Exciting: How Ginger Counteracts MSG Damage, Reverses Toxicity

Have you heard of MSG? It’s often added to food, and is quite controversial. While steering clear of MSG is the best way to protect yourself from its potential damage, one study works to answer an interesting question: does ginger counteract MSG? The research indicates ginger may be able to protect you, even reversing damage that has already happened.

MSG, or monosodium glutamate, is a form of glutamic acid, a common amino acid, that when isolated and added to foods, can lead to what is known as the ‘MSG symptom complex.’ This complex includes symptoms like headaches, sweating, and nausea. It is known as an excitotoxin and is able to literally excite your cells to death.

MSG is found in a variety of processed foods as a flavor enhancer, sometimes listed under different names so as not to scare off customers: names such as yeast extract, hydrolyzed vegetable protein, whey protein, autolyzed yeast, and yeast food.

How Ginger Comes into Play

Ginger, on the other hand, is a healing food that’s easy to find and even easier to use. It has antifungal, antiviral and antibacterial properties. The health benefits of ginger are already undeniable, but now that research shows how ginger can counteract the damage from MSG, the benefit of this root reach even further.

For the study, researchers injected rats with an MSG solution for 30 days, noting extreme withdrawal afterwards and a related decrease in epinephrine, norepinephrine, dopamine, and serotonin—all crucial neurotransmitter compounds in the brain.

The researchers followed this regimen with 30 days of ginger root extract. In that time, they completely reversed the damage done by the MSG, restoring neurotransmitter depletion and the brain damage. Further, the benefits of ginger continued after the researchers stopped administering it.

Published in the Pakistan Journal of Biological Sciences, they concluded by saying, “we can say that the ginger extract has a neuroprotective role against monosodium glutamate toxicity effect.” This is good news, as it shows ginger’s ability to protect brain cells by combatting glutamate induced neurotoxicity.

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Another study investigated the potential of natural products like ginger and propolis in reversing the harmful effects of monosodium glutamate (MSG) on the brain in male rats.

The group treated with ginger showed a remarkable reversal of the harmful effects sparked by MSG. Ginger treatment led to a suppression of 8-OHdG and β-amyloid accumulation and normalized neurotransmitter levels.

Histological examination also indicated reduced neurodegeneration in the brain tissue. Propolis, on the other hand, showed a modest inhibition of neurodegenerative markers.

The study concluded that both ginger and propolis exhibit neuroprotective properties against MSG-induced brain damage, likely due to their rich polyphenolic content.

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Like so many other controversial food additives, MSG has a spot on the FDA’s Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS) list due in part to the agency’s lack of oversight and seeming lack of care on food additives.

One study in 2008 published in the Journal of Autoimmunity linked MSG consumption with central obesity, type 2 diabetes, significant inflammation, and liver damage. Those researchers said, “we suggest that MSG should have its safety profile re-examined and be potentially withdrawn from the food chain.”

While ambitious, a re-examination of MSG and its toxic effects probably won’t happen anytime soon. At least until that time, there is hope that avoidance and a diet supplemented with ginger can protect the brain from MSG damage.

Maybe people who read food labels have had it right all along.