Yes, I can look it up in Google but appropriate to talk about it on here due to the quantities used in this country. In the past it never seemed to bother me, but lately after a bowl of noodles I feel like my BP is through the roof. Is elevated BP one of the side effects?
Any other warning signs/signals experienced by others?
I often forget to tell the restaurant not to use it and I guess that is something I should pay more attention to. The term in Thai by the way in my butchered English spelling is Chew Lote or Rote. Pete
Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. Source
I have very mixed feelings about MSG (called Thai salt by Mrs BB). It can really bring out the flavours, and is widely used in Oriental cooking; but I also know the effects on blood pressure are significant.
Whenever I can, I avoid it. However, this can be very difficult when you have a Thai wife cooking for you each day.
Having suffered 'Hypertension' (High B.P.) for many years I would say MSG is definitely to be avoided.
Many different reasons for the High B.P. but for sure MSG has a nasty effect on me and most of the Doctors that I have spoken to over the years have said try and avoid it.
Mrs.T NEVER uses it when cooking for me and has managed to lower or restrict its use in our restaurant at the lodge.
It's true to say that it is used extensively in Asian cooking - just look at the huge bags of the stuff sold in Makro etc
I'm more interested to know how you know it has increased your BP ?
What are the physical symptoms after eating a meal with lots of msg ? as they say BP is a silent killer and elevated BP goes unnoticed unless you check it regularly with a meter.
Terry wrote:Checked same time morning and evening every day with a meter.
Personal evidence has shown that MSG definitely causes MY B.P. to rise significantly above my norm - which in my case is an average of 138/83
It's known that MSG increases BP but I was more interested in Pete's comment :
"but lately after a bowl of noodles I feel like my BP is through the roof"
as to what are the symptoms you can feel without using a meter to check - is it increased heart rate, hot sweats or something else ??
MSG has a generally undeserved bad reputation and is found in large concentrations in most high protein foods, this is not to say it is without hazards for some individuals.
Most individuals who believe they are MSG sensitive when tested (and researched) if blindly given MSG have NO reaction to it!! However, if these people are given foods with added MSG cooked in a wok they often have severe reactions, the original name of MSG syndrome was 'Chinese restaurant syndrome'. MSG's real threat arises from using it in a context where it is mixed with heated polyunsaturated oils which alone are quite hazardous but have become very common in the last 40 years wherein transfat related conditions including cancer, heart disease and type 2 diabetes have rampantly increased.
If you suspect Mono Sodium Glutamate elevates your blood pressure take 1/2 teaspoon and wait 20 minutes and check, it is not likely to be worse than 1/2 teaspoon of salt (1 sodium atom causes retension of 22 water molecules) but mixed with poor oils and heat elevating the heart rate and cardiac output is relatively common and hazardous to some individuals (hypertensives, enlarged heart, coronary artery disease, etc). A little bit of MSG combined with good oils (mono-saturated) like olive for low temp cooking of peanut oil and other nut oils for high temp cooking, delicious and not too unhealthy at all.
Its weird that this topic comes up right now as I just had some Phad Thai last night and I was awake all night with my heart racing and the first thing I said to gf was that there must have been MSG in the food. I am going to check with restaurant today to see if they use MSG ........
I eat thai foods, chinese foods and Isans foods all my life. Of course it contained MSG. It's never bothers me before. But when I get ager I fell the side effect of it. My mouth and throught will fell dry and a little bite numb. If I have it for dinner, I will have difficulty to sleep.(Possible my high blood pressure is high but I never tested it) Some people I knew will also have allergy reaction. I try to avoid eat those food which I suspected have MSG. (Of course noodle soup was prepared in avanced and surely contained MSG) I used to tell the food venders not to put MSG while they were preparing my bol of noodles or fried rice or Som Tum. But several time I can not avoid it since it is their(food venders) habits to put MSG in any foods they prepared. I noticed several times that the food without MSG tastes a little bit different(venders will add small amount of sugar instead), sometime it is less tasty as with MSG(Or it is only my imagination).
If I suspected that I have MSG during dinner, I will stock up 7up (seven up drink) in my refrigerator so if I fell my mouth dry, I will drink seven up for anti dot. It does help me.
Terry wrote:Checked same time morning and evening every day with a meter.
Personal evidence has shown that MSG definitely causes MY B.P. to rise significantly above my norm - which in my case is an average of 138/83
It's known that MSG increases BP but I was more interested in Pete's comment :
"but lately after a bowl of noodles I feel like my BP is through the roof"
as to what are the symptoms you can feel without using a meter to check - is it increased heart rate, hot sweats or something else ??
Fair question and it's a bit difficult to explain except to say it's generally a 'tight' feeling. My head, eyes and sinus feel different than normal, there's a slight feeling of dizziness, and when I stand up after a meal with a lot of it in it I don't feel 100% stable. Very similar to when I have too much coffee or caffeine charge drink. I've never had my BP checked after a bowl of noodles, but I have after a morning of coffee refills and the result was not good. I associate the two and the BP based upon the similar physical feeling/result. Pete
Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. Source
