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The Strange Case of Dr. Ho Man Kwok (2019)

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Re: The Strange Case of Dr. Ho Man Kwok (2019)

#12

Why does everything have to be labeled Racist? It makes the entire article read like some SJW's Twitter rant rather than something worth reading.

It's possible to simply disagree with somebody who has an opinion that something is racist without belittling them or lamenting that "everything has to be labeled racist".

Re: The Strange Case of Dr. Ho Man Kwok (2019)

#13
post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Cyanide is also a naturally occurring chemical found in food items like Cassava and to a lesser extent, potatoes. That didn't make it harmless.

You may've seen my comment before I edited in the second excerpt. We've pretty clear evidence of harm from certain doses of cyanide. We don't have it for MSG, despite a whole lot of trying.

Makes sense. I didn't read that part about the controlled studies that disproved it before commenting.

Re: The Strange Case of Dr. Ho Man Kwok (2019)

#15
"Although LeMesurier doesn’t think the writers were being overtly racist, she believes they were picking up on larger stereotypes in the culture of Asian Americans as exotic and strange. “They had a supposed subject, the Chinese-Restaurant syndrome, but the focus was really on Chinese identity and getting in digs about these stereotypically Chinese foods,” she said. “They used Kwok and MSG as figureheads for everything that was silly and frivolous and dangerous about Chinese identity.”"

Why is that not "overt racism"?

Re: The Strange Case of Dr. Ho Man Kwok (2019)

#16

Why does everything have to be labeled Racist? It makes the entire article read like some SJW's Twitter rant rather than something worth reading.

It's possible to simply disagree with somebody who has an opinion that something is racist without belittling them or lamenting that "everything has to be labeled racist".

You (GP) clearly didn't read the TAL interview linked where the guy who wrote the letter was actually Cantonese and very much not Howard Steel

Re: The Strange Case of Dr. Ho Man Kwok (2019)

#17

Dave Chang has a small scene in one of his Ugly Delicious (great show, by the way) episodes where he gets a group of non-Asian Americans, who claim to be MSG-allergic, to come and share their stories of MSG-related symptoms after eating at Chinese restaurants. He then hands out Doritos and American products that the participants claim they love and can eat all day. Hard to see where this is going... he says, all thes…

I think it's just a desire to blame something else (wifi, 5g, etc) for health problems, rather than taking responsibility for changing their crappy diet or stressful life.

Re: The Strange Case of Dr. Ho Man Kwok (2019)

#18
post #2

This article is very long and having skimmed it I'm still not entirely sure: is monosodium glutamate unhealthy or not after all?

It's a pretty frustrating article. There is a specific section titled "The truth about MSG" .... which ... doesn't tell you the truth about MSG. Instead, the "truth about MSG" is buried half way through the next voluminous section titled "A cautionary tale". Which appears to be ... no evidence has conclusively shown its harmful in the quantities used in food, and in fact, randomized blinded studies found no effect at all.

Re: The Strange Case of Dr. Ho Man Kwok (2019)

#19
post #2

This article is very long and having skimmed it I'm still not entirely sure: is monosodium glutamate unhealthy or not after all?

I stumbled upon this article after reading some more recent commentary on MSG [0], in which the author wrote:

"There’s no evidence to substantiate the claim that MSG causes ill effects in most people who consume it. A minority of people are hypersensitive to glutamate and MSG in food—added or natural—and in a study where MSG was given at 3 grams, in the absence of food, sensitive individuals had short-term, transient adverse reactions."

[0] https://peterattiamd.com/should-we-still-be-worried-about-ms...

Re: The Strange Case of Dr. Ho Man Kwok (2019)

#20

Dave Chang has a small scene in one of his Ugly Delicious (great show, by the way) episodes where he gets a group of non-Asian Americans, who claim to be MSG-allergic, to come and share their stories of MSG-related symptoms after eating at Chinese restaurants. He then hands out Doritos and American products that the participants claim they love and can eat all day. Hard to see where this is going... he says, all thes…

Glutamate is also developed during low-and-slow cooking that causes the breakdown of connective tissues in meat. I had a roommate that swore up and down that he had an MSG allergy, but also ate the shit out of the smoked BBQ our other roommate and I made all the time. He was also kind of a pothead, so there were lots of Doritos in the house, too.
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