Any other fans of MSG?

Yes, Bought some about 6 years ago after reading an article basically saying all the stuff about it being bad for you is racist BS.

Not sure how else to describe it except to say it increases 'yumminess' levels. And needs to be used with a very light hand - it's not salt! Only thing i didn't like it on was eggs, it made them too flavoursome somehow and they made me feel sick.

Good taste test is tomato juice. Plain tomato juice out of a can. Give a skeptic one taste of it with MSG and one without. I've done this to multiple people, none have chosen the non-MSG sample as being tastier.

In short, magical stuff. Feels like a cheat code.

Seriously?

Yup, I like it. Still remember our can of Accent in the pantry back in the old days.

It’s so fabulous Stevie Nicks has it blown up her asshole.

Yes! Chefs and some individuals with "refined" palates claim they can detect it if too much is used, or when it is combined with similar flavour enhancers, such as yeast extracts, and vegetable extracts. I was turned onto the Ajinomoto brand by a Japanese friend. The firm makes many lovely broth mixes as well... basically flavoured MSG. There's a fish one that's excellent with Asian dishes, a chicken, beef, and shrimp too. They're not easy to find in the States, but you could probably obtain them online.

For those not allergic or sensitive, the MSG is much less sodium overall vs. regular table salt. I've read scary stuff about it being a neurotoxin, but don't believe it, as I'm epileptic, and it has never triggered a seizure. I've gone without for long periods when I've run out, and don't notice fewer seizures either. It really helps most noticeably with vegetables and soups.

I added some to some organic chicken stock I bought. The stock was hearty, clear, full of goodness - but missing something. A little of MSG brought it around.

Had the chicken bones been roasted first would have had more of a richness but inplace of that the MSG worked brilliantly.

OP makes casseroles with Campbell's soup.

That MSG sensitivity issue belongs in the "imaginary diseases" thread, along with gluten intolerance, fibromyalgia, CFS, et. al.

Madison Square Garden? Love it!

On a semi-related note -- have you noticed that there are a lot of new recipes that use miso in unexpected ways? I've seen a chocolate chip cookie recipe with miso paste as the "unexpected" secret ingredient. I guess it adds a saltiness and some umami.

R7 Well, if he does, he certainly wouldn't be the first.

Loved her as Buffy and in I Know What You Did Last Summer. I wonder if those Scooby Doo movies (which I enjoyed too!) hindered her ability to transition to a leading lady in film like Aniston did at the same time. I don't know why we never hear from her these days.

R10 I have NOT noticed that with miso, but have noticed Tahini creeping into brownies, cakes, and cookies. I wouldn't turn down a miso cookie if offered to me, but probably would not go out of my way to bake them.

I'm not quite sure if this is cultural folklore, but my friend told me Ajinomoto Co. invented MSG, so if true, it's the original.

R10 I have NOT noticed that with miso, but have noticed Tahini creeping into brownies, cakes, and cookies. I wouldn't turn down a miso cookie if offered to me, but probably would not go out of my way to bake them.

I'm not quite sure if this is cultural folklore, but my friend told me Ajinomoto Co. invented MSG, so if true, it's the original.

I think I love MSG because I like cheap Chinese food but high-end Chinese restaurants that advertise “no MSG” are usually disappointingly bland.

R15 Yes, it's never quite as good, is it?

R16 Never. I always feel like I’m paying twice as much for something that tastes half as good.

Here are some miso chocolate chip cookies.

And miso caramel cracker cookies.

Is there anything different about the stuff in the bag in OP’s pic & Accent? I still buy Accent in the giant container at Smart & Final.

There's SODIUM in MSG, try not to sprinkle too much of it in your food, you deathfats. And MSG doesn't go well with pork, so no need to dump MSG in your pork dishes.

r20 Accent seasoning contains MSG.

[Quote]Loved her as Buffy and in I Know What You Did Last Summer.

That is SMG, dumbass.

R23, are you new here?

Lab synthesized MSG is not the same as something like soy sauce or miso with naturally occurring chemical. It sucks, and doesn't do your body any favors. Also, I like nuanced flavors---I'm selective in my choice of produce and meat, and don't need the "oomph" that MSG offers.

