Monosodium glutamate makes food taste better. I have used it a lot over the years because it brings out the flavors in foods, especially chinese food. Some people say it makes them sick but I am not sure how that can be as it is just salt/amino acid chain which is found in all foods just not bound chemically together. It has never made me sick in any way. Not many restaurants or processed foods use it anymore because people complained that it caused water retention, allergies, high blood pressure and whatever else they could think of. I think, after having used it for years in large quanties, that it is perfectly safe to use. It is just sodium and glutamate (an amino acid that the body uses in protein synthesis)
I think it is a personal choice for the user to decide if he or she wants to include it in his or her diet.
Hi. I have to disagree with the above poster. If I have MSG in any amount then my heart beats faster, I can't sleep, my breathing goes really short. I gues not everyone is the same and different things affect different people. There are a large number of people who can't tolerate it. Thankfully, more and more products are becoming available without MSG.
Thanks for the info. I've went to various Chinese restaurant places recently, and all of them had the words 'No MSG' listed on their menu. So there must be enough people that are negatively affected by MSG, or there wouldn't be so many food places, food products, etc. that have stopped using it. I was surprised to see that a Progresso canned soup I had the other day had MSG listed as as ingredient in it. I don't know why food companies have to add so much artifical flavors, colors, additives and other junk to their food products.
