Xref: cantaloupe.srv.cs.cmu.edu misc.consumers:67875 sci.med:59133 rec.food.cooking:65492 sci.environment:29594 Path: cantaloupe.srv.cs.cmu.edu!crabapple.srv.cs.cmu.edu!fs7.ece.cmu.edu!europa.eng.gtefsd.com!howland.reston.ans.net!usc!sdd.hp.com!nigel.msen.com!yale.edu!yale!gumby!wmichgw!x92lee22 From: x92lee22@gw.wmich.edu Newsgroups: misc.consumers,sci.med,rec.food.cooking,sci.environment Subject: Re: Is MSG sensitivity superstition? Message-ID: <1993Apr21.235700.9529@gw.wmich.edu> Date: 21 Apr 93 23:57:00 EST References: <1qi2h1INNr3o@roundup.crhc.uiuc.edu> Organization: Western Michigan University Lines: 33 In article , annick@cortex.physiol.su.oz.au (Annick Ansselin) writes: > In marco@sdf.lonestar.org (Steve Giammarco) writes: > >>> >>>And to add further fuel to the flame war, I read about 20 years ago that >>>the "natural" MSG - extracted from the sources you mention above - does not >>>cause the reported aftereffects; it's only that nasty "artificial" MSG - >>>extracted from coal tar or whatever - that causes Chinese Restaurant >>>Syndrome. I find this pretty hard to believe; has anyone else heard it? > > MSG is mono sodium glutamate, a fairly straight forward compound. If it is > pure, the source should not be a problem. Your comment suggests that > impurities may be the cause. > My experience of MSG effects (as part of a double blind study) was that the > pure stuff caused me some rather severe effects. > >>I was under the (possibly incorrect) assumption that most of the MSG on >>our foods was made from processing sugar beets. Is this not true? Are >>there other sources of MSG? > > Soya bean, fermented cheeses, mushrooms all contain MSG. > >>I am one of those folx who react, sometimes strongly, to MSG. However, >>I also react strongly to sodium chloride (table salt) in excess. Each >>causes different symptoms except for the common one of rapid heartbeat >>and an uncomfortable feeling of pressure in my chest, upper left quadrant. > > The symptoms I had were numbness of jaw muscles in the first instance > followed by the arms then the legs, headache, lethargy and unable to keep > awake. I think it may well affect people differently. Well, I think msg is made from a kind of plant call "tapioca" and not those staff you mentiond above.