R24, Yawn, dumbass.

[quote]It sucks, and doesn't do your body any favours.

No studies back this up. The scientifically illiterate are a scourge on humanity.

Public service announcement: Methamphetamine is neurotoxic on serotonergic and dopaminergic neurons, except when you block the action of glutamate (which means that meth might be less neurotoxic when taken with ketamine: not that I would try any combo with meth in it).

Also the model of Alzheimer's disease in mice relies on feeding the little rodents some extra glutamate.

Now enjoy your MSG!

Hell NO, gives me major migraines

PSA forgot the stupid link...

I came of age thinking it was "bad" for you and have never bought any before, but they seem to use it in the test kitchen Bon Appetit videos on YouTube pretty often. I'm curious to try and see how it changes things up.

R10, I use miso in my stuffed mushrooms.

I think nutritional yeast is also a source of MSG. Or at least it has some umami properties. I use it in creamy dips and dressings like ranch and blue cheese.

R23=Aspie

[quote]Public service announcement: Methamphetamine is neurotoxic on serotonergic and dopaminergic neurons, except when you block the action of glutamate (which means that meth might be less neurotoxic when taken with ketamine: not that I would try any combo with meth in it). Also the model of Alzheimer's disease in mice relies on feeding the little rodents some extra glutamate.

Also containing evil, evil, unpure glutamate: plums, grapes, spinach, peas, yeast, mushrooms, seaweed, cheese, garlic, tomatoes, adobo, sazon, miso and soy. Steer babies away from human breast milk too.

R34, Fast-food contains a ton of MSG which is why it's so addictive to so many, and causes others bad stomach reactions. Beware consumers of Popeye's friend chicken sandwiches as well as those who love Taco Bell and McDonald's.

R21, by sodium, do you mean table salt?

It’s just salt 2.0.

I have a Pakastani friend who is an amazing home cook. He said his secret is Chinese Salt. I went to Boston's Chinatown to seek it out but no luck. I asked him again about it and he gave me a bag of white crystals decorated in Chinese characters. In small lettering at the bottom of the bag was "100% monosodium glutamate". It's completely natural and important to the rich umami associated with Asian cooking. "Chinese Food Headaches" are caused by white rice bacterial contamination and not MSG.

-Captain Obvious

When I was in high school a girl asked what cum tasted like. Another girl told her to lick her finger then rub into some MSG.

Absolute. Fucking. Poison.

^You lie!

I was shocked to see it in a Hershey's ice cream product at the convenience store. Hidden in the ingredients as "natural flavor". It's everywhere now. Makes garbage food products taste better than they really are. The MSG studies are hugely manipulated and deceiving.

Love it.

How many of the studies are from the industry lobby though? The headaches and dehydrated some people get after Chinese food are real.

R44 the post-Chinese food headaches are most likely a reaction to soy or fish sauce or contaminated rice.

What is this umami stuff? Sounds chinky.

I use it daily in a lot of the food I prepare.

Bought a big container of ACCENT several years ago at Costco and I'll be damned if I don't use it all!

r8, gluten intolerance is real. Ever spend a full day vomiting and having diarrhea at the same time? All day!

I read somewhere GI might be coming from breeding different grasses with wheat. The different grass species bring proteins we humans cannot digest, hence GI.

Request any of those claiming health effects to link legitimate sources of proof. Randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled studies etc.

Hint: you can't.

[quote]That MSG sensitivity issue belongs in the "imaginary diseases" thread, along with gluten intolerance, fibromyalgia, CFS, et. al.

Tell that to my head. If I eat anything with nitrates or MSG my head explodes to the point that I can't do anything but try to sleep it off. MSG is a well-known, documented trigger for migraines and cluster headaches.

