“Boss, don’t put it in my face.monosodium glutamate! “Occasionally, when I go to a snack bar to eat, I have heard customers explain this to the store a few times. Many people experience symptoms such as thirst, headache, and nausea after eating out. They also think, “It must be because of the addition of MSG?” The notoriety of MSG as harmful to health is so deeply rooted in the hearts of the people. Is it really true? Or a misunderstanding?
MSG has these uses and also contains sodium
Nutritionist Li Wanping explained that monosodium glutamate is a sodium salt of glutamic acid, and glutamic acid is an amino acid commonly found in proteins, and can also be found in many natural foods, such as tomatoes, cheese and dairy products, grapes, mushrooms Meat, fish, etc. In 1908 , a Japanese professor discovered that kelp soup had an “umami” taste different from bitter, salty, sour, and sweet, and confirmed that this umami taste came from sodium glutamate, so he applied for a patent, and the following year Mass production of monosodium glutamate began.
Unlike in the past, monosodium glutamate was extracted from protein-rich foods such as seaweed, but now it is made from beet molasses, sugarcane molasses, or starches such as sugarcane and cassava through fermentation. In addition to appearing as a white, odorless crystalline powder, it is alsofood additives, often used in soy sauce, tomato sauce, salad dressing and canned, processed meat to add flavor.
The main ingredient in MSG is “sodium” glutamic acid, which is actually the sodium contained in salt. The difference is that the sodium content of monosodium glutamate is relatively low, about 2/3 less than salt.
Study: Small amounts of MSG do not pose health risks
Consumption of MSG is thought to cause a range of uncomfortable symptoms, and the term “Chinese Restaurant Syndrome” originated in a letter that appeared in the New England Journal of Medicine in 1968. The writer described feeling dizzy and weak after eating at a Chinese restaurant. Although he listed several ingredients that may have contributed to the symptoms, including alcohol, sodium, and monosodium glutamate, it may have been caused by anti-Asian sentiment in the United States at the time, which caused people to think about it. The panic of MSG and the negative image of MSG as harmful to health have been stereotyped.
Regarding the safety of monosodium glutamate, judging from so many studies over the past few decades, it has not been confirmed that symptoms such as headaches, nausea, and heart palpitations that people experience after eating foods containing monosodium glutamate are caused by monosodium glutamate, and have no relationship with chronic diseases .
Among them, the safety assessment report commissioned by the Food and Drug Administration of the United States and the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology said that MSG does cause some short-term and slight discomfort to people, but it is limited to the following two groups of people, and it will not cause health problems. Too serious an impact.
1. Ingesting more than 3 grams of MSG within one hour without food .
2. People with severe asthma should eat monosodium glutamate directly when their diet does not contain carbohydrates and protein.
Therefore, experts generally agree that MSG is a safe condiment, and it has not been included in the list of allergens.
How to relieve dry mouth and nausea after meals?
In view of the phenomenon that many people report feeling dry mouth and nausea after eating, it may be because the intake of sodium is too high. After all, we rarely use MSG alone, usually with salt, plus MSG also contains sodium. If you often choose highly processed foods or heavy-tasting foods in your diet, you will inevitably experience symptoms such as thirsty and want to drink water, headaches or dizziness. Li Wanping suggested that at this time, you can add more boiled water to help eliminate sodium ions, or drink some ginger soup and mint tea to reduce nausea.
Adding some monosodium glutamate to cooking may bring 1 benefits to health
Appropriate consumption of MSG is safe for most people. Some experts and scholars pointed out that it may also have a positive effect: using it instead of salt for seasoning can help reduce the total intake of sodium.
As mentioned earlier, monosodium glutamate provides “umami taste”, so some studies believe that if a little monosodium glutamate can be used to replace part of the salt when cooking, it is expected to reduce sodium intake without sacrificing flavor. For example, a document published in the journal “Food Science and Nutrition” pointed out that whether it is processed food or home-made cooking, monosodium glutamate can reduce sodium content without affecting our perception of salty taste; another Japanese study also said that adding an appropriate amount Umami ingredients can help reduce the salt in the diet and maintain the flavor; there is also a study on spicy dishes that shows that when curry chicken is added with 0.7% MSG, the sodium content is reduced by 32.5%, but the food as a whole tastes better. It still tastes pretty good, and it’s a great way to practice a reduced-sodium diet.
In real life applications, for example, if you use 1 tsp of salt for cooking, if you change it to 1/3 tsp of salt + 2/3 tsp of monosodium glutamate, it can be halvedsodium intake, while enhancing the umami. However, although the sodium content of monosodium glutamate is only one-third of that of salt, and the amount used for cooking is generally less than that of salt, it is reminded that patients with high blood pressure, heart disease, and liver and kidney diseases who need to limit their diet should follow the instructions of their doctors. Reduce the intake of salt and monosodium glutamate as much as possible to avoid the burden on the body caused by excessive sodium.