Originally Posted by 565565,Nov 22 2008, 12:56 PM

You totally misunderstand. It's not a matter of whether I like it or not. It's a matter of it being scientifically true or not.

I'm not saying people don't feel sick, I'm sure they do after Chinese food. Hell I do most of the time. It's just not due to the MSG itself. Ignoring the real reason why these people are sick is the biggest mistake you can make.

The person who stated he was allergic to MSG is obviously mistaken. It is biologically impossible to be allergic to MSG (will explain below). Now does that not mean he doesn't feel like shit after Chinese food? No I'm sure he does. But I'm just as sure it's not due to an allergic reaction to the MSG. There are probably a million and a half reasons to feel sick after Chinese food, considering all the rest of the preservatives in the food, the high sodium content, high fat content, poor hygene, the list goes on and on and on. Then there is the placebo effect working in opposite. I can give someone a pill that does absolutely nothing and tell them it will help with this or that, and a HUGE percentage of the population will HONESTLY report they feel alot better. People who haven't worked in the drug industry seriously underestimate how huge this placebo effect is. Often times many popular drugs only offer effects marginally better than placebo, which means the majority of the curative effect you are enjoying is indeed the placebo effect. Are they lying about what they are feeling? No. Do they truly feel these beneficial effects? Yes. Is there any scientific truth to this effect? Of course not. The reverse obviously works as well. If you go into a Chinese resturant thinking their might be MSG, chances are you are going to feel bad. You can buy pure crystaline MSG at certain places. Chances are if I laced your food with it and didn't tell you, you probably wouldn't know the difference. And if I told you a Chinese dish was filled with MSG and it was actually MSG free, you'd would probably still have headaches.

How do I know the person who claims to be allergic to MSG is obviously mistaken? For a number of very clear reasons.

First is that MSG is simply not big enough of a molecule to illict an immune response. The allergic response is due to IgE antibodies produced against a certain antigen (foregin molecules). These IgE antibodies are produced by Plasma Cells (activated B cells) and then become attached to Mast cells in your tissues. When the antigen binds to several IgE's on the surface of your Mast cells, these Mast cells degranulate, releasing histamines and heparin into the tissues. This causes the inflammation and discomfort you feel during an allergic reaction. Now as it turns out there is a lower limit on the size of the molecule that the IgE antibodies can specifically bind to. The smallest antigens that can illict an immune response need a molecular weight of close to 10,000 or so. The molecular weight of Glutamic Acid (MSG) is just 147. Basically the Glutamic acid amino acid is just too small to bind specifically to the variable regions of the antibody.

Now that alone makes it impossible to have an allergic immune response to free Glutamic acid. Even if I knew nothing about Glutamic acid but its size, I could confidently tell you that you can never make an immune response to it. It is simply not biochemically possible. Now sometimes small compounds (though still not quite as small as a single amino acid) can serve as a hapten and start an immune response when bound to a larger carrier protein. Even if this was the case, he could not be having an allergy to Glutamic acid. It is a shame the person who claimed to be having an allergic reaction to Glutamic acid didn't read any of the previous posts because he would learn that Glutamic acid is one of the major amino acids in protein. It is highly abundant in all foods containing protein, and responsible for the savory taste of meat. If he was having a reaction to Glutamic acid (which is impossible as previously stated due to the size), he would have an overwhelming reaction every time he eats meat.

Now say that he's never eaten meat or Glutamic acid in his entire life. Even then he'll not mount an immune reaction to Glutamic (if it were hypothetically possible). This is because Glutamic acid is a non essential amino acid manufactured and used in many tissues. It serves as an important neurotransmitter in nervous tissue. He could not survive if he was making antibodies against Glutamic acid as he'll be attacking his own tissues left and right.

So okay alot of people feel ill after eating Chinese food. Instead of fixating on MSG, people should be looking to the real reasons. It could be just as simple as common sense, (very high sodium, high fat, high protein, high preservative, all served not exactly fresh). Those who think they are reacting to MSG have no idea what MSG actually is. It's just a common amino acid that is a large component of all protein containing foods that gives protein it's distinctive flavor.

I don't feel too great after most Chinese buffets either, but I know it's not the MSG. Remember that any resturant that uses MSG is trying to artificially add back fresh meat taste to something. That means whatever they are trying to flavor with MSG probably wasn't too fresh or wholesome to start with.

The point is that we must educate the public on how to properly take care of their health instead of having them avoid trendy buzz words they don't undestand, like MSG, or Trans Fat.

Originally Posted by Terror,Nov 23 2008, 12:33 PM

It makes me sleepy.