MSG Symptom Complex. What foods to avoid, what foods to eat.
Date: 9/27/2007 5:14:40 PM ( 17 y ago)
Why do food companies add MSG to foods?
There are several reasons:
MSG tricks your tongue into making you think a certain food is high in protein and thus nutritious. It is not a "meat tenderizer". It is not a "preservative". The food industry is trying to confuse the issue by focusing on the "fifth" taste sense they call umami. Free glutamic acid is detected by the taste buds as a simple way to signal the presence of protein in a food, just as there are fat receptors to detect fats and receptors that sense carbohydrate or sweet flavors. The purpose is to help us discern real food from inedible matter. It changes your perception of not simply taste but the nutritious qualities of what you put into your mouth. However, and here is the main problem with free glutamic acid - It is the very same neurotransmitter that your brain and many organs including your ears, eyes, nervous system and pancreas in your body use to initiate certain processes in your body.
MSG stimulates the pancreas to produce insulin. So many diets these days are concerned about the Glycemic Index of foods and yet none of them address the fact that MSG and free glutamic acid stimulate the pancreas to release insulin when there doesn't even have to be carbohydrates in the food for that insulin to act on. The food industry has found their own "anti-appetite suppressant". It's a convenient way to keep consumers coming back for more. The blood sugar drops because of the insulin flood. And you are hungry an hour later. Sound familiar?
The body changes excess glutamate to GABA. GABA may be addictive. It is calming and affects the same receptors in the brain as valium.
Cost. The illusion created by adding MSG to a food product enables the food processor to add LESS real food. The illusion of more protein in a food allows the food producer to put LESS protein in it. The consumer perceives the product - say chicken soup - to have more chicken in it than is actually there. Example: A well-known brand of dehydrated chicken noodle soup. Is that chicken in there, or a piece of confetti?
For more information on what MSG is: http://www.msgtruth.org/whatisit.htm
For years MSG Symptom Complex has been known in the US by the misnomer Chinese Restaurant Syndrome. We do not use that term anywhere on this site, except this page. The reason is quite simple. Calling this health problem Chinese Restaurant Syndrome not only does a disservice to Chinese Restaurant owners who do not add MSG, but it also dangerously hides the fact that American processed food is now so loaded with the flavor enhancer Monosodium Glutamate (MSG) as to be the largest source of MSG in the average American diet. Most Americans, when told MSG is harmful respond with "I don't eat Chinese food, so I don't need to worry".
However, Consider this:
American Diet Syndrome
FRIED CHICKEN - What could be more American than Fried Chicken? KFC chicken actually contains so much MSG that in one country at least, KFC exceeded the legal limit for adding MSG to their chicken.
FLAVORED SNACK CHIPS - Most flavored potato chips and snack chips contain MSG. Doritos, a very popular food among American teens, has at least four sources of free glutamate - the business end of MSG.
CANNED AND INSTANT SOUP - Lipton, Knorr, Progresso and ramen noodle, and boullion cube manufacturers put MSG in their products. Products most Americans have been raised on, and not a few American office workers have stashed in their desk for those overtime evenings when a home cooked meal is out of the question, and foods poor college students practically live on.
CANNED TUNA - Most brands of canned tuna in the US have "broth" added or hydrolyzed vegetable protein added, which can contain up to 20% free glutamate. Manufacturers add this to hide any off flavors.
FRESH TURKEY - Many "self-basting" fresh turkeys and chickens sold in US supermarkets have solutions injected into them - solutions that contain free glutamate.
This is only a few of the products that have MSG added to them - products most Americans are unaware have MSG added to them.
Difference Between Chinese and American Restaurants
Chinese food, for the most part consists of fresh vegetables quickly cooked. MSG is added at the end as a condiment. It can be NOT added at the consumers request. Most Chinese Restaurant owners also know what else on the menu contains natural MSG - soy sauce for instance is naturally loaded with free glutamate. Wait staff at a Chinese restaurant will often steer the MSG sensitive patron away from dishes containing soy sauce as well as MSG. At Asian restaurants, they know what is in the food because they put it there.
