file.newsgroup.med.58781 Maven / Gradle / Ivy
From: [email protected] (Doug Bank)
Subject: Re: Is MSG sensitivity superstition?
In article <[email protected]>, [email protected] (David Thomas) writes:
|> [email protected] (CLAIRE) writes:
|> >>Is there such a thing as MSG (monosodium glutamate) sensitivity?
|> >>I saw in the NY Times Sunday that scientists have testified before
|> >>an FDA advisory panel that complaints about MSG sensitivity are
|> >>superstition. Anybody here have experience to the contrary?
|> >>
|> >>I'm old enough to remember that the issue has come up at least
|> >>a couple of times since the 1960s. Then it was called the
|> >>"Chinese restaurant syndrome" because Chinese cuisine has
|> >>always used it.
|> So far, I've seen about a dozen posts of anecdotal evidence, but