Wouldn't people who claim glutamate (MSG) allergies immediately die, since it's also a neurotransmitter?
Wouldn't people who claim glutamate (MSG) allergies immediately die, since it's also a neurotransmitter?
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I get that genetically msg is not a problem for a huge amount of the population, but what about someone like me that genuinely has msg reactions that require me to do a time out at restaurants because of body shock loading?
It's no different from Asians that don't process alcohol so well. Some want a time out because genetically they're in a group that might not like alcohol.
How is this hard to understand?
The difference is that glutamate is produced by our bodies naturally. Alcohol (Ethanol) is not. It is literally poison to every human, which is why the liver takes a lot of damage when removing it from your body.
Cool and fun except for people that for whatever reason have a problem with msg, and you're busy telling them it's a made up problem. Being a sufferer I almost believed it until - who should appear - my kid outside the restaurant because of same said problem. We both sat there with our made up food processing problem. Tell yourself whatever - like I care.
Take a skin-prick allergy test and you"ll have proof.
skin prick tests don't work for dietary sensitivities
"Food allergy symptoms are caused by the interaction between a food allergen and an antibody known as IgE (immunoglobulin E). To diagnose a food allergy, your allergist may use a skin prick test (SPT) to measure the presence of IgE antibodies for the suspect food. SPTs are inexpensive, produce immediate results, and can be performed in the doctor’s office."
Source: foodallergy.org
I tried to Google "body shock loading" because I'm unfamiliar with this term, but mostly found articles about going into shock. May I ask what this experience is like for you? What do you feel when exposed to glutamate? Are OTC antiinflammatories/antihistamines an effective treatment for the reaction of do you need some kind of steroid?
Antihistamines sounds like something to try. I do get hayfever, so it might be worth the effort.
It's like a headache pressure without any headache pain, and it loads up all the way down my chest. It can be very crushing in tropical heat, and possibly include headache pain with alcohol consumption. The heaviest moment I've ever suffered was a bit of a knockout pressure. Like concussion.
I'm usually very apologetic about it because you're having a huge reaction to something a proud restaurant prepared.
If I see heavily glazed bok choy I get worried.
That does sound like there's some inflammation going on. It sucks having a rare condition most people will never encounter and, as a result, don't believe is real. Personally I've suffered aphthous ulcers in my mouth my whole life, they're very painful and make it hard to eat or drink. My friends in highschool made fun of me at lunch because they didn't understand how much it hurts. I found some random advice online about 15 years ago, switched toothpaste to a brand without Sodium Lauryl/Laureth Sulfate, and BAM: many fewer ulcers, massive improvement to my quality of life! So, I like to think I understand your plight a bit more than some other commenters here. Good luck!
Do you have such reactions to glutamine rich foods? (Tomatoes, fish, eggs) Msg is also in most processed foods.
If you only have such reaction at restaurants, it’s probably something else.
The initial craze about msg was pure racism and very bad science.
https://www.jandonline.org/article/S2212-2672(21)00068-X/fulltext
There's a lot of Asian pride in telling me it's not msg, and doing studies to prove it's not msg. (Asian pride as described by Asian pride experts of that ethnicity).
However, the horrible fact remains that for some people MSG is proving to be the cause of reactions. The usual source is restaurants using MSG, but just to clarify the matter we find out the hard way when friends get too happy with MSG.
As much as I want to believe in rigorous science I still have to tell you that you're not considering the actual sufferers. It's a reaction akin to getting punched, and I definitely know about it.
It wounds the pride of the occasional restaurant that doesn't really want people to walk out because of a medical problem. I'm sorry about that. I'll look into possible solutions. It's my fault for really enjoying Asia and Asian food.
Again, all of that is really testable. You can even blind test yourself at home.
Any salted meats will naturally form MSG when the glutamic acid binds to sodium. Pretty much all processed foods contain msg even if it was not an additive because it naturally forms on the foods themselves when free glutamate binds to salts. If you had any form of Japanese food cooked with kombu or seaweed, it also had high msg content.
None of this is even unique to Asian foods. Most cheeses are extremely high in msg, especially aged cheeses like Parmesan. Pretty much all savory foods contain some glutamate and glutamic acids.
I would recommend taking a skin-prick allergy test to make sure it isn't anything else causing these symptoms.