28 Comments

  1. Kurt A Mueller says:

    If you heard that MSG is bad for you, you’ve been lied to. It’s based on bad science, and the ‘fact’ of MSG being bad is at the level of an urban legend.

    The only real risk of MSG is that it’s too tasty, which is the amusing point of this article, even if the author didn’t intend it.

    1. MSG &
      Aspartate Damage Brain Hypothalamus

      Following A Single Low Level Dose

      Journal: Nature, Vol. 227, August 8, 1970

      Microscopic photograph above-left shows
      normal appearance of brain area hypothalmus (arcuate nucleus). Photograph at right
      shows same area after exposure to MSG at 1 g/kg. White areas are dead brain cells resulting from the MSG exposure.

      This study was conducted to determine the
      threshold levels for causing observable damage to the brain after MSG
      and Aspartate exposure.

      The food additives were given to a group of 75 infant mice starting
      at what is considered “very low” human exposure levels” of .25-.50 g/kg (grams of MSG per
      kilogram of animal body weight). Exposure levels continued upwards to 2 g/kg. In each case only a single
      dose of the compound was given. Five hours after MSG and Aspartate treatment
      each animal was anaesthetized and examinations were performed on the brain cells
      within the hypothalamus using a light microscope.

      The results demonstrated that only
      the very lowest MSG exposure level of
      .25 g/kg – had no observable effect upon the brain
      cells. However, animals receiving doses beginning at .5 g/kg of body weight (considered a normal human dose), did in fact show observable cell damage in this area of the brain. Results of all exposures are listed below:

      .5 g/kg dose

      Of the twenty-three animals given MSG doses of .5 g/kg

      12 (52%) suffered hypothalamic damage in the area known as the arcuate nucleus.

      .75 g/kg dose
      Of the sixteen animals given doses of .75 g/kg

      13 (81%) showed cellular damage

      1 g/kg dose

      Of the nineteen animals given doses of 1 g/kg

      All 19 (100%) showed cellular damage

      2 g/kg dose

      Of the seven animals given doses of 2 g/kg,

      All 7 (100%) demonstrated cellular damage to the arcuate nucleus.

      It was found that MSG and Aspartate can
      combine their damage potential when test animals were fed 0.5 g/kg of each
      compound simultaneously. In this scenario, they developed the same amount of hypothalamic damage
      characteristically seen in animals treated with either agent at 1 g/kg.

      Dr. John W. Olney

      Washington University School of Medicine

      St. Louis, Missouri

      Chem-Tox Comment:

      This important observation
      demonstrates a serious flaw in current neurotoxicology testing as
      current methods require only one chemical at a time to be tested for
      neurotoxic potential. For example, a level of .25 g/kg of MSG does
      appears to be safe. This is also true for .25 g/kg of Aspertate.
      However, if these two identical amounts are exosed to test animals
      simultaneously, it is likely that effects could in fact be seen. Add to
      this the other hundreds of petroleum based food additives, colors, and
      flavors we are exposed to simultaneiously and the potential for highly
      significant neurotoxic effects becomes readily apparent.

      Infant Seizures Improve After MSG Removal

      Journal: Federation Proceedings 1(11);2205-2212 (1976)

      A child experiencing “innumerable
      seizures” at 6 months of age showed dramatic improvements after removal of
      MSG from the child’s diet. The case history, reported by Dr. L. Reif-Lehrer of
      Harvard Medical School in the journal Federal Proceedings, showed the child did
      not respond to dilantin treatment but had symptoms “completely alleviated by a diet that excluded exogenously
      added glutamate.”

      The child’s first seizures began at 6 months
      of age on October 14, 1971. For the next four months the child’s seizures
      continued even with treatment using dilantin, mysoline and pyridoxine. At 9
      months of age the child was experiencing 100 or more seizures per day.

      The following medical bibliography lists
      chronologically

      the events observed from removal of MSG from the child’s diet:

      February 15,
      1972

      Physicians removed all MSG foods

      from the child’s diet

      February 20,
      1972

      (Age 10.5 mo.)

      No seizures for past 3 days, first free period since onset.

      Reduction of anticonvulsants begun

      March 20, 1972

      (Age 11.5 mo.)

      Off all anticonvulsants.

      No seizures.

      May 10, 1972

      (Age 13 mo.)

      Attacks 2-3 hr after surreptitious ingestion of pizza

      (“Snitched” from the refrigerator with the help of an older brother).

      August, 1972

      (Age 17 mo.)

      Several attacks after ingestion of family hog, locally prepared sausage
      later found to contain MSG.

      February, 1973

      (Age 2.0 years)

      No attacks for 7 months.

      August, 1973

      (Age 2.5 years)

      Deliberate trial of a spaghetti dinner with

      commercially prepared sauce containing MSG.

      Seizures within 3 hours, the first seizure in 12 months.

      February, 1974

      (Age 3.0 years)

      Diet-watch continues.

