The article is amazing from beginning to end. But then you have to read the bio afterwards. It absolutely does remind one of Forrest Gump.
The Strange Case of Dr. Ho Man Kwok (2019)
91–100 of 373 posts
Re: The Strange Case of Dr. Ho Man Kwok (2019)
#92Earlier quoted context omitted.
There’s a long history of racism against Chinese immigrants in America. Among the only jobs they were allowed to have was having restaurants. Of course this led to rumours of Chinese restaurant being dirty and their MSG causing sickness. It’s a very long history and it’s well documented. While you’re at it, read on the Chinese exclusion act. And now you’re saying that people who call this racism for what is is are th…
So does COVID-19 not exist because someone called it Chinese Flu? The phenomenon can exist despite the racist connotations.
MSG sensitivity has never been shown to be true in a replicable clinical environment in humans. The few studies that have shown this to cause symptoms use extremely large doses of MSG that aren't used in food (for one thing, the dosages involved would be unpalatable even for those without the symptoms; overseasoning is generally unpleasant)
Re: The Strange Case of Dr. Ho Man Kwok (2019)
#93Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yep! I remember being taught it was something "shifty" Chinese people do to their food to make it taste better as a sort of dishonest competitive trick, at the cost of the health of their customers. I was told so many ethnic groups were "shifty" like this compared to the "moral" white majority. I think growing up in the USA means being exposed to a lot of different kinds of racisms and "otherings." Its incredible how…
> I remember being taught it was something "shifty" Chinese people do to their food to make it taste better as a sort of dishonest competitive trick, at the cost of the health of their customers. Yeah the MSG thing is clearly racism. But to be fair pretty much every Chinese takeout places uses white rice by default and charges an extra dollar for brown rice, which makes the food taste better at the cost of the health…
Outside of Thai, I think most restaurants charge more for brown rice.
Re: The Strange Case of Dr. Ho Man Kwok (2019)
#94This article is very long and having skimmed it I'm still not entirely sure: is monosodium glutamate unhealthy or not after all?
> MSG is a naturally occurring food substance, with a distinctive savory taste known by Japanese as umami. “It’s a chemical the same way water is a chemical,” said LeMesurier, who is herself of Korean descent, raised by white parents. “If you have ever eaten aged cheese or heirloom tomatoes, you’ve eaten MSG.” Its powdered form was created in 1908 by a chemist in Japan, and it made its way with Chinese immigrants to…
> Multiple studies using placebos have shown no difference in effects on people eating food with or without MSG.
Do you realize how many non-celiacs claim glutten intolerance? The existence of a fad does not preclude the existence of a condition.
Re: The Strange Case of Dr. Ho Man Kwok (2019)
#95Earlier quoted context omitted.
"Invoking racism and gender discrimination when it’s not the reason, causes more racism" So, wait, you're saying if someone who's not a racist gets called a racist that's going to be enough to turn him in to a racist? If that's all it took they were probably racist to begin with.
All humans are racist to one degree or another.
That racism is "natural" and that "everyone's racist" are common (false) claims among racists, who try to use them as excuses for their own racism.
Re: The Strange Case of Dr. Ho Man Kwok (2019)
#96Earlier quoted context omitted.
I wish people stopped invoking racism everywhere, when plain "being misinformed" explains things just fine. Millions of Koreans swear up and down that MSG is bad for health. Are we also being racist? (Against whom?)
Bro, Asian on Asian racism is like way higher than western racism towards that region. I’m almost positive Koreans think they are better than Chinese, and the Chinese think they are better than Koreans, and they both low key hate Japan’s uppityness (Of course the Japanese consider them ‘less than’, we can certainly throw in some historical advantage taking to add flame to this). This is like a age old tale in almost…
As Korean, yes there’s plenty of racism of Asians vs Asians. My aunts in Korea were terrified of Chinese people when they were kids because there were always rumors of them kidnapping kids etc.
There’s a lot of anger across Asia for Mainland Chinese these days. Practically all countries look down on Mainland Chinese, even those in Hong Kong does too. They think Mainland Chinese are dirty and loud and obnoxious because as tourists they are very obnoxious.
Koreans have general hate towards Japanese because of the war, but prefer Japanese to Chinese and all other Asians are looked down on, like Vietnamese, Philippines, etc.
Re: The Strange Case of Dr. Ho Man Kwok (2019)
#97Dave 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 wish people stopped invoking racism everywhere, when plain "being misinformed" explains things just fine. Millions of Koreans swear up and down that MSG is bad for health. Are we also being racist? (Against whom?)
Yep, from the article:
"... a disturbing undercurrent of racism that seemed to blame the unsavoriness of Chinese food"
You can't be racist towards food. Chinese people aren't the only people capable of cooking food originally consumed and prepared in China. If you don't like Chinese food and find it unsavoury, no normal person would think you're a racist. This whole "red under the bed" approach to racism is getting out of hand.
Re: The Strange Case of Dr. Ho Man Kwok (2019)
#98Earlier quoted context omitted.
I wish people stopped invoking racism everywhere, when plain "being misinformed" explains things just fine. Millions of Koreans swear up and down that MSG is bad for health. Are we also being racist? (Against whom?)
Are they for different reasons? What is the reason Koreans think it's bad for health? As I haven't read about that. Given that in the west it was also dubbed "Chinese Restaurant Syndrome" I would think some form of prejudice played a part.
Maybe in America. Not "the West", certainly not in the part of the West I live in - I have never heard this very racist terminology.
Re: The Strange Case of Dr. Ho Man Kwok (2019)
#99Earlier 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.
Actually we do have a lower bound for the MSG dose that will negatively affect 50% of the population. But that dose is about six times higher than the normally-served dose. The fine article mentions that.
Some people have a lower tolerance than "most people", for any given chemical, MSG included.
Re: The Strange Case of Dr. Ho Man Kwok (2019)
#100I suspect that there is some truth the the "Chinese-restaurant syndrome" beyond the racism of the times. Chinese food contains much soy sauce and other fermented ingredients. These foods contain yeasts which are naturally inflammatory via multiple innate immune system pathways. MSG is even produced via fermentation but is probably more devoid of yeast and bacterial cell wall polysaccharides than other ingredients. Inflammation is most probably the cause of these mysterious headaches that are reported.