Most American restaurants today purchase their foods from large US food companies that have what are called "Food Service" divisions. In American restaurants, most wait staff and often the cooks don't know what is in the food, because the soup base probably came from a can, those cute little jalapeno poppers came from a brightly colored bag in the freezer, and very little is actually "fresh". And, unfortunately, most American food scientists use the fact that soy sauce, and hydrolyzed vegetable protein naturally contains free glutamate to give their free glutamate containing products what is called "a clean label". So even cooks and wait staff don't even know what they are reading on the labels. The people who create the foods supplied to American restaurants have absolutely no compunction about hoping you don't know that MSG is in your food when you are consciously trying to avoid it.
Who Started It?
The truth is, the country where MSG was first isolated (in 1908) and used was Japan. A Japanese company called Ajinomoto - only recently found guilty of price-fixing MSG on the world market, is today the prime maker of MSG. Japan is also where taurine and CoQ10 are now used to treat heart disease, and ginger and taurine-rich sushi are eaten alongside MSG sprinkled food. These foods have protective effects against an MSG reaction. However, even the Japanese have found recently that MSG fed to mice can lead to blindness. The Japanese are concerned about the health affects of MSG. Should we not be also?
Then Why Chinese Restaurant Syndrome?
The reason MSG may have been associated with Chinese food, and not Japanese food, may be the protective effects of raw fish and fresh ginger in Japanese cuisine mentioned above, but also that taurine is found mostly in animal products, and that Chinese food is often low in meat. Also, taurine is destroyed by high heat, and foods are often cooked at high temperatures in Chinese stir frying.
It is interesting to note the joke that after eating MSG in foods at a Chinese restaurant "you are hungry an hour later", may have some merit. The glutamate in MSG acts as an insulin trigger. This will definitely give you a hunger response about an hour and a half later. This fact has not been lost on American food manufacturers. They know the value of an addictive food ingredient. If they keep you hungry for more, they have succeeded.
MSG-free Tips on Eating at Asian Restaurants
We don't want to discourage anyone from the pleasures of eating Asian cuisine. MSG is actually easier to avoid in an Asian restaurant, than in an American one.
Ask for NO MSG in your food
Avoid soy sauce
Avoid soups, and sauces
Instead of a sushi roll ask for sashimi - no seaweed
NO SEA TANGLE, NO FISH EXTRACT, NO SEAFOOD EXTRACT - these can make an MSG sensitive person very ill.
Make sure no MSG or seafood extracts were added to the rice if you order Chirashi
Use vinegar and wasabi instead of soy sauce to dip your sashimi
Think fresh - ask for a quick MSG-free stir fry of fresh vegetables, water chestnuts, bamboo shoots, unmarinated meat, plain noodles, fresh ginger, plain sesame oil.
Avoid dishes that look too mixed together and marinated.
Avoid saki - sometimes MSG is added to warmed saki to remove the bitterness. In fact, go easy on alcohol altogether - your liver is needed in good condition if you should have an MSG reaction
Avoid those little crunchy appetizers - they often contain MSG.
Green tea is a good idea to drink with your meal.
Avoid sauces and dishes like Egg Foo Yung which consist of sauces likely to contain MSG
At Dim Sum restaurants, avoid the sauces they deliver on the side, and choose foods not sauced already.
Most Asian restaurants serve very simple desserts which often consist of fresh fruit - usually oranges. It is a good idea to eat this, as Vitamin C helps mitigate any MSG reaction.
Korean food is interesting as there are safer dishes like those served in very hot bowls, where rice, raw vegetables, and raw egg are added to the bowl, and it cooks right in front of you at the table. Sauce is suppied on the side, but you don't need to use it.
In Korean restaurants steer clear of the Kim Chee, the red pickled cabbage - it often contains MSG.
Try Thai food - there are many soy-free choices - it has fresh bright flavors - but also ask for NO MSG. Thai sauces which are creamy are usually made from coconut milk, an interesting flavor.
