed that eating MSG causes disease such as Alzheimer's
and Parkinson's disease.
But, of course, there's a catch.
These studies inject MSG directly into the... brain of these rats... yea...
Oral ingestion of MSG does increase glutamate levels, but never has it shown to cause neurological
disorders.
In terms of obesity, which seems to always come up when some food is claimed to be "bad,"
there simply isn't many studies to support this.
Some do link MSG in possibly increasing calorie intake due to influences in hunger, but other
studies shows the opposite where MSG might actually make you less hungry.
So the real understanding is up in the air, and to say that it does drive more appetite
and hunger which can lead to overeating and ultimately obesity, is just making a claim
with very little substance, or flavor, in this case.
So all in all, MSG is roughly okay to consume in moderate doses.
But if you do feel like you fall under the category of getting headaches or not feeling
well after eating MSG, placebo or not, just don't eat it.
But to ban it, just, as far as the research shows, doesn't make sense.
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