Chefs are talking about MSG. They’re writing recipes using it. They have even written cookbooks, such as Salt, Sugar, MSG, with it in the title! Start Here, by Sohla El-Waylly, even won a James Beard award. And chefs are proud about using MSG! No wonder – chefs are all about flavor, so MSG is often in recipes alongside garlic, soy sauce, and spices.
Of course, registered dietitian-nutritionists and anyone with knowledge of credible science has been talking positively about MSG ever since consumers started unnecessarily fearing it over 50 years ago.
That’s when a simple letter to the editor of the New England Journal of Medicine was published in 1969, from a doctor noting anecdotally about symptoms such as headaches and dizziness after he’d eaten meals on a few occasions. Of several possibilities he’d posed as reasons for the symptoms, it was having eaten food with MSG that stuck the landing, going “viral” long before the Internet even existed. There have been rumors that a surgeon submitted a letter about made-up symptoms, just to see if the letter would get published, but this was never proven. The news media, loving a sensational headline, helped it along. A commonly eaten food or cuisine that could now make you sick is a guaranteed headline – even if it’s untrue. Put kids in the story, and it leads.
Suddenly, Chinese food, in which MSG had long been an ingredient, was demonized. Chinese restaurants rapidly reformulated their menus and posted “NO MSG” signs everywhere. “Chinese restaurant syndrome” (CRS) was a topic of conversation and became the “in” condition.
Reality Bites
Researchers didn’t always understand the reason behind CRS (more on that later) but it was fairly easy to test out. MSG could be obtained from a supermarket spice aisle. No deaths from CRS have ever been reported, so testing risk was minimal – if there actually was any risk from MSG.
The kicker: study after study showed no link between MSG and CRS. None. Even double-blind, placebo-controlled studies using high doses of MSG showed nothing. These types of studies prevent the researcher as well as the subject from knowing whether they’re getting the MSG or the placebo until after the study is completed, eliminating bias from either side.
How Could They Find Nothing?
If you know the science of MSG, it’s not surprising at all. Some simple facts:
- There are only 2 components to MSG: sodium and glutamate.
- Sodium is something you know – table salt is sodium chloride, with one molecule of sodium, one of chloride.
- Glutamate is a “non-essential” amino acid. Amino acids are the building blocks of proteins. Glutamate is “non-essential” because your body makes it! It’s true. And your body makes a lot more glutamate every day than you’d ever possibly be able to eat.
- Glutamate is the dominant amino acid in the gut. Indeed, most glutamate never gets past the gut. Even research studies that feed ridiculous amounts of glutamate have found that plasma levels remain steady. Don’t take my word for it – check out the studies yourself in the MSGFacts Science Center.
How Registered Dietitians View MSG: An Opportunity!
Besides, my colleagues and I also see MSG as a vehicle for increasing – through more flavor – people’s intakes of vegetables and foods they need more of in healthier diets.
That’s right. Here’s why:
MSG can be a means of amping up the flavor of the foods we want people to eat more of – especially vegetables.
If I chose 10 random people out of a crowd and wagered that they are not getting enough vegetables on a daily basis, I’d be right 90% of the time. Veggies are an entire food group for a reason – they’re unique nutrition powerhouses of fiber, vitamins, minerals and a slew of phytonutrients (plant compounds that cut your risk for chronic diseases). If their bennies could be packed into a pill, everyone would clamor for it. All they really need to do is eat this delicious food group.
All veggies are good, and there’s life beyond broccoli and kale, although they’re excellent, too. Registered dietitians don’t care which veggies you eat – just pick your faves and eat them every day. Fresh, frozen (just as good as fresh), canned or dried all count. Add in beans (they’re actually a veggie, too!), lentils, and nuts, and you can see what I mean: You’re already eating glutamate naturally present in food. Parmesan cheese? Loaded with glutamate!
Italian food? Impossible without high-glutamate foods. Indeed, a lasagna with tomato sauce, mushrooms, eggplant and parmesan is a virtual umami bomb of flavor.
Spoiler: glutamate is intrinsic (naturally present) to so many veggies – from tomatoes, to mushrooms, eggplant, edamame, and many more. Italian and pretty much all Asian cuisines would be lost without it.
Maybe nature figured it out long ago – make healthy food delicious, and people will eat more of it. Good advice!
MSG: A Salt that Reduces Your Sodium Intake
Sounds odd, but it’s true. Here’s the deal:
- Gram-for-gram, MSG has 62% LESS sodium than regular salt.
- MSG hikes up umami flavor, so you need less.
- Use a 50/50 mix of regular salt and MSG, and you’ll still lower sodium by 26%.
You don’t want to just use MSG, but combining it with regular salt is ideal – and over time, you may feel you need to add less salt overall (my personal experience).
And remember: MSG isn’t a new ingredient! It’s been flavoring food – SAFELY – for over 100 years. Its main ingredient, glutamate, is so safe it’s MADE BY OUR BODIES! And made in huge amounts daily, far more than you’d ever get from any use of MSG.
The Internet is absolutely loaded with nutrition myths and misinformation. If you want FACTS about MSG, go where they live all the time: www.MSGfacts.com.