[quote]Glutamic acid functions as a neurotransmitter in your brain. It is an excitatory neurotransmitter, meaning that it stimulates nerve cells in order to relay its signal. Some people claim that MSG leads to excessive glutamate in the brain and excessive stimulation of nerve cells. For this reason, MSG has been labeled an excitotoxin. Fear of MSG dates as far back as 1969, when a study found that injecting large doses of MSG into newborn mice caused harmful neurological effects. Since then, books like Russell Blaylock's "Excitotoxins: The Taste That Kills" have kept this fear of MSG alive.

[quote]It’s true that increased glutamate activity in your brain can cause harm — and that large doses of MSG can raise blood levels of glutamate. In one study, a megadose of MSG increased blood levels by 556%. However, dietary glutamate should have little to no effect on your brain, as it cannot cross the blood-brain barrier in large amounts.

[quote]Overall, there is no compelling evidence that MSG acts as an excitotoxin when consumed in normal amounts.

MSG doesn't adversely affect everyone, but it does cause problems for some folks.

Starting as a child, and continuing for decades, I would periodically experience this triad of badness: headaches + increased heartrate + numb lips when my family ate at restaurants. A few times my chest would get tight and had the sensation of not being able to inhale a satifying breath, but chalked that up to childhood asthma.

As an adult, I stopped eating at many restaurants, assuming poor quality ingredients/prep. It took the elimination of packaged food to stop the symptoms. Prior to this point, flavor enhancers and food preservatives were just another item on the label. There was no internet at that time, so no widespread pro/con info.

After eliminating a list of 7 suspect ingredients one at a time from my meals over 2 years, MSG turned out to be the culprit.

[quote]After eliminating a list of 7 suspect ingredients one at a time from my meals over 2 years, MSG turned out to be the culprit.

This is not a controlled study and is as likely the result of knowing what you eliminated as MSG.

You need to have a blind test done with the help of another person wherein you are given various foods without knowing whether any of them have MSG.

I grew up in an area that had a number of Japanese-Americans, and some were my best friends in high school and college. This was back in the early 70s. When I made popcorn one time they said they used ajinomoto which I tried soon after. I used it for years then started eating popcorn with nothing added and liked it much better.

Don't need a blind test, R53. After reintroducing each one of the suspect ingredients, it was clear MSG was the culprit.

The science says some people are sensitive. Just accept it and move on.

[quote]Don't need a blind test, [R53]. After reintroducing each one of the suspect ingredients, it was clear MSG was the culprit.

LOL - dear god, this is why anti-vaxxers exist and people deny climate change. You do realize that when you reintroduced MSG, you did it with full knowledge and anticipation of symptoms, right? Of course, you had an adverse reaction.

However, I don't really care what you do, so if you want to cut MSG, go right ahead. But, don't pretend you did so based on anything more valid than what Jenny McCarthy bases her opinion on regarding vaccines.

You're a moron R56.

It's possible you have a sensitivity, R57 but R56 is right - your experience is not definitive proof it was the MSG as you will have been aware you were ingesting it and very likely anticipating a reaction. This is normal and all of us would do the same. A blind test would be a way to be sure. Not saying that you should bother, tho. My opinion on the placebo effect is if it works, that's probably good enough for most on an individual basis.

^ Types Asian.

^^^ types like a typical deplorable who mocks what he cannot understand.

If you suffer from IBS or migraines, cut MSG (and all its variants) from your life and you may be shocked at the turnaround. I was.

Not fit for Caucasoid consumption.

R36, Not R21 here, but would like to share some facts... Not all sodium is exactly the same as "table salt". The sodium found in MSG is from Glutamic Acid. Glutamine is an Amino Acid. MSG contains roughly one third the amount of sodium that is in table salt. And to the other pister questioning if the Accent brand is the same, YES. One ingredient products here, is what we're looking at. One could consider the Ajinomoto brand as the original, and Accent as the American "knock-off".

R50, same thing happens to some people with aspartame. The studies say it doesn’t cause headaches, but it does.

