MSG

[STEVE G]

This article makes an interesting link between how MSG is produced and reaction to it:


Although glutamic acid had been isolated in 1866 by the German chemist Karl Ritthausen, it was not until 1908 that its flavor-enhancing potential was noticed by Kikunae Ikeda of Tokyo, Japan. Prior to that time, the Japanese had used seaweed as a favorite flavor enhancer, without understanding that glutamic acid was its flavor-enhancing component.

From 1910 until 1956, the process underlying production of glutamic acid and monosodium glutamate in Japan was one of extraction, a slow and costly method. Elsewhere, crude gluten or other starting materials were hydrolyzed by heating with hydrochloric acid. In 1956, the Japanese succeeded in producing glutamic acid by means of fermentation; and after considerable research to identify suitable strains of microorganisms for starting the requisite cultures, large-scale production of glutamic acid and monosodium glutamate through fermentation began.

Even before the Japanese discovered the flavor potential of processed free glutamic acid extracted from sea weed, the potential of freeing glutamic acid from protein using acid hydrolysis was being explored in Europe. At the time, however, the method was not widely used. Indeed, it was not until some time later that the flavor industry realized that various of their hydrolyzed protein products contained considerable amounts of processed free glutamic acid -- the flavor-enhancing component of the food ingredient monosodium glutamate -- and production of hydrolyzed protein products for their flavor-enhancing potential escalated.

When monosodium glutamate was brought to the United States in the years following World War II it was still manufactured through extraction. By 1956, after considerable research to identify suitable strains of microorganisms for starting the requisite cultures, Ajinomoto Co., Inc. had succeeded in producing glutamic acid through a method of bacterial fermentation wherein bacteria (some, if not all of which are genetically modified) are grown aerobically in a liquid nutrient medium. These bacteria have the ability to synthesize glutamic acid outside of their cell membranes and excrete it into the medium to accumulate there. It was in 1956 that truly large-scale production of glutamic acid and monosodium glutamate through fermentation began.

We find it fascinating that the first published report of a reaction to monosodium glutamate did not appear until monosodium glutamate was being made by bacterial fermentation. The first published report of a reaction to monosodium glutamate appeared in 1968 when Robert Ho Man Kwok, M.D., who had emigrated from China, reported that although he never had the problem in China, about 20 minutes into a meal at certain Chinese restaurants, he suffered numbness, tingling, and tightness of the chest that lasted for approximately 2 hours.
http://www.truthinlabeling.org/IVhistoryOfUse.html

[redzonerocker]

Very understandable considering the thread is in the HEALTH sub-forum

fair enough mors

[Terry]

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

Pete

It's clear to me that different foods / drinks / additives etc, do different things to different people w.r.t. blood pressure.

For many years I smoked 20 - 40 a day and drank maybe 10 coffees - then in the evening I would hit the beer

I stopped smoking 7 1/2 years ago and also the coffee about 3 years ago.

Drank all sorts of tea since - and guess what - even tea does me in..........

Now it's plenty of water - about 4-5 ltr a day and I'm much better.

Doesn't stop me from having a glass or two of wine tho - medically approved they say

It's different for all of us, but if you have noticed that one thing in particular makes you feel no good then check it out.

[Takiap]

I would agree with Terry - if you find it bothers you, then try to avoid it.

Personally I feel comfortable eating foods with msg in them. I had heard quite a few bad stories about it in the past, but then as someone pointed out to me, no other food product has been subjected to as much scrutiny, so surely if there was something dangerous about it, it would have been discovered by now.

Also, don't for a minute think it's only added to foods. It's even added to some brands of toothpaste, so it just goes to show how widely it's being used.

[Jimbob]

Of course BP increases over the day, peaking in the late evening. So you should test MSG in the morning, but no one wants MSG on their breakfast? I can taste it in minute doses. (Bloody 'ell, I've learnt lots from this thread).

[PeteC]

Of course BP increases over the day, peaking in the late evening. So you should test MSG in the morning, but no one wants MSG on their breakfast? I can taste it in minute doses. (Bloody 'ell, I've learnt lots from this thread).

That's good advice and you're certainly getting MSG with your Thai breakfast if you order a noodle dish. I wouldn't be surprised if it's put in kow pad as well. The only breakfast dish it's probably not in is rice porridge, but in the side dishes you eat with it for sure. Pete

[charlesh]

In Thailand the MSG is chilli flavoured ha, ha. In Macro sold by the big bag!
o/s there are many cases of adverse reaction from ingesting it over a long period. Best avoided. Just chew your free range scrawny chicken more.

[Takiap]

So, we can't smoke or drink, we can't eat food with MSG in it, we can't use salt, we shouldn't eat meat, we can't eat fried foods, and etc. What what the hell is left. May as well just jump off a bridge. I for one am certainly not going to live of steamed veggies, salads and water

I'd rather die knowing I had a great time, than die knowing I missed out on all the good things in life

[MrPlum]

So, we can't smoke or drink, we can't eat food with MSG in it, we can't use salt, we shouldn't eat meat, we can't eat fried foods, and etc. What what the hell is left. May as well just jump off a bridge. I for one am certainly not going to live of steamed veggies, salads and water

I'd rather die knowing I had a great time, than die knowing I missed out on all the good things in life

In general I agree. A little of what you fancy does you good but are these the 'good things'? They might have been when alcohol wasn't chemical, food wasn't irradiated and msg and aspartame didn't cause obesity, brain tumours and produce formaldehyde in the body. The Okinawans smoke and live to 100. Why? because their diet protects them. The Mediterranean diet touts red wine. In Eastern and North European countries, liqueurs, laced with herbs, were great digestive aids. Unrefined Sea or rock salt is good for you. Wild meat is tasty and nourishing.

This is the problem. Everything that was good has been so buggered around with that it is now positively BAD for you. Either get the message and demand good food. Or die of sickness while saying "f**k you, garlic-breath, I'll eat what I want". This isn't clever. It's foolish. Do you really want your assets sucked out of your estate and into the hands of the white coats during your last two years of life as you succumb to cancer and heart disease? They positively love attitudes like yours. "Wahaaay! Here comes another sucker sending my kids to Harvard".

You don't have to live off steamed veggies, which are tasteless and boring if you are used to a diet of sweet, fat and sour. When you salivate over junk food it's because you have trained your body to do so. Once you clean up your palate, a change occurs. That Big Mac will make you vomit, as it does me. It takes around 4 days of stopping eating the garbage for your taste buds to learn to like natural food again. THEN the foods that taste bland and boring start to taste delicious. You move from unnatural to natural.

By being a 'rebel' you aren't fooling anyone, even though I admire the sentiment and sometimes feel the same way. Unfortunately, the body doesn't care about our justifications. To it, there are only consequences. If you are happy to live with them that's fine but try asking someone breathing through a hole in their neck, if they regret that last ciggy and they sing a very different song.

Nothing personal by the way.

[MrPlum]

I think a separate topic called 'A little of what you fancy' might be useful for those who want their cake and eat it! I think it's possible with just some minor changes to diet.

[MorSage]

+1 for Mr Plums post, our world is certainly no 'garden of eden' if it ever was, and doing many things our recent ancestors did now have much worse outcomes than they did for them. In fact the US armed services databank (100,000's of individuals for about 300 years) suggests that those who drank and smoke a little lived longest and were the most productive, followed by abstainers and that those who drank and/or smoked heavy died the quickest and were least productive. Particularly, in the case of smokers this data is no longer representative of current outcomes and it is probably not tobacco's fault but instead the cadmium laced soil it is grown in, the multiple chemicals for flavour, addiction etc added and the design of the tailor-made filter that increases addictive potential but produces much more carcinogenic ozone and nitrous and carbon oxides in the process.

Mr Plum's entire post I think is spot-on, but 2 points are especially important 1. Times change and actual awareness of changes in food production / values / contamination and their effects on wellbeing are now vitally important 2. Luckily, it seems more important to do a few (or more) right things than a few wrong things unless terribly bad " The Okinawans smoke and live to 100. Why? because their diet protects them". Interestingly, Okinawan's are genetically Chinese and tend NOT to eat rice and fish but instead their principal diet is based on yellow and green vegetable pork stews and buckwheat, pretty sure no added MSG.