Vietnamese food - vietnamese food is also interesting to try, in some dishes, star anise gives this cuisine the exotic flavor of licorice. Again, ask for NO MSG.
Do not drink any aspartame diet drinks with your meal. Aspartame is just as bad for you as MSG. Aspartame and MSG have a synergistic effect.
So - basic rules of thumb-
Always ask for NO MSG
NO TANGLE, FISH, OR SEAFOOD EXTRACT
Think fresh - avoid marinaded foods
No dipping sauce
Eat your fruit, drink your green tea, eat fresh ginger
No soy sauce, limit alcohol, avoid diet drinks- especially with aspartame
CONCLUSION
Asian cuisine should be treasured and enjoyed for the fresh vegetables, and fresh fish it contains. MSG is considered an avoidable condiment in Asian cooking, not the main attraction. In fact, our favorite restaurants to eat at are Asian because most foods are served with sauces on the side and many restaurants now offer NO MSG in anything. So, if you skip the soy sauce and talk to the staff ahead of time about your concerns, you can usually have a wonderful, fresh meal, without getting ill. In American Restaurants often MSG is added because the other ingredients may be inferior or already processed, or out of a can, or not as fresh as you'd like. Often, if the restaurant is a chain, like McDonalds, or KFC, the food is often precooked or prepared at a different location first. (Recently, McDonalds admitted that its french fries are precooked elsewhere with a "seasoning" .) Because of this MSG Symptom Complex could just as easily be called American Diet Syndrome.
Unfortunately, Americans are not looking for MSG in the most important place they should be: American food. That is why we DON'T call MSG Symptom Complex - Chinese Restaurant Syndrome.
What Foods To Avoid?
Food manufacturers are hiding MSG so you don't know where it is. Lately, food manufacturers mention a "clean label" when referring to soy sauce and other processed flavor enhancers that already contain MSG in the form of glutamic acid. Food manufacturers use these ingredients so they can claim "no added MSG". Hence a "cleaner" label. They know it's in there, they are just hoping you don't.
See the following link for information about exactly how food manufacturers are trying to use free glutamic acid without telling you about it:
http://www.foodproductdesign.com/archive/1998/0298AP.html
The following is a recent (and blatant) example of a so-called "clean label":
Unilever appears to be in trouble in Vietnam for marketing a product called Knorr Dam Dang as a substitute for MSG. Unfortunately for Unilever, product was actually tested and found to have 30% MSG in it. Despite clearly misleading consumers in Vietnam, the company representatives argue that they are legally allowed to do this due to current labeling laws allowing it:
http://www.thanhniennews.com/business/?catid=2&newsid=10072
http://www.thanhniennews.com/business/?catid=2&newsid=10100
http://english.vietnamnet.vn/biz/2005/10/505583/
http://vietnamnews.vnagency.com.vn/showarticle.php?num=01BUS311005
MSG by any other name.......
In Japan, MSG is labeled as アミノ酸 or Ajinomoto
In China, MSG = wie jing
In the Phillipines, MSG = Vetsin
In Thailand, MSG = phong churot
In Germany, MSG = Natriumglutaminat
In Europe - MSG = E621, but avoid E620-625 as they also contain glutamateMSG and Aspartame http://www.msgtruth.org/aspartam.htm
Crops sprayed with MSG http://www.msgtruth.org/cropspra.htm
FYI - The following foods contain MSG or its business end - the free amino acid glutamate - in amounts large enough to cause reactions in those sensitive to it.:
The Following McDonald's Items:
French Fries - a "seasoning" made from beef, wheat and milk, processed to break down the proteins into free amino acids like glutamate) is added to the oil the fries are precooked in. US laws allow "natural flavoring" to consist of "protein hydrolysates" containing free glutamic acid. (That's why they do it - to free glutamate to act like MSG so they can declare a "clean label" while misleading the consumer.)
Other menu items that contain soy sauce, natural flavors or hydrolyzed protein which can contain up to 20% free glutamic acid - the active part of MSG.
