# MSG causing brain damage **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 14, 2015, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/msg-causing-brain-damage/722479 "2015-06-14T01:59:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![eulalia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eulalia/32/457_2.png) [@eulalia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eulalia)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2015, 8:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/msg-causing-brain-damage/722479/21 "2015-06-16T08:56:27Z")
> [@eclectic\_wench](#): > > My husband’s had a similar reaction to Chinese restaurant food a few times - short of breath, light-headed, sweaty and clammy. I actually asked here whether anyone had any ideas what could be doing it. But I can’t see it being MSG, in his case. We eat a LOT of tomatoes and tomato sauce, and a lot of Parmesan, and he’s never had any reaction to those. And it can’t be psychosomatic, because he doesn’t believe that MSG has any effect. Do you react to tomatoes or cheese, if you eat a load of them? > > I wonder about Nava’s point about levo versus dextro, but my husband’s only ever had that reaction in good Chinese restaurants. Never with crappy takeaways. I’d expect the good places to use the purer stuff - and to use less of it, the way good non-Chinese restaurants tend to use less salt than crappy fast-food places that need to disguise the lack of flavour. I have occasionally had a reaction to some foods that I finally decided was caused by sulfiting agents or naturally occurring sulfites. It’s never been close to life threatening, just a little shortness of breath, so I haven’t stopped eating anything because of it. Onions, garlic, and soy sauce are all likely to be high in naturally occurring sulfites. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2015, 11:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/msg-causing-brain-damage/722479/22 "2015-06-16T11:41:53Z")
> [@Stravinsk](#): > > Yes, there is some evidence of such: > > That is a quote from: [Excitotoxicity - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Excitotoxicity) > > ``` > Always check references and make your own determinations on whether you think they are valid or have merit. > > Aspartame (Equal,Nutrasweet, Additive 951) is also classed as an excitotoxin, but this description depends on source, as controversy surrounds (largely due to large scale use and profitability of said substance) > > ``` > > Both substances are not found isolated in nature, and as with many things, this does make a difference. I am sorry but some misinformation requires a response. Glutamate, including free glutamate, is found in nature … commonly. We have taste buds that specifically respond to it and several other small molecules (unami). When people are routinely shooting up MSG in large amounts under their skin or directly applying it into their brains the studies quoted will be of interest. Meanwhile the answer to the op is a clear no, there is no evidence that MSG in food causes any brain damage and only anecdotal evidence of rare reactions such as migraines, which could very well be due to other ingredients common to Asian foods since the same people often do not complain that other high free glutamate foods (including potatoes, as already noted) cause such. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2015, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/msg-causing-brain-damage/722479/23 "2015-06-16T12:42:23Z")
From my limited and under-educated point of view, MSG don’t do nothin’ to nobody. Symptoms attributed to MSG are most likely due to something else entirely. Considering half the western world now seems to think gluten is deadly, even though it is only to a vanishingly tiny group, we all seem to leap on the trendy cause-du-jour to explain the weird twinges our bodies kick back at us. Even me. I have been assuming I have gastro-oesophageal reflux disease and IBS based on very limited and ambiguous symptoms. I don’t know nothin’. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2015, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/msg-causing-brain-damage/722479/24 "2015-06-16T13:51:10Z")
> [@Vaevictis](#): > > Thanks! The RE reference in the wiki is a good one. I got taken by how big it is for Romans, did not know about the origin. You might have been right, though. The Greeks seem to have called it something other than _garum_. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2015, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/msg-causing-brain-damage/722479/25 "2015-06-16T16:19:58Z")
For a long time now, my best guess has been that it must be dose-related. I continue to believe that I have unpleasant reactions (described above) to MSG in sufficiently large doses. I don’t have any problem with prepared foods (like canned soup or Hamburger Helper, e.g.) or potatoes or cheese, nor at Chinese restaurants that clearly say “No MSG” on their windows or menus. I have heard that some Chinese restaurants use MSG by the barrelful, whatever that might mean. The implication is that some restaurants shovel in some massive amount of the stuff. I have always figured that it’s this that causes problems for me. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2015, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/msg-causing-brain-damage/722479/26 "2015-06-16T16:34:40Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > For a long time now, my best guess has been that it must be dose-related. > > I continue to believe that I have unpleasant reactions (described above) to MSG in sufficiently large doses. I don’t have any problem with prepared foods (like canned soup or Hamburger Helper, e.g.) or potatoes or cheese, nor at Chinese restaurants that clearly say “No MSG” on their windows or menus. > > I have heard that some Chinese restaurants use MSG by the barrelful, whatever that might mean. The implication is that some restaurants shovel in some massive amount of the stuff. I have always figured that it’s this that causes problems for me. I’d be somewhat surprised. I use MSG fairly regularly in my cooking. It’s a bit like salt in that when you overuse it, it can render a dish inedible, and a little goes a pretty long way. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/msg-causing-brain-damage/722479.md?page=1)