"Chinese Food Syndrome" - Causes?

Hi,

Perhaps many of you have experienced the frustration of eating a large quantity of Chinese food without getting a "full" or "satisfied" feeling. It would mystify me how I could eat such a generous portion of Chinese food - yet, at the end of the meal, feel as though I hadn't eaten much of anything!

What is responsible for this phenomenon, exactly? Can this situation be traced to a particular ingredient, or ingredients, in the food? Is it the Mono-Sodium-Glutamat (Natrium Glutamat) (monosodium glutamate), or is there some less well-known culprit?

Actually, for me - it isn't only Chinese food that causes me these problems. In recent years, I have found more and more that some fast food gives me a similar reaction. For example, I was dismayed when I ordered a KFC meal - their grilled spicy chicken, potato wedges, and green beans - and found that I couldn't reach satiety after eating a generous quantity of it. Some entrees from Trader Joe's have produced the same result (which may be counter-intuitive, since Trader Joe's has a "healthy" reputation).

Does anyone know what is going on? What is in this food that stimulates the appetite, or prevents one from achieving the sensation of being "full"?

I think the condition of my gut has deteriorated in recent years - since I've been struggling with this problem more than I used to. I appear to have some type of chronic, sub-clinical gut-issue - there seems to be some issue with inflammation, maybe. Yet, it can't be denied that some foods aggravate this issue more than others.

Thanks for any feedback!