goodlife

An additive that does not promote a good life or enjoyable food is MSG (monosodium glutamate). Everyone is aware that MSG can be harmful to your health in excessive amounts. Did you know, however, that MSG appears in other forms in the processed foods you eat? Those of you who love the Colonel’s fried chicken need to think twice about eating it, since KFC is a major MSG offender. Of course, the company won’t blatantly say that MSG is a major component of their ingredients; the term that would be used would be the free amino acid glutamate, which sounds much more benign that MSG, right? The thing is, virtually all the foods found in fast food establishments and restaurants will have some form of MSG. One good rule of thumb is that saltier foods are more likely to have higher amounts of MSG. For most people, this isn’t detrimental to their health, but for those who are especially sensitive to it or are asthmatic it can cause some problems.

I can tolerate small amounts of MSG, and I know this because my husband and I will eat at a Cambodian restaurant in Long Beach, CA and I won’t suffer any symptoms, but my husband knows immediately if there’s too much. Symptoms include numbness in the back of the neck and arms, a burning sensation in your chest, tightness around your face, difficulty breathing, and many others that are listed on MSGtruth.org . I’ve experienced the symptoms once when we were at a wedding, and I never want to feel that way again. I remember my body feeling very hot, as if I had the flu, and the back of my neck and along my shoulders ached. I couldn’t enjoy the food, and from then on I vowed that I’d be more careful with food outside of our home.

The simplest solution is to make all your own food and to use products that are salt-free, such as Mrs. Dash instead of Lawry’s seasoning blend. Make sure to read the labels as well because any word that you either can’t pronounce or there’s too much science mumbo jumbo in it is cause for suspicion. To improve the world, I’ve tried to get my family members to avoid using MSG. I’m happy to say that my mom (who is an excellent cook) has given up the habit of using MSG for the traditional dishes that she cooks (my husband is quite pleased by that since he’s always begging her to make Ktieu, aka “pho.” And before I go, I wanted to include a list of MSG’s other names so that you have more information at your disposal.

The Infamous List, which I obtained from MSGtruth:

In Japan, MSG is labeled as アミノ酸  or Ajinomoto
In China, MSG = wie jing
In the Phillipines,  MSG = Vetsin
In Thailand, MSG = phong churot
In Germany, MSG = Natriumglutaminat
In Europe - MSG = E621,  but avoid E620-625  as they also contain glutamate
In the US - “umami”, MSG, glutamate, free glutamic acid

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