      No attacks since spaghetti trial in August 1973.

      The child’s physician, Dr. M. G. Stemmermann,
      M.D., noted there were still no attacks as of September, 1975, except after
      annual test trials with an “MSG meal.”

      Commenting on this case, Dr. Reif-Lehrer
      states,

      “The case of the child with shudders
      (seizures), as well as some of the symptoms reported in a questionnaire study in our
      laboratory indicates a very wide spectrum of sensitivity toward MSG and
      suggests that perhaps some individuals should avoid exogenously added MSG. In
      some individuals, glutamate (or some other chemical that results from
      glutamate ingestion) may be getting through the blood-brain barrier, or, e.g.,
      to certain areas of the hypothalamus, and may result in undesirable
      effects….. One wonders, particularly in countries where the per capita
      consumption of MSG is high, if there is any possibility that any subtle
      nervous disorders or unexplained retinal pathology could be due to cumulative
      effects of MSG in individuals with pre-existing abnormalities that may make
      them more susceptible.”

      Dr. Liane Reif-Lehrer,

      Department of Ophthalmology, Harvard Medical School

      Department of Connective
      Tissue Research

      Boston Biomedical Research Institute

      Brain Damage in Primates Evident

      5 Hours After MSG Ingestion

      Brain lesions were found in 6 rhesus infant monkeys exposed
      to varying levels of a single MSG dose. Researchers at the Departments of
      Psychiatry and Pediatrics at the Washington University School of Medicine
      conducted the study with rhesus monkeys because of hypotheses from other
      researchers stating that susceptibility to MSG induced brain damage may be
      limited to sub-primates (mice, rats, rabbits, etc.)

      A subcommittee of nutritional experts
      appointed by the Food Protection Committee of the National Academy of Sciences
      (NAS) declared MSG to be a safe food additive requiring no regulation. The
      nutritional experts did admit susceptibility of infant rodents to brain damage
      from orally administered MSG at even the low doses of 1 gram per kilogram body
      weight (g/kg) but reasoned that the primate infant was most likely not at risk
      to MSG brain damage because it had a more mature central nervous system and more
      highly developed blood brain barrier at birth.

      However, this theory did not hold true when
      tested by Dr. John Olney and colleagues at the Department of Psychiatry and
      Pediatrics at Washington University School of Medicine. Here, the researchers
      exposed 6 infant rhesus monkeys to a single MSG dose ranging from 1 to 4 g/kg
      and were compared to 3 control monkeys exposed in the same manner to sodium salt
      (table salt). The researchers found that all MSG exposed monkeys developed
      damage to the brain area known as the infundibular region of the hypothalamus
      (this corresponds to the arcuate nucleus hypothalamus area in mice).

      Results of Dr. Olney’s study:

      Infant Monkey A

      Treated with 2.6 g/kg MSG via
      injection on the first day of birth. A lesion developed in the hypothalamus
      that was quite conspicuous as early as 3 hours following treatment.

      Infant Monkey B

      received the same dose as the first infant but
      was seven days old. Its lesion was slightly smaller in terms of the percentage
      of the hypothalamus.

      Infant Monkey C

      received the smallest 1 g/kg dose orally and
      showed degeneration of about 50 neurons in the hypothalamus.

      Infant Monkey D

      received a 2 g/kg oral dose and showed
      degeneration of about 80 neurons in the hypothalamus.

      Infant Monkey E

      received the highest 4 g/kg dose orally and
      showed degeneration of about 90 neurons. Infant E also experienced vomiting
      which decreased the amount of MSG absorbed into the system.

      Infant Monkey I

      The sixth infant
      monkey to receive an MSG dose (labeled infant I) received 4 g/kg via injection
      and developed severe reactions including cyanosis, vomiting and convulsions.

      In concluding remarks, Dr. Olney
      states,

      “Our data do not support the view that
      only subprimates(i.e mice & rats) are
      susceptible to MSG-induced neurotoxicity. The lesions in our primate infants
      A, B and I following relatively high subcutaneous doses of MSG were so similar
      to those consistently observed in mice treated with high doses of MSG that it
      seems unrealistic to deny primate susceptibility to the MSG effect. Since
      lesions we detected in infants treated orally with lower doses were also
      similar in localization and identical in cytopathological detail to those we
      routinely find in infant mice treated orally with low doses of MSG, a causal
      link between low oral doses of MSG and necrosis (damage) of neurons in the infant primate hypothalamus also seems likely.
      However, since the lesions in these infants were quite small, careful
      consideration should be given to possible explanations other than MSG

      1. Kurt A Mueller says:

        Looks like I can’t reply with links to the many studies that refute the FORTY YEAR OLD study you just copied in its entirety because of naturesocietie’s moderation rules, so I’ll just say that was one of the many discredited studies, and more recent studies have shown that MSG doesn’t even cause nausea in normal doses, let alone brain lesions.

        For more information you can look at FASEB’s report from the 90s, or more recent studies, and ignore the junk science from decades ago.

        1. No thanks! You can eat.

          1. Kurt A Mueller says:

            I did just today, so did millions of others.

        2. You can put in the links by saying “name dot com.” But MSG’s bad effects are well known to scientists and to MSG’s unfortunate victims.

    2. Billy Bee says:

      LOL, if MSG is good for me, then why am I having 5 bowel movements after I eat Chinese food?

      1. Kurt A Mueller says:

        Correlation is not causation. Those types of reports are common, but studies have not been able to link that to MSG.

        1. Billy Bee says:

          Well unless Chinese restaurants are putting powdered laxatives in their food, my conclusion is fact in my mind that it’s the MSG’s in Chinese food that gives me the craps.

          1. Kurt A Mueller says:

            Then you also have to accept the fact that the scientific evidence doesn’t support your conclusion. Furthermore, ‘the runs’ are not even on the list of supposed MSG sensitivity symptoms… If you really want to believe in unicorns and urban myths no one can stop you, I guess.

            MSG is just 60 percent salt and naturally occurring amino acids. It’s naturally in tomatoes and many cheeses, so unless those things also give you stomach problems, then you’re experiencing a placebo effect because you’ve convinced yourself it’s bad, or it’s something completely unrelated in the Chinese food you’ve been eating.

            If it was really true then the millions of people who eat MSG around the world on a daily basis would be having a pretty horrible time of it.

          2. Billy Bee says:

            Scientific Evidence? Science is more corrupt than politics. Science is too busy promoting itself as truth when science can’t even cure cancer or desalinate ocean water.

            By the way Mueller, excellent regurgitation on the Wikipedia entry on MSG’s. It’s hilariously amusing that your information is stuff you found online and that you’re defending a position using Wikipedia as your source.

            With your logic, all of Asia should be able to drink milk without stomach discomfort because Europe and North America drinks milk.

            Bottom line, I eat something with a lot of MSG’s, and I pay for it. No myth or unicorn. And I share this information with people who might be in similar situations so it might help them find a cause for their grief.

          3. Kurt A Mueller says:

            “Science is more corrupt than politics.”

            Stopped reading there. I don’t even know where to begin to unravel that level of willful ignorance, so I won’t bother trying.

            If you can’t accept basic facts and science then there can be no honest discussion.

          4. Billy Bee says:

            Oh I’m honest. Unlike you, I don’t follow the gospel according to Wikipedia……..

          5. Kurt A Mueller says:

            Wikipedia? You don’t even realize you’re arguing with fallacies and nothing more. No, the fact that recent studies have disproven your subjective observations is why those same studies appear on Wikipedia, those studies aren’t disproven because someone put them on a reference website.

            But you don’t believe in science, so there can be no honest discussion. You’ll always just trust your feelings and ignore all evidence to the contrary.

            This will be my last reply, and I don’t think I’ll bother reading any more from a science denier.

          6. Billy Bee says:

            Thank God, oh yeah, I’m one of those unintelligent yokels who have faith in a higher power.

          7. gay marriage supporters are also science deniers.

        2. LOL. Correlation is not causation, but where there is causation, there is ALWAYS correlation.

          How much do the MSG folks pay you per post?

          1. Billy Bee says:

            no doubt, if he’s getting paid to reread the Wikipedia entry on MSG’s then I’m in the wrong business =)

          2. Chuckle. Problem is, you’re too ethical to do that!

            Thanks, btw, for noting the Asian lactose intolerance. Likewise, Americans are generally intolerant to our favorite breakfast beverage – orange juice.

      2. hummingbird says:

        Should be thankful.

        1. Billy Bee says:

          I guess some people would be, for me it’s a very abnormal side effect.

  2. The official, no-kidding, really-for-sure, government-mandated LABELS list MSG as an excipient in some vaccines. Does your doctor tell you about this before you get vaccinated? No? Then you haven’t given informed consent.

  3. To Natural Society’s general editor: You have a very willing and well-informed audience. Please do not treat us as children who must be teased, cajoled, coaxed, and duped into doing what’s ‘good’ for us. I.e., instead of saying “this ingredient” in the email subject line and in the article teaser, say “MSG.” Our time is valuable and, for some of us, very limited. We need to determine quickly whether the article’s content is relevant to our current needs. Thank you.

  4. hummingbird says:

    I love MSG. It is in all instant soups.

  5. Ridd Ance says:

    I couldn’t care less what “scientific” or political “evidence” deems MSG “safe” to eat. It got me terribly sick until I removed it completely from what I eat. No more Chinese food, no more “natural flavor” in my diet, only salt and pepper.

    The worst thing about MSG is that many people react to it with a substantial delay, 24 to 48 hours AFTER eating, which makes it very difficult to connect as cause of the symptoms.

    Now the Food Industry person will respond to me with disproving “evidence.”

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *