Last Updated on 2024-02-05 , 10:14 am
For years, we’ve heard scary things about Monosodium Glutamate, which is also known by its acronym MSG.
But here’s the thing.
Is it truly as harmful as they make it sound…
Or is MSG simply the victim of a serious… prank?
If you prefer to, you can watch this video to the end to understand what the prank is all about:
Too long? Then this 30-second video might help:
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The Lore Behind Monosodium Glutamate (MSG) And Why It’s Considered “Unhealthy”
For starters, it should be noted that MSG is basically a variant of salt that’s used in Asian food, primarily Chinese food.
And though it could admittedly be unhealthy, the basis behind that observation may not necessarily be what you think.
You see, it’s now revealed that back in 1968, a US doctor, Dr Howard Steel, made a bet with his friend:
If he could get an article published in a prestigious journal, he’d get $10.
Legend has it that the two friends often had their meals in a Chinese restaurant, and so, one day, Dr Howard Steel had an inspiration: he would write about Chinese restaurants.
He went on to write an article, instead of a study, and sent it to a journal, and invented the term Chinese-Restaurant Syndrome.
For the record, there’s no such syndrome.
In the article, Dr Steel said that after having a meal in a Chinese restaurant, he would have “numbness in the back of the neck, gradually radiating to both arms and the back, general weakness, and palpitation.”
Since the only extra ingredient was MSG, he suggested that MSG caused the issue, and appealed to other doctors to do more research.
Moreover, Dr Steel used a fake name, Dr Robert Ho Man Kwok, and a fake medical institution, National Biomedical Research Foundation.
The article was eventually published under the title “Chinese-Restaurant Syndrome”. Dr Steel would also win the bet, claiming $10 from his friend.
And with the job done and dusted, he proceeded to call the editor of the journal, saying that it was all a “big fat lie.”
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Monosodium Glutamate (MSG) Myth Debunked
But the editor never responded. And the issue only snowballed from there.
Researchers went on to do various studies on MSG. One of them even injected a lot of MSG into mice and the mice actually suffered brain damage, which led to people thinking that MSG causes hair loss.
But since then, studies have constantly shown that it was a mere myth.
In general, it appears that only high levels of MSG will cause harm, as all salts do. Heck, high levels of anything would cause harm – even high level of exercise or fruits.
Dr Steel kept on trying to contact the publication to retract the article but they didn’t respond.
As such, rumours only grew from strength to strength and pretty soon, the whole Chinese industry has learnt of it. Indeed, some Chinese restaurants still hesitate to use MSG, even till today.
It was only in 2018 that the article was debunked. A professor had decided to do more research on that particular article, only to be contacted by Dr Steel.
The truth was then unveiled fifty years down the road.
And so… the verdict?
MSG is relatively safe, provided you take it in decent amounts.
As the saying goes: “Do anything in moderation.”
Featured Image: TY Lim / Shutterstock.com
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