Video by The History Guy - Umami: A History of Monosodium Glutamate

[Midnightmom]

This is quite an interesting video. I'm not sure how I feel about this ingredient anymore, except for the fact that it makes food taste "better" so that you might want to eat "more" of it. Should that be considered as an issue of self-control instead of being named as a "conspiracy theory" hatched by food manufacturers to "trick" us into buying more of their product?

 

 

[Ambergris]

There are a lot of videos out now, including one by a youtube guy with a lot of videos I quite like, arguing that MSG is wholly harmless.  People have quoted --not him, but people saying exactly the same thing, often in exactly the same words-- after making me dog-sick by sneaking it into my food to prove I would not react.  

 

I also get horrible stomach-aches from cherries, one of my favorite foods, and from other completely natural things that are generally regarded as safe.  When I hear people argue that people like me are either reacting psychosomatically or have a political agenda, I want to put poison ivy in their salad and see how they like it.  Because, like millions of other people, I would find it completely harmless, so I don't see why anyone in the world should be whining about getting to eat it without warning that it's in the food.

[Littlesister]

I have known about this for a long, long time. If I do go to a Chinese place, I tell them no MSG. They are famous for using that. GMO is in everything here. I think it has been banned in a lot of other countries. It is one of the reason's I have a garden and use organic where I can. It's not easy to move away from those products as it is in everything here in the USA. And is a huge cause of a lot of illnesses as well. Good for the pharmaceutical companies though. They love it. Even things like Equal, Splenda and such has bad chemicals in them. Diet coke has it, as well as many other diet drinks and foods that diabetics depend on to cut their sugar intake. Only thing is they are doing more harm to themselves than if just using a natural sweetener. But I doubt a lot of people know about the natural sweeteners. 

[euphrasyne]

I've had migraines for my entire life.  My earliest memory is refusing to eat and crying at age 2 because my head hurt.  MSG has zero negative effects on me or my family.  All of the professional studies done show no negative side effects, so a reaction is not common.  I usually treat it like an allergy that some people have and it is up to those that have the allergy to inform those cooking --no different than nut allergy or lactose intolerance.  My take on all allergies is that those allergic are responsible to passing on that information.  I personally am allergic to fish and shellfish.  If I don't cook it, I either ask or don't eat it.  

 

I also have an extreme reaction to poison ivy.  I have to get a steroid shot and a medipred pack every time I get it because it spreads internally on me.  My mother can swim through it and have no issues.  If someone mows it in the lawn down the street and it blows into my yard, I get it.  Life is not fair.  

Edited August 4, 2023 by euphrasyne

[Littlesister]

Euphrosyne, from what I have read about it in the medical journals, it is not an allergic reaction or headaches you get from it. It can be one of the root causes of diabetics and other illnesses. What it seems to cause on some people is a disease and not so much an allergic reaction. It takes a long while to build up in your system. Some people won't have that issue but more people than not will. 

 

I would hate to have that reaction to poison ivy. I have had it but just external itching with a small breakout of hives. I can't imagine having internal issues from it. That has got to be miserable.

[Mother]

I have severe allergies and have had since infancy.  My reactions are varied and change from time to time except for those anaphylactic ones like chocolate, certain medications, certain chemicals, and she’ll fish.  MSG is one of them and I am careful not to get it.  
 

Strangely enough, I haven’t gotten poison Ivy even though I’m around it a lot.  Yet.  My mom was not bothered by it and even fell off a horse into a huge patch of it. Then in her 70’s she got it from the smoke of burning a pile of it she’d gathered earlier in the year with no reaction.  Euphrasyne, my sister in law is like you. Can’t even walk near it without needing medical attention.  

 

The human body is complex for sure.