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It's the Umami – Why the Truth About MSG is So Easy to Swallow

blogs.smithsonianmag.com

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Re: It's the Umami – Why the Truth About MSG is So Easy to Swallow

#101

Post by wahnfrieden »

gwern wrote: post #71
wahnfrieden wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Off-topic, but in case you're not using British English, please be aware that "oriental" is largely considered pejorative and offensive.

It's funny you flag that, because that was the part I spent the most time pondering how to word. 'Japanese'? No, because it's more Chinese restaurants I think of as being the problem. 'Chinese'? Except, well, the food served there isn't a whole lot like actual Chinese food, I am given to understand, and this problem applies to anyone who uses a lot of rice, so Korean or Thai food seem like they might have problems. '…

Not sure how to help you find a better word without seeing the study itself to know precisely what they observed. For inauthentic Chinese etc. food, there are a number of descriptors - pan-Asian, Asian fusion, Americanized Chinese food, or just a short phrase ("Asian-influenced cuisine catering to Western palate" or whatever). You might've used it in an ironic sense but that's easily lost on readers.

Re: It's the Umami – Why the Truth About MSG is So Easy to Swallow

#102

Post by wahnfrieden »

Daniel_Newby wrote: post #72
wahnfrieden wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Off-topic, but in case you're not using British English, please be aware that "oriental" is largely considered pejorative and offensive.

[citation desired] I'd love to know who dislikes "oriental". And do they like or dislike "occidental"?

Are you interested in who, or why?

Re: It's the Umami – Why the Truth About MSG is So Easy to Swallow

#103

Post by sk5t »

brianleb wrote: post #98
ecopoesis wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The link between sodium and high blood pressure is not conclusive: http://www.todayifoundout.com/index.php/2013/02/why-does-sal...

In short: your blood is mostly water. Your blood is surrounded by a selectively permeable membrane (your vascular tissue). Solutes increase osmotic pressure (see: biology 101). Sodium chloride (table salt) is highly soluble in water (see: chemistry). Therefore, sodium and chloride increase the osmolarity of your blood. Water passes through the semi-permeable membrane back into your blood to decrease osmotic pressure…

This explanation, while straightfoward and common-sensical, ignores the possibility that the body has some ability to eliminate excess solutes and/or excess fluids. Certainly the case is quite good that "more fluid in circulatory system yields higher blood pressure."

Re: It's the Umami – Why the Truth About MSG is So Easy to Swallow

#104

Post by sk5t »

anonymous wrote: post #29
dsrguru wrote: post #7

This article is both accurate and highly misleading. The author is correct that there is very little reliable evidence that links glutamic acid and/or glutamate to health problems. The backlash against MSG as a result of the "Chinese Restaurant Syndrome" craze, was not rooted in scientific inquiry. However, MSG is not just a source for glutamate like seaweed and tomatoes are. MSG is the sodium salt of glutamic acid a…

"Chinese Restaurant Syndrome" is real though. Or rather I personally can't eat most things at chinese restaurants and this article was the first time I heard that this is actually a named thing, i.e. this is the first time I hear of CRS. Though I think it's more to do with the fat they use to fry rice in -- there is one place around here which serves chinese-style stir-fried noodles, but eating there reliably does no…

Maybe you've just eaten at some dirty Chinese restaurants. Can you eat pizza?

http://www.chow.com/food-news/69604/you-re-not-allergic-to-m...

Re: It's the Umami – Why the Truth About MSG is So Easy to Swallow

#105

Post by sk5t »

coldcode wrote: post #89

If you think MSG is fine, try eating a tablespoon of it with nothing else. Then another time try eating a bunch of mushrooms or similar by themselves with a similar quantity. Likely not the same feeling. Digestion and absorption of food changes with how you consume it. Eating a sweet potato or a bunch of sugar doesn't hit the bloodstream the same way. In my teens and twenties I found I got migraine headaches after ea…

This is a weird example... how terrible would you feel after choking down a tablespoon of straight table salt?

Re: It's the Umami – Why the Truth About MSG is So Easy to Swallow

#107

Post by mathattack »

dsrguru wrote: post #7

This article is both accurate and highly misleading. The author is correct that there is very little reliable evidence that links glutamic acid and/or glutamate to health problems. The backlash against MSG as a result of the "Chinese Restaurant Syndrome" craze, was not rooted in scientific inquiry. However, MSG is not just a source for glutamate like seaweed and tomatoes are. MSG is the sodium salt of glutamic acid a…

You hit the nail on the head. For most of us, it's not the MSG that causes the problem. It's what comes with it. For starters it's the sodium. For me it's the 1000 calories in a monster Doritos bag, or the 3000 calories when I eat three times what I should at a Chinese takeout.

Re: It's the Umami – Why the Truth About MSG is So Easy to Swallow

#108

Post by [deleted] »

eropple wrote: post #83
beachstartup wrote: post #58

isn't it interesting that msg "syndrome" is associated with chinese food, rather than japanese, even though japanese food is also loaded down with it? hmm.

I'd venture a guess that Chinese takeout restaurants are probably more common (or have been for longer) than Japanese places.

[deleted]

Re: It's the Umami – Why the Truth About MSG is So Easy to Swallow

#109

Post by sk5t »

djeikyb wrote: post #37
scarmig wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Huh, is this bad? I typically cook enough rice in a rice cooker for two days and leave it out and haven't had any adverse symptoms...

It's considered a dangerous practice. The general rule is food has four hours outside of its proper storage environment before it must be thrown away. Eg, leave the milk on the counter for an hour, put it back in the fridge, leave it out another three hours, and now you should throw it out. I don't have a link, but I'm citing ServSafe, a program that nationally certifies people for food safety (targeted to federal an…

Two hours between 39F-140F is the official limit. This may be a bit conservative depending on one's consitution, gut flora, etc. (I've gone almost 20 years without losing my lunch, eating at hundreds of restaurants from spotless to quite dodgy over that period, so who knows...)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danger_zone_(food_safety)

Re: It's the Umami – Why the Truth About MSG is So Easy to Swallow

#110

Post by philliphaydon »

In New Zealand we were always taught that MSG was bad, until they did an actual study on it and decided that 0.01% of the population has an allergic reaction to MSG that causes Migraines, Vomiting, etc.

Ever since, no one in NZ gives a shit about MSG now. Seems Australia is still really anal about it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monosodium_glutamate

"Australia and New Zealand[edit] Food Standards Australia New Zealand[29] (FSANZ) cites "overwhelming evidence from a large number of scientific studies" to explicitly deny any link between MSG and "serious adverse reactions" or "long-lasting effects", declaring MSG "safe for the general population". It does, however, describe that in less than 1% of the population, sensitive individuals may experience "transient" side effects such as "headache, numbness/tingling, flushing, muscle tightness, and generalised weakness" to a large amount of MSG taken in a single meal. People who consider themselves sensitive to MSG are encouraged to confirm this through an appropriate clinical assessment. Standard 1.2.4 of the Australia and New Zealand Food Standards Code requires the presence of MSG as a food additive to be labeled in packaged foods. The label must bear the food additive class name (e.g., flavour enhancer), followed by either the name of the food additive, MSG or its International Numbering System (INS) number, 621.[30]"

In NZ - no one cares

In Aus - everyones like "ZOMG MSG, BAD FOR YOU" and try to avoid it.

Food in NZ is way better than Australia. (Australians don't know how to cook steak)

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