On Mon, 5 Sep 2016, sf wrote:

> On Mon, 05 Sep 2016 22:27:41 -0500, "cshenk" > wrote:
>
>> Ophelia wrote in rec.food.cooking:
>>
>>> "Cindy Hamilton" wrote in message
>>> ...
>>>
>>>
>>> Autolyzed yeast extract is just their quaint way of hiding
>>> monosodium glutamate.
>>>
>>> Cindy Hamilton
>>> ==========
>>>
>>> Why is monosodium glutamate despised here so much? I use it,
>>> although in minute amounts, and I it would be good to know what the
>>> big problem is.
>>
>> Many reasons Ophelia but most based on thinking MSG is bad for you.
>> Used properly, MSG is used to replace salt as it's a lower sodium item
>> and doesnt make you want to salt the food. You use it in pinches for
>> that. With reasonable use you can reduce your sodium intake by 40%.
>>
>> Most popular is to complain of MSG in chinese food but studies to date
>> have shown severely low levels of reaction to MSG, but instead people
>> not used to that cuisine, reacting to iodine (seaweed and shellfish)
>> and other shellfish components. It became popular to blame MSG in the
>> late 90's and the pervasive idea continues today. There are no
>> scientifically made studies that show any MSG reaction among the
>> populace once they rule out the more likely items like shellfish and
>> derivatives from those.
>>
> Back in the days when MSG got a bad reputation, food "intolerances"
> were virtually unknown. Overdo it and you get a headache, at least
> that was my exSIL's symptom. I suppose there are different symptoms,
> but that's what happened to her and she could point to eating Chinese
> food. She cooked a lot of Chinese food at home too, so she was able
> to narrow it down to using MSG or not. I don't need MSG or salt for
> that matter. Soy sauce provides enough salt for me.
>

I do know that MSG can be a trigger ingredient for people who suffer from
certain types of migraines.