MSG makes food so tasty, so why shouldn't we eat it?
Dietitian warns monosodium glutamate can trigger headaches, flushing, sweating, numbness, palpitations, chest pain, nausea, even mood changes
Can eating food with MSG cause headaches?
The straight answer: Yes
The facts: Many people avoid the flavour enhancer MSG, or monosodium glutamate, because they react negatively to it, citing headaches and other physical discomforts after eating any food containing it. As it turns out, there is a good reason behind these complaints.
According to Charmain Tan, registered dietitian at Seventeen Nutrition Consultants, MSG does indeed have the potential to cause headaches.
MSG is a kind of salt, a salt of the amino acid called glutamic acid. Glutamate imparts a unique taste to foods. Japanese professor Kikunae Ikeda, who discovered MSG, described it as umami, or the fifth taste after sweet, salty, sour and bitter. This taste is also often described as savoury, or xian wei in Chinese.
Glutamate is naturally abundant in almost all foods, such as tomatoes, potatoes, mushrooms, Parmesan cheese, and even breast milk.
Tan says that there are two forms for glutamate – “free” glutamate that is not bound to proteins, and “bound” glutamate. The former is the one that plays a role in the flavour-enhancing effects of food, the one that tastes umami. Foods with high levels of free glutamate include Parmesan cheese, ripe tomatoes and mushrooms. Protein-rich foods such as meat, poultry, fish and dairy products contain bound glutamate.
MSG does cause something that’s known as ‘Chinese restaurant syndrome’. Most complaints include headaches, flushing, sweating, numbness ...
When stabilised with ordinary salt, glutamate is called monosodium glutamate. This can be purchased in packets or tins in stores. MSG is commonly used in the food industry as a flavour enhancer with an umami taste, and to intensify the savour of food.