slb@drutx.UUCP (Sue Brezden) (02/17/86)
>I don't remember the article or issue, but I remember that Prevention >magazine had an article on MSG in the past couple of years. The gist >of it (as I interpreted it) was that MSG causes extensive brain damage >in laboratory animals in relatively low quantities (not like the >sacharrin). >Jeff Offutt I rather doubt that information for the simple fact that much Japanese cooking (IN JAPAN) uses massive quantities of MSG. Either MSG acts quite differently in a Japanese body, or they aren't really creaming us in the marketplace like we think they are. (Note: I know people who have reactions to MSG. I don't. It appears to be an individual thing.) -- Sue Brezden ihnp4!drutx!slb ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Nirvana? That's a place where the powers that be and their friends hang out. --Zonker Harris ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
strickln@ihlpa.UUCP (Stricklen) (02/17/86)
> (Note: I know people who have reactions to MSG. I don't. It appears > to be an individual thing.) In articles I have read, the percentage of the general public which reacts adversely to MSG is under ten percent. Steve Stricklen AT&T Bell Laboratories ihnp4!ihlpa!strickln
reza@ihuxn.UUCP (Reza Taheri) (02/19/86)
> > (Note: I know people who have reactions to MSG. I don't. It appears > > to be an individual thing.) > > In articles I have read, the percentage of the general public which reacts > adversely to MSG is under ten percent. > > Steve Stricklen Is it really that high? You would think that the government (or the big, bad, government, if you'd prefer) would step in and do something (from requiring informing the customers to even banning MSG) if the affected percentage was anywhere near ten, or even as high a couple of percent. H. Reza Taheri ...!ihnp4!ihuxn!reza (312)-979-7473
ark@alice.UucP (Andrew Koenig) (02/19/86)
>> In articles I have read, the percentage of the general public which reacts >> adversely to MSG is under ten percent. >> >> Steve Stricklen > > Is it really that high? You would think that the government (or the big, > bad, government, if you'd prefer) would step in and do something (from > requiring informing the customers to even banning MSG) if the affected > percentage was anywhere near ten, or even as high a couple of percent. > > H. Reza Taheri I read a long article in Science magazine several years ago about MSG. Very briefly: Almost everyone will develop symptoms after ingesting enough MSG. Almost no one is harmed by it, aside from the discomfort associated with the symptoms. In all the cases they examined, there was only one case of demonstrable harm -- they found an epileptic in whom MSG would induce seizures. On the other hand, they found another epileptic in whom MSG would prevent seizures. MSG has been in wide-spread use for a century or so. There is no evidence of long-term ill effects. Of course, there may be new evidence since then.
dave@cylixd.UUCP (Dave Kirby) (02/21/86)
I heard (I think from a previous discussion on MSG in net.med) that MSG occurs naturally in some foods, such as mushrooms. Or is it only poisonous ones? :-) ----------------------------------------------------------------- Dave Kirby ( ...!ihnp4!akgua!cylixd!dave)
user@apollo.uucp (A. Random User) (02/26/86)
>> In articles I have read, the percentage of the general public which reacts >> adversely to MSG is under ten percent. >> > Is it really that high? You would think that the government ... Reaction to MSG is not a binary event but rather a tolerance to a certian level. This was apparent to me after a visit to a Chinese resturant in Tucson Az. I had never had any trouble with MSG but on this occasion my wife and I were both experiencing an unpleasent dizziness, tightness in our chests, rapid pulse rate, etc. At about this time a couple at a nearby table complained to the waiter about the same symptoms that we were having. After checking with the cook it became apparent that the soup had twice the amount of MSG normally used. We did not finish our dinners and after about an hour we were feeling better and by the next morning everything was fine. Neither of us have any trouble with MSG since, although we avoid it when we can. -- Ken Faubel {yale,uw-beaver,decvax!wanginst}!apollo!faubel Apollo Computer