Other menu items that contain soy sauce, natural flavors or hydrolyzed protein which can contain up to 20% free glutamic acid - the active part of MSG.
Hamburger Helper Microwave Singles® (targeted towards children)
Doritos®
Pringles® (the flavored varieties)
Tangle extract (seaweed extract) - found in sushi rolls (even at Whole Foods) Seaweed is what MSG was first isolated from.
Fish extract - made from decomposed fish protein - used now in Japanese sushi dishes - very high in free glutamate.
hydrolyzed vegetable protein (found in many processed AMERICAN foods, like canned tuna and even hot dogs)
hydrolyzed plant protein (found in many processed AMERICAN foods, like canned tuna and even hot dogs) sodium caseinate
textured protein
beet juice - it is used as a coloring, but MSG is manufactured from beets and the extract may contain free glutamic acid - Yo
Baby - organic baby yogurt has just changed the formula to include beet extract
yeast extract
malted barley flour - found in many supermarket breads and all-purpose flours including: King Arthur, Heckers, and Gold Medal flour
body builder drink powders containing protein
Parmesan cheese - naturally high in free glutamate
over-ripe tomatoes - naturally high in free glutamate
mushrooms - naturally high in free glutamate
Medications in gelcaps - contain free glutamic acid in the gelatin
Cosmetics and shampoos - some now contain glutamic acid
Fresh produce sprayed with Auxigro in the field. (Yes the EPA approved this. It appalled us too.)
Be aware it is not just the brand names mentioned, but many similar products to the ones listed also contain MSG. You must read labels. These product names were given as examples of the many products that contain MSG. The more salty a processed food is, the more likely it is to contain MSG or free glutamate.
The more processed a food is, the more likely it is to contain MSG or free glutamate: powdered stuff that used to be food is likely to have added MSG because the original flavor has been degraded.
The more ingredients in a packaged food, the more likely MSG is present. Read labels carefully if a food has more than five ingredients.
Do not trust something simply because it is in a health food store and the label states it is natural or even organic.
The next wave of hastily approved "MSG replacers" you may wish to avoid will be Senomyx. http://www.msgtruth.org/whywe.htm http://www.msgtruth.org/avoid.htm What To Eat? Learn to add these to your cooking:
http://www.nomsg.com/links.html
autolyzed yeast (found in many processed AMERICAN foods, read labels)
Four good rules of thumb are:
According to the New York Times April 6, 2005 article "Food Companies Test Flavorings That Can Mimic Sugar, Salt or MSG":
" Since Senomyx's flavor compounds will be used in small proportions (less than one part per million), the company is able to bypass the lengthy F.D.A. approval process required to get food additives on the market. Getting the Flavor and Extract Manufacturers Association status of generally recognized as safe, or GRAS, took Senomyx less than 18 months, including a 3-month safety study using rats. In contrast, the maker of the artificial sweetener sucralose spent 11 years winning F.D.A. approval and is required to list the ingredient on food labels."
And Senomyx DOESN'T have to be labeled as such. It will be grouped under "artificial flavors". They still don't believe the consumer should know what they are eating. In fact, that is exactly the strategy. Here is one last quote from the NYT article to leave you with:
"We're helping companies clean up their labels," said Senomyx's chief executive, Kent Snyder.
Mr. Snyder, that is EXACTLY what we are afraid of.
OK, you've convinced me, you say, but what can I eat?
First the good news: you'll soon be able to eat wonderful food
Now the bad news: you'll have to learn how to cook it yourself......
Here is what many MSG-sensitive folks do well with:
fresh ginger
rosemary
oregano
http://www.msgtruth.org/eatwhat.htm
http://www.truthinlabeling.org
http://healthpress.com/aspartame.html
MSG in FluMist Flu shots:
http://www.mercola.com/2003/oct/4/flumist_vaccine.htm
The Registry of Toxic Effects of Chemical Substances
http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/rtecs/ma180858.html#T
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