# How do you feel about MSG? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 1, 2011, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-feel-about-msg/598277 "2011-10-01T20:51:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Elret](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Elret](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elret)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2011, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-feel-about-msg/598277/1 "2011-10-01T20:51:13Z")
Just curious about the intimate details of your relationship with MSG. Me personally, I do like how it makes food taste, but I don’t like how it makes me feel and I don’t think it’s good for me, so I avoid it. But man, it’s in a ton of stuff! How about you? ---
**Author:** ![audiobottle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bc8723/32.png) [@audiobottle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/audiobottle)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2011, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-feel-about-msg/598277/2 "2011-10-01T20:55:27Z")
I think it’s delicious. I’ve never had any adverse reactions to it, so I suppose that helps, but MSG in the ingredients has never turned me off of eating something. ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2011, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-feel-about-msg/598277/3 "2011-10-01T20:59:14Z")
I like it fine, and will use it when I think of it. 9/10 people I’ve known claiming sensitivity to it are the same hypochondriac trend-followers allergic to all the other headline-making stuff too. ---
**Author:** ![Ellen\_Cherry](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellen_cherry/32/3600_2.png) [@Ellen\_Cherry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellen_Cherry)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2011, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-feel-about-msg/598277/4 "2011-10-01T21:04:22Z")
Moving thread from IMHO to Cafe Society. ---
**Author:** ![Elret](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Elret](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elret)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2011, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-feel-about-msg/598277/5 "2011-10-01T21:20:54Z")
Sorry about that. I thought polls went in IMHO and didn’t even think about the fact that it was food-related. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2011, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-feel-about-msg/598277/6 "2011-10-01T21:21:07Z")
From [UpToDate.com](http://UpToDate.com), a respected medical resource and subscription website: > [@](#): > > Monosodium glutamate symptom complex — MSG (monosodium glutamate) is a nonessential dicarboxylic amino acid that is a normal constituent of food protein. MSG is added to food as a flavor enhancer, particularly in Asian food. MSG has been implicated in causing a variety of symptoms, which typically appear one to 14 hours later. These reactions are occasionally mistaken for allergic or anaphylactic reactions. > > Reported non-allergic symptoms following MSG ingestion include headache, myalgia, backache, neck pain, nausea, diaphoresis, tingling, flushing, palpitations, and chest heaviness [86]. Children have been reported with shivering, chills, irritability, screaming, and delirium. This array of symptoms is known as the MSG symptom complex. The mechanism of these reactions has been proposed to involve an exaggerated sensitivity to this compound, which is metabolized after ingestion to glutamate, a major excitatory amino acid neurotransmitter. > > The MSG symptom complex has not been reproduced in controlled challenges, and symptoms were not consistently inducable in 130 patients who were self-identified as sensitive to MSG and challenged in a double blind manner. Those patients who inconsistently experienced symptoms most often did so only when MSG was ingested in quantities larger than those that would be encountered in a normal diet, and without accompanying food [87]. Thus, MSG is currently regarded as a safe food additive [28,88]. Still, a patient suffering from these symptoms who believes that MSG is the cause can be advised to avoid foods containing added MSG, since this is relatively simple to do. Such patients should particularly avoid liquid foods (such as wonton soup), from which high levels of MSG can be rapidly absorbed. I loves me some MSG personally. ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2011, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-feel-about-msg/598277/7 "2011-10-01T21:41:06Z")
MSG tastes like magic. I’ve never experienced any adverse effects whatsoever. I’d eat it by the fist-full. ---
**Author:** ![Swords\_to\_Plowshares](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b38774/32.png) [@Swords\_to\_Plowshares](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Swords_to_Plowshares)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2011, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-feel-about-msg/598277/8 "2011-10-01T21:41:22Z")
I have looked at the science and concluded that there is nothing wrong with MSG. I mean, it’s just sodium and glutamic acid, which is found in just about all foods we eat. The studies have shown that any alleged reactions to MSG are just all in one’s head. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2011, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-feel-about-msg/598277/9 "2011-10-01T21:50:47Z")
It is one of the most well known sports arenas in the world. For sports like boxing and wrestling it’s considered something of a mecca. I haven’t noticed the food there tastes particularly different, but like most food at sports venues, it’s not the best quality stuff. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2011, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-feel-about-msg/598277/10 "2011-10-01T21:57:29Z")
Ever notice that the folks who refuse to eat at Chinese restaurants because of the MSG don’t have any problem with KFC? ---
**Author:** ![Jaledin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Jaledin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jaledin)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2011, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-feel-about-msg/598277/11 "2011-10-01T22:19:50Z")
I love aged cheeses, tomatoes, and lots of other things with free glutamates. Therefore, I love love that shit, bring it on, beyatch! ETA if I had my ideal pantry, I’d buy a bucket of that…what do they call it…the “MSG” powder…shit, can’t remember it’s name, just to have around, but I guess I’m a hoarder of glutamates by choice. Excel? Extra? Can’t remember. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2011, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-feel-about-msg/598277/12 "2011-10-01T22:26:33Z")
Accent. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2011, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-feel-about-msg/598277/13 "2011-10-01T22:35:43Z")
Without MSG I’m nothing If you know what I’m talking about without googling, know that I love you. ---
**Author:** ![amanset](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8dc957/32.png) [@amanset](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amanset)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2011, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-feel-about-msg/598277/14 "2011-10-01T22:37:13Z")
I’ve always wondered if all these people that go crazy all the MSG in Chinese food also go crazy when Parmesan is put on their Italian food. ---
**Author:** ![China\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@China\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/China_Guy)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2011, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-feel-about-msg/598277/15 "2011-10-01T22:40:45Z")
It has a nasty taste and I avoid it like the plague. Not sure if it is “bad” for you but I sure don’t like the taste in my food. ---
**Author:** ![Doug\_K](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5ac83/32.png) [@Doug\_K](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doug_K)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2011, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-feel-about-msg/598277/16 "2011-10-01T22:46:16Z")
I think Michael Schenker’s a pretty good guitar player, but hair metal wears thin after awhile. I don’t see any harmful effects, though. What? That’s not what you meant? ---
**Author:** ![Moonlitherial](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4bbf92/32.png) [@Moonlitherial](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moonlitherial)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2011, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-feel-about-msg/598277/17 "2011-10-01T23:03:45Z")
I worry about it only when eating with a friend who is allergic. ---
**Author:** ![Brown\_Eyed\_Girl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/brown_eyed_girl/32/3574_2.png) [@Brown\_Eyed\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brown_Eyed_Girl)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2011, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-feel-about-msg/598277/18 "2011-10-01T23:13:06Z")
I think it’s as bad for me as too much salt and I don’t see a reason for it in properly spiced and flavored cuisine. It’s a sign of a lousy cook, IMHO. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2011, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-feel-about-msg/598277/19 "2011-10-01T23:51:23Z")
> [@China\_Guy](#): > > It has a nasty taste and I avoid it like the plague. Not sure if it is “bad” for you but I sure don’t like the taste in my food. :eek: :eek: Greatest discordancy between name and post content I’ve seen in a while… 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Jaledin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Jaledin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jaledin)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2011, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-feel-about-msg/598277/20 "2011-10-02T00:10:12Z")
Judas Priest. Who’s is going to debunk Steingarten in his (apparently) well-researched article on this topic? I think it’s collected in _The Man Who Ate Everything_ but my sister won’t give me back my copy. Such ignorance to fight, and so few calories and flavor from good, good umami and such, or whatever. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-feel-about-msg/598277.md?page=2)