From Simply Heavenly - on MSG

[Guest guest]

Again an interesting passage which is not intended to convert anyone

dead set against MSG, but I do find that MSG does give me a sense of

mental clarity. Again, I posted this passage on my blog

(http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?

fuseaction=blog.view & friendID=26883157 & blogID=53614339 & Mytoken=799A36

D5-D644-44EC-B1039736020D1C2F2597783078) for a version that

preserves author Burke's emphasises:

 

 

Now here is something really important. A vegan friend of ours with

a Doctorate in chemistry provided the following information:

 

" MSG is a flavor enhancing food product made from gluten, usually

wheat gluten. The gluten is simply hydrolized with hot, dilute

hydrochloric acid, about in the same concentration as stomach acid.

After digestion is complete, the gluten has been broken down into it

main amino acid component, glutamic acid, whereupon the glutamic

acid is simply neutralized with baking soda, filtered, and

crystalized from the solution by slow evaporation.

 

" Monosodium glutamate is a natural food product, but a number of

people react badly to it mainly because they are sensitive to wheat

gluten and while they may not react to wheat all the time, the

highly soluble MSG gets into the bloodstream very rapidly and causes

them problems.

 

" To most adults, MSG acts as a brain nutrient and actually improves

brain function such as concentration and memory. However, babies are

not adults and their systems usually cannot handle glutamates, and

soluble glutamates may cause brain lesions in severe cases. Of

course all mothers know babies should not be fed wheat products

until after the first year, so they should be doubly careful of

soluble wheat derivatives such as MSG.

 

" And all this goes without saying that for some people the sodium

part must cause this food to be used somewhat sparingly. "

 

So people with MSG problems should find out if they might actually

have a problem with wheat gluten itself.

 

Our friend who wrote us the above was intrigued as to how oriental

people can eat so much MSG and have no problems at all – actually be

in better health than most of us in the West. His investigations

revealed that even infants are not harmed by it unless they are also

being fed adulterated foods. The combination with the adulterants

produce an allergy which persists into adulthood and causes them to

experience " Chinese restaurant syndrome. " So the culprit is not MSG

but the adulteration of our food!

 

Our experience has carried his research one step further. When we

used dairy products we, too, would sometimes get " MSG hangovers "

after eating in a oriental restaurant. But after becoming vegans we

never had any such reactions. In fact we eat more oriental food than

before, since we are safe. Apparently animal protein of any kind –

including that from eggs and milk – is considered an adulterant by

the body and causes an allergic reaction when MSG meets any residue

of it in the body of the eater.