The Truth: MSG, Contrary to Popular Belief, Does Not Cause Hair Loss

By
Boon Hun
-

Last Updated on 2024-04-17 , 5:32 pm

We’ve all been told this before by our parents, right?

For a start, instant noodles are unhealthy.

The second thing: If you eat too much MSG, your hair is going to fall off and you’ll end up bald.

If you truly believe that as well, we don’t blame you, because everyone in the office thought so too.

Well, for those of us who love food that tends to be as salty as my boss (which is very), or as the Chinese put it, 重口味, we’ve got some great news for you.

MSG is perfectly safe for makan.

Contrary to the popular myth, MSG does not cause hair loss.

As for how it became a “truth”, that’s because many, many people have been repeating the myths to each other, so much so that it became accepted as the truth, at least on the internet.

Not the first time the internet gets things wrong.

Okay, back to the many, many people? How bad did it get?

Bad enough that Ajinomoto, the Japanese company that manufactures MSG has to put up an FAQ on their website that attempts to clarify the myths behind MSG.

It’s Actually Not That Bad

For such an ‘unhealthy’ ingredient, MSG actually comes equipped with impressive credentials.

  • Classified by the US FDA as a General Recognized as Safe (GRAS) ingredient (safest food ingredient classification in the US)
  • Given a “not specified” label for daily intake by the Joint Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA)1.

Basically, safe enough to eat and eating too much won’t lead to unfortunate side effects.

The ingredient was agreed upon as safe by The Council on Scientific Affairs of the American Medical Association, The Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB) and The Scientific Committee for Food of the commission of the European Communities.

But, other than knowing that MSG might not be as harmful as it seemed, you’ll be shocked to know that having MSG in your food might just be healthier than without.

You can watch this video for more informaiton:

A Healthier Choice?

When one of the writers in the office joined the Health Promotion Board’s (HPB) “Lose To Win™” programme, he was pretty shocked to hear a nutritionist that was brought in by HPB say that in moderation, MSG is healthier to use in food than salt.

Now that is important information since we’re now doing more cooking.

So he went to do a little digging, and this was what he found: People add more salt when cooking in order to make the food more savoury and palatable.

What MSG does is that it can enhance the flavour of the food without adding as much sodium content into the food.

In other words, the same taste but with lesser sodium content. Healthier.

So, the next time someone tells you that MSG is bad for your health and make you go botak, show them this article and tell them it’s not true.

Just make sure to understand what the word ‘moderation‘ means.

Here’s a simplified summary of the South Korea martial law that even a 5-year-old would understand:

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Boon Hun
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