In 1968, Dr. Robert Ho Man Kok felt ill after dinner at a Chinese restaurant.
He wrote a letter to a prestigious medical journal detailing his symptoms, wondering if his illness was caused by eating monosodium glutamate, also known as MSG.
Kwok's connection between his headaches and this common spice in American Chinese cuisine was just a fluke.
But his letter would dramatically change the world's relationship with MSG, influencing international panic, biased science, and sensationalist journalism for the next 40 years.
So what is this mysterious spice?
Where does it come from, and is it really bad for you?
What is MSG MSG is a mixture of two common substances.
sodium, which is well established as an essential part of our diet, and glutamate, a very common amino acid found in many plant and animal proteins.
Glutamate plays a key role in our digestion, muscle function and immune system. At the time of Dr. Kwok's letter, it was identified as an important part of our brain chemistry.
Our body produces enough glutamate for all of these processes, but the molecule is also present in our diet. You can taste its sweet taste in foods like mushrooms, cheese, tomatoes and broths.
The pursuit of this rich flavor led to the invention of MSG in 1908.
A Japanese chemist named Dr. Ikeda Kikone was trying to isolate the molecule responsible for a unique taste he called "umami," meaning "pleasant, delicious taste."
Today, umami is recognized as one of the five basic tastes in food science. Each primary flavor is produced by unique molecular mechanisms that cannot be replicated by combining other known flavors.
In the case of umami, this mechanism occurs when we cook or ferment certain foods, breaking down their proteins and releasing amino acids such as glutamate.
But Ikeda found a tasty shortcut to creating this chemical reaction.
By isolating excess glutamates from a bowl of noodle broth and combining them with a flavor enhancer like sodium, he created a condiment that instantly boosts the umami of any dish.
The result of Chinese Restaurant Syndrome was a huge success. By the 1930s, MSG was a kitchen staple in much of Asia. And by the mid-20th century, it could be found in commercial food production worldwide.
So when Dr. Cook's letter was published, there was immediate outrage. Researchers and citizens called for a scientific investigation into the popular additive. On the one hand, it wasn't unreasonable.
The substance had not been tested for toxicity, and its health effects were largely unknown.
However, it's likely that many people weren't responding to a lack of food safety regulation, but rather to the letter's title: "Chinese Restaurant Syndrome."
While MSG was commonly used in a number of foods, many Americans had long-standing prejudices against Asian food customs, deeming them exotic or dangerous.
These stigmas fueled racially biased journalism,
and spread fears that eating at Chinese restaurants could make you sick.
This biased reporting extends to numerous studies on MSG and umami, the results of which were far less conclusive than the headlines suggested.
For example, when a 1969 study found that injecting mice with MSG caused severe damage to their retinas and brains, some news outlets proclaimed that eating MSG could cause brain damage.
Similarly, while some studies have suggested that excess glutamate can lead to problems like Alzheimer's, these conditions were later found to be caused by an internal glutamate imbalance, unrelated to the MSG we eat.
These headlines were not just the product of biased reporters.
In the late 60s and early 70s, many doctors even considered "Chinese restaurant syndrome" a legitimate illness.
Fortunately, today's MSG researchers no longer view the supplement in this discriminatory way. Recent studies have proven the important role of glutamate in our metabolism, and some researchers believe that MSG is a healthy alternative to added fat and sodium.
Others are investigating whether regular MSG consumption may be linked to obesity, and it's possible that binging MSG may cause headaches, chest pains, or heart palpitations for some people.
But for most eaters, a moderate amount of this delicious spice seems like a safe way to make life a little sweeter.
Comments
Post a Comment