The seasoning used by every household is said to cause cancer and Alzheimer's disease when eaten? Listen to what Huaxi doctors say!

Recently, with the explosion of "Technology and Hard Work",

Just like the ingredient-obsessed skin care experts, foodies have also become experts in identifying ingredient lists.

No matter whether it is "additives" or the so-called "original ecology", nothing can escape their eyes.

As they were tasting it, some people realized: Hey? How come this MSG that everyone hates is so healthy?

It even became a hot topic! Many people explained for it: You misunderstood me!

But the questions have not disappeared, for example:

“Isn’t MSG a chemically processed product?

Isn’t it said that eating too much MSG will cause hair loss?

Can it also cause cancer, Alzheimer's disease, and infertility?

"Is it true? Dr. Yang Tinghan from the Colorectal Cancer Center of West China Hospital of Sichuan University said: A real kitchen complainer! It's time to re-understand MSG~

The Birth of MSG

Not as low as you think.

The most criticized thing about MSG is that it was not born properly and was not named well. Aren’t all these essences just chemical processed products?

In fact, MSG was created in 1908 when a Japanese professor discovered that kelp soup contained a fifth taste different from the other two flavors, namely umami. So he extracted this umami substance, monosodium glutamate, from kelp, which later became MSG .

Moreover, the extraction process is not the artificial synthesis of "technology and hard work" as everyone imagines, but a fermentation process similar to soy sauce. Although the finished product looks crystal clear, it is not a chemically processed product .

Nowadays, MSG is generally extracted from corn, rice, wheat, etc. It is not an exaggeration to say that it is a natural seasoning.

So how did such a simple condiment become such a hated product?

It dates back to 1968, when a Chinese-American doctor submitted an article to the New England Journal of Medicine, saying that he felt strangely uncomfortable 20 minutes after dining at a Chinese restaurant.

This medical journal published the article (without any data or research to prove it), and people were in a panic. They linked "MSG" and "Chinese restaurants" together and gave it the name "Chinese Restaurant Syndrome".

Chinese restaurants in Chinatown have to put up "NO-MSG" signs to retain customers.

In this way, it takes only one mouth to spread rumors, but it takes a lot of effort to refute them.

Various "alarmist" remarks about MSG were flying around and spread everywhere. As a result, MSG lost its status in the kitchen and became an unpopular condiment.

MSG is a “dangerous rumor”

How wronged is it?

People's misunderstandings about MSG have never diminished. In fact, you only need to do a little research to find that many of the claims are unfounded, such as↓

1

There is a rumor that MSG should be added at the end of cooking.

Is it because heating MSG can cause cancer?

No! When cooking at high temperatures for too long, a small amount of monosodium glutamate will indeed be converted into pyrosodium glutamate, but this proportion is very small, and this substance is safe for the human body. It is not only extremely low in toxicity, but also non-carcinogenic .

When cooking, it is recommended to add MSG before serving. The purpose is to better preserve the flavor of MSG rather than to avoid high temperature causing MSG to become carcinogenic.

2

Will eating too much MSG cause zinc deficiency?

No, there is currently no information showing that monosodium glutamate can cause zinc deficiency, and there is not even any research in this regard.

Many authoritative organizations around the world have conducted various toxicological tests on MSG. So far, no evidence has been found that MSG is harmful to the human body within the normal range of use. In other words, it is safe to consume MSG.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) classifies MSG as a product/ingredient generally recognized as safe .

Moreover, the safe intake is set as: no limit (salt intake should not exceed 5g per day), which means that no matter how much you eat, it will not affect your health.

3

Will eating MSG cause hair loss?

Will you also get Alzheimer's disease and be unable to have children?

No, don't blame others for everything. If you really have this problem, I suggest you go to the hospital for a check-up.

Because of these "alarmist statements", many people now do not add MSG when cooking, but they still actually consume MSG (monosodium glutamate).

Foods in our daily lives, such as tomatoes, fish, mushrooms, shrimps, chicken, etc., contain monosodium glutamate, which is why they are delicious and fresh.

Statistics show that people consume about 10 to 20 grams of monosodium glutamate from food every day, of which less than 10% comes from seasonings.

4

Is chicken stock healthier than MSG?

There is no such saying! In fact, the main raw material of chicken essence is still MSG, which contains about 40%. In addition, there are salt, nucleotides, chicken extract, starch, bulking agents, flavors, pigments, etc.

In other words, MSG is a single monosodium glutamate, while chicken essence is a compound seasoning, but there is no difference between them in essence. The claim that chicken essence is safer and healthier than MSG has no scientific basis .

Not only that, condiments like oyster sauce, cooking wine, vinegar, etc. also contain MSG. As long as you see monosodium glutamate written on the ingredient list, you can bet it is present.

I feel uncomfortable after eating MSG

Maybe it's not MSG's problem

Although Weijing has debunked the "alarmist" rumor, there are still many people who say that it is harmless, but it makes people uncomfortable after eating it!

Many people feel that their mouths are dry and they feel that it is because of too much MSG when they eat out in restaurants or eat takeout.

In fact, this has nothing to do with MSG, it may be caused by excessive intake of "sodium".

Generally, 1 gram of MSG (monosodium glutamate) contains 136 mg of sodium, while 1 gram of salt contains 393 mg of sodium. That is to say, the sodium content of 1 gram of salt is equivalent to that of 3 grams of MSG.

Because MSG is not salty, it is easy to consume too much without noticing, so when dining out, it is more important to ask the chef to use less salt rather than less MSG.

In addition, you need to pay attention to the following aspects when eating MSG in your daily life:

Some people should eat less seasoning

The elderly, people with high blood pressure, kidney disease, edema and other diseases should reduce the intake of MSG and salt, mainly control the intake of sodium;

Some dishes do not use MSG

MSG should not be used in sweet and sour dishes or sour soup dishes.

Sodium glutamate will turn into a tasteless substance with an unpleasant odor in an alkaline solution; in an acidic solution, it has a certain inhibitory effect on sour taste.

The best way to preserve umami

Add MSG just before dishes or soups are served, so as not to destroy the umami flavor of MSG.

MSG is not easy to dissolve. When mixing cold dishes, you can use a small amount of hot water to dissolve the MSG first and then mix it into the dish.

Don't use MSG in some dishes

For example, scrambled eggs, dishes stewed with chicken or seafood, soups, etc., contain a lot of monosodium glutamate. These dishes with good umami taste do not need to be added with MSG (chicken essence is also redundant). Not only is it wasteful, it will also affect the original umami taste.

All in all, I just want to tell you that there is no need to be so wary of MSG, it will not affect our health.

If you want to make your food more delicious, it’s okay to add a little MSG to enhance the flavor. The most important thing is to use less salt!

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Do you add MSG to your cooking now?