You can't buy fast food now that isn't loaded with MSG - among so many other things - but Wendy's was an exception with their regular burgers. I doubt it's still true. Americans have been loaded up on this horrid additive for decades now. It'd be interesting to see what kind of health issues may actually correlate with its use. However, even discussing it negatively gets vigorously stamped down (witness this thread), and few things are more strenuously protected by special interests as is MSG -- we're talking NRA-levels of cynicism and disregard for the public's well being. Why? Because it garbage food taste great. We're pigs for slopping as far as the food industry is concerned. And of course there's no real protection from our "vapor-ware" government.

^ Because it makes garbage*

It makes me sweat, no thanks.

Do you believe your tin foil hat will keep you safe from chemtrails as well, R65?

As with everything, different metabolisms react differently. MSG, l-glutamine, glutamic acid, all fuck me right up in large doses. I can't even consume protein powders and the like because the glutamic acid content turns me into a rage-case. Those claiming that nobody can have a bad reaction to it because they themselves do not are just idiots. They might as well say people who go into anaphylactic shock on peanut exposure are just deluded.

Almost the entirety of Asia has been loaded up on this for longer than N Americans have R65 - including the japanese for the longest time, and they enjoy much better health than Americans in general. I note you still haven't linked any studies...

As for "big MSG" - lol there's no such thing. It's dirt cheap and easy to manufacture.

R68 is either a waddling hog or an Asian princess.

MSG is not tolerated well by many people of European descent, Yoshi.

Yes, those are the only two options, R71.

[quote] Don't need a blind test, [[R53]]. After reintroducing each one of the suspect ingredients, it was clear MSG was the culprit. LOL - dear god, this is why anti-vaxxers exist and people deny climate change. You do realize that when you reintroduced MSG, you did it with full knowledge and anticipation of symptoms, right? Of course, you had an adverse reaction.

However, I don't really care what you do, so if you want to cut MSG, go right ahead. But, don't pretend you did so based on anything more valid than what Jenny McCarthy bases her opinion on regarding vaccines.

R56 You sound reasonable and smart. Are you in the right place? 😜

^^^ sorry, I quoted a quote and it formatted oddly but you get it. You're smart like that.

All the smart kids think MSG is swell!

Who the fuck cares if someone else doesn't eat MSG?

No thanks, it’s only for rice queens

Even traditional restaurants are using MSG now. I ordered beans and greens in an Italian restaurant recently - is there a simpler dish? - and the assholes added it. Splitting headache and nausea - a migraine. No wonder Americans are eating out less. Too much fat, sugar, salt and now motherfucking MSG. Crash and burn, idiots.

This is slightly off- but more on- than off- topic. Nestlé, bought Häagen-Dazs. Gone are the days when you didn't have to read the Häagen-Dazs ingredients. "It's the beginning of end days. I JUST KNOW IT!"

Why do they say it is bad for you?

this cute berliner bear tells you how it is

^ False equivalencies. Phoney arguments.

All the cute kids think MSG is swell!

Interesting to see that German-owned Trader Joe's is doing a good job of keeping MSG out of many of their products. Not so much American chain,, to say the least.

[quote]Why do they say it is bad for you?

You mean besides what multiple people quoted earlier in this thread?

Do you also ask people sitting next to you in movies "what's going on?" or "who's that" even though they've been watching the same movie for the same amount of time as you have?

[QUOTE] ^Yoo rie!

Fixed that for you

MSG is not the same thing as saying someone has fibromyalgia or ME/CFS. If it were like that, then I wouldn't feel tired upon waking up Monday after going to bed early after going out to church on Sundays. Nobody's that tired except your comment.

[quote]Nestlé, bought Häagen-Dazs.

That happened 20 years ago, Rip Van Winkle.

Don't be a cunt r86. Now be a dear and summarize MSG's ill effects for me. Go!

Do your own homework. Go!

Would it have killed you to have at least posted a list or a link r91? Would it? I mean would that have really been so hard? Would it? Why don’t you try to think more of others next time before you post? What's your problem? I mean really, what's your problem?

This is getting old. Eat it if you want.

MSG sucks, and all of the health-conscious Japanese and Koreans I know abhor it.

Everyone knows MSG is a gateway drug

When I was a boy, I got hiccups every time I ate at McDonalds and not because I was eating quickly or not chewing.