I’m not sure if they’ll combine in your body, but I think if you cook something that’s high in glutamates (like tomatoes) with salt, like in a classic marinara sauce, the glutamates will combine with the salt to form MSG.
I was kind of happy when I heard about the MSG headache because it explained that weird “band” tightening around my head on occasion. I rarely get any kind of headache, so it’s very noticeable. Only happens when I eat MSG, very brief, and calling it a ‘headache’ is a stretch, but unquestionably a reaction. I don’t get it every time, but just because it’s not universal doesn’t make it bullshit.
If you eat protein containing glutamic acid, it gets broken down in the gut mainly into distinct amino acids but also into some very small peptide chains (di or tri peptide chains), then is absorbed into the bloodstream. That glutamic acid will become a glutamate ion in solution, where it will mostly bond with sodium ions as monosodium glutamate. However there will also be some potassium glutamate, calcium and magnesium glutamates, and even ammonium glutamate. Those all form naturally. That’s how salts work.
Of note, one generally ingests 13 grams of glutamate from proteins every day, but added MSG generally adds about half a gram to that total.
As has been note in this thread double-blind studies were done on MSG causing this and no effect was found.
Maybe they over-salted your food at that restaurant. I dunno.
I wouldn’t call “double blind” as causing no effect.
<ducks & runs>
I should add:
I am not saying you didn’t feel some ill effect after eating at a particular restaurant.
I am saying that it was almost certainly not MSG that caused it.
Maybe it was though but if so you would be unusual in this regard.
You should test this at home and see what happens (a double-blind test ideally).
You know…for science!
So… what is your hypothesis as to the ingredient in (some) Chinese food that can cause that peculiar headache-like feeling?
Probably over-salted.
But that is a complete WAG.
Naw, I’ve never gotten a headache from eating pickles.
Although monosodium glutamate (MSG) is classified as a causative substance of headache in the International Classification of Headache Disorders 3rd edition (ICHD-III beta), there is no literature in which causal relationship between MSG and headache was comprehensively reviewed. We performed systematic review of human studies which include the incidence of headache after an oral administration of MSG. An analysis was made by separating the human studies with MSG administration with or without food, because of the significant difference of kinetics of glutamate between those conditions (Am J Clin Nutr 37:194–200, 1983; J Nutr 130:1002S–1004S, 2000) and there are some papers which report the difference of the manifestation of symptoms after MSG ingestion with or without food (Food Chem Toxicol 31:1019–1035, 1993; J Nutr 125:2891S-2906S, 1995). Of five papers including six studies with food, none showed a significant difference in the incidence of headache except for the female group in one study. SOURCE
In a number of Asian countries, folks eat their eggs on the extremely runny side. And I don’t just mean the yolks, but the whites as well. When I was a kid growing up in the Midwest, runny eggs were just flat out considered underdone and dangerous, no question, full stop. Even though I understand the risk of salmonella is super low these days, particularly outside of the US, when I was served a bowl of “wet” eggs in Singapore, I just couldn’t bring myself to eat it.
There are lots of ingredients in a Chinese restaurant meal that you don’t often encounter other places. Bamboo shoots, water chestnuts, enoki mushrooms, wood ear mushrooms, maitaki mushrooms, sesame oil, jasmine tea, etc. The fish could be borderline old and beginning to form toxins (a recurring problem at a couple restaurants near me that specialize in fish sauerkraut soup). And of course, the dishes are highly salted, and it’s easy to overeat.
My point is that I experienced this reaction before I ever heard about ‘MSG headaches’, it still happens today, happens only when I eat Chinese food (but not every time) and it’s occurred after food from at least 10 different restaurants. Of course, it could be something other than MSG, but the description of MSG headache is exactly what I experience. I’ve thought it might be related to the amount of MSG added since it’s inconsistent. It’s definitely not sodium. Maybe bok choy is the culprit. Whatever it is, it’s an odd sensation.
Maybe where you live it is different but every Chinese restaurant near me (and I live in Chicago a few blocks from China Town) makes a BIG point of NO MSG in their food.
So pervasive has the MSG thing become I am hard pressed to think of any Chinese restaurant that has not given up MSG in their food (occasionally I will see one note that their eggrolls have MSG…and that is it…and they make a point of telling you).
As such, I suspect there is something else (other than MSG) that is affecting you.
I just threw up in my mouth a little.
It’s supposed to be good…
Chopped liver tacos. Better than they sound.
Okay, I just had a culinary “event” - I’m not planning to make it a practice, though if it happens again I’ll respond the same way - that I think can top this entire thread in terms of shamefulness.
The other night I was sautéing a medley of fresh vegetables in olive oil in my cast-iron skillet. I do this often, because one of my favorite go-to dinners is a mess of sautéed vegetables with some beans/meat/tofu thrown in and a handful of herbs and spices, rolled up in a flour tortilla.
I tried to add a few shakes of bacon salt to the pan, but I wasn’t paying attention and instead of opening the flap with salt-shaker holes I flipped up the flap that completely opens it so you can pour it out/put in a measuring spoon. And then without looking at which flap I’d opened, I dumped Bacon Salt into the skillet.
So I accidentally put about 2 tablespoons of bacon salt into the pan. Luckily, it got very clumpy as it mixed with the olive oil, and I was able to save the dish by removing large chunks of insta-fried bacon salt. Dinner tasks proceeded apace.
The thing is, afterward I had a plate in my kitchen with several chunks of crispy fried bacon salt. You know where this is going, don’t you? I must say, they were remarkably good, not unlike a small, very crunchy Cheeto. I’ve often wondered what the proportion of salt, vs other flavors, is in Bacon Salt, as it would help to calibrate the amount added. After eating the crunchy bits, I’m pretty sure that the amount of salt by volume in Bacon Salt is not too high. I mean, I really do like salt, but I wouldn’t enjoy eating a spoonful of it fried. This stuff, on the other hand, was more than just salty. I’m ashamed to say it, but … I liked it.
Oh but I am a monster, my friend.
As I said, my family looks at me in horror.
Along those lines, I think most of us would agree that the best part of a roast chicken is the crispy skin, right? But what to do with the leftover chicken, where the skin has lost its crispiness? I discovered if you peel off the skin and put it under a broiler for a few minutes it re-crispifies. Then you have what basically amounts to chicken-skin chips you can eat as a snack.