I love the umami flavor that Accent (MSG) imparts to food. I put in lots foods, and never get headaches from it. Some folks say that it does gives them headaches, but there’s this:

“Studies have consistently failed to validate claims that MSG causes illness. A 1995 report ordered by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration suggested that some people can get symptoms like headaches or drowsiness from eating three grams or more of MSG on an empty stomach. But since the average adult consumes only 0.55 grams of added MSG per day, the FDA deemed it safe. MSG remains popular in Chinese cuisine and in products like potato chips and salad dressing. MSG’s flavor, umami, is even a taste category with its own tongue receptors (SN: 4/6/02, p. 221).”

www.google.com/amp/s/www.scien...taurant-syndrome/amp

No

No headaches but, lots of smiles Anybody claiming such, you should ask if they eat snack chips, cheese, tomatoes, aged meats like ham and salamis, aged steak, use soy sauce....all have MSG

Both guys, who I respect for their culinary acumen, have covered this subject:

Ask The Food Lab: The Truth About MSG

quote:

One final note: some have hypothesized that when it comes to Chinese restaurants specifically, MSG-rich broths consumed on an empty stomach may be part of the culprit, but there’s also a good possibility that some folks who claim sensitivity to MSG may in fact be experiencing reactions to other ingredients common in Chinese food but not so common in other restaurant cuisine such as the peanut oil frequently used for stir-frying, the shellfish extracts used for flavoring, or herbs like cilantro. As far as I am aware, there is currently no scientific data that would elevate this hypothesis to theory.

Many years ago I dated a girl who suffered chronic asthma attacks. As her asthma worsened over the years her doctors determined that one of her asthma triggers (out of several) was MSG. I distinctly recall us going for Chinese one night and during the movie we caught afterwards she suffered a serious asthma attack and we left the movie early so that I could get her home for her breathing treatment.

Of the headaches she reported to me, and that we both 'suffered' from , I don't recall any of them being MSG related.

I have significant problems with MSG. Mostly it puts me into a high stress state. An example: I eat dinner out three days in a row at a restaurant that unknown to me used MSG. The MSG built up in my system and put me into a fairly extreme fight or flight mode while sleeping. Besides nightmares all night, I clenched and ground my molars with extreme force.

I broke one molar and ended up needing a root canal and crown, all because I ate at a restaurant that used MSG. I eat a clean diet, eat very little junk food. Persons eating a clean diet appear to have a low level of enzymes that break down MSG and other chemicals, so symptoms are greater and last longer than a person who eats junk food.

However I have been sensitive to MSG since a teenager, it has always caused problems. I do experience headaches with MSG, but only due to the associated extreme clenching.

Headaches, nausea, disorientation if I get enough of it - whether I know its present in the food or not. I believe the scientists can't find what they say they can't find, but I know from experience how it affects me.

Yes, mildly, that and an overall feeling of being "hung over" if I have eaten, what I would refer to as, an "MSG bomb". I have made an effort to not eat any or a limited amount of MSG (mainly by cooking at home with fresh products) over the years, so when I do splurge and eat heavily processed foods I can feel it later that evening or the next morning.

But I do understand this could be a "correlation vs causation" issue, more processed foods have more MSG along with other shitty stuff in it, so it could be I am feeling the effects of just eating shitty food, that happens to always have MSG in it.

Although, think of it this way, MSG is a chemical and the FDA gives it a "Generally recognized as safe" rating. That should give you a warm feeling inside.....

No, never had headaches directly related to MSG, but it would be hard to pinpoint since MSG is used in a boatload of foods at the grocery store. I have a small container of Accent in the cabinet, and I use it sometimes in certain stews. I was amused back in the 80s when the anti-MSG fad was in full gear. Idiots actually thought it was a form of poison.

quote:

Originally posted by Southflorida-law:
Although, think of it this way, MSG is a chemical and the FDA gives it a "Generally recognized as safe" rating. That should give you a warm feeling inside.....

MSG is a type of salt. It's naturally occurring amino acid, technically glutamic acid. The synthetic, man-made version has the same molecular structure as the natural type which which you would find in aged cheese, tomatoes, grapes, aged meat, mushrooms and other foods.

While restaurants can be accused of using too much MSG, what most people are reacting to is other ingredients that result in a reaction. The next question is, do claimants react when eating Doritos, Funions or, Ruffles, as they use HUGE amounts of MSG.

I guess not, because I eat the hell outta chips almost every day, and I feel fine.

No issues with MSG here.

People will cling to whatever beliefs they want to hold. MSG is bad, gluten is bad, fat is bad, carbs are bad, roundup causes or does not cause cancer, and worst of all is that mobile homes and high rise condos attract natural disasters. Whether MSG is bad or not does not matter a lick, you will never in a million years convince a MSG hater that it is not bad. Not worth the time to even consider it.

Headaches, yes. The runs, always, about 1 hour after I've eaten food with it in it.

There is no evidence that MSG causes any health problems.

The original source of the belief wasn't even science - it was a surmise, a theory that MSG MAY be a problem proposed in a letter to the New England Journal of Medicine. That line was picked up by popular journalists and took on a life of its own. They reported it as a fact, not a question.

The whole story of that letter is even more funny, as another scientist later claimed he wrote the letter as a prank, but what is actually true is that the claim that the letter was a prank was the prank.
https://www.thisamericanlife.org/668/transcript

But what is absolutely true is that the original source of the rumor didn't even claim that MSG was, in fact harmful. And the research that the misquoting of that letter speculating that MSG may be harmful spawned has shown it is not dangerous and that it causes no symptoms.

Other than making it impossible for me to sleep, it doesn't affect me in any other way.

Nope.

Tummy aches. Mostly from eating too much Chinese food the one or two times a year I get it. I have not noticed any headaches.

quote:

Originally posted by jhe888:
There is no evidence that MSG causes any health problems.

The original source of the belief wasn't even science - it was a surmise, a theory that MSG MAY be a problem proposed in a letter to the New England Journal of Medicine.<snip>

Interesting post jhe.

No issues I can say are a direct result of MSG, but I do find many times when I eat "Chinese" food I feel less than stellar after. Could be other ingredients that don't agree with me or maybe I eat too much which I find easy to do with that cuisine. Given the choice, I'd opt for no MSG and I'd never add it to anything prepared at home.

I was at an IHOP one morning, came to work an hour later and got in an argument with the building's owner. We are both very easy going, and a couple of hours later I realized that the sausages or other food probably had MSG or other neurotoxin, which put me in a high state of fight or flight. After I eat food that has MSG/similar neurotoxin, I do not notice the effect until I start coming down from the "high". I then realize what I had been going through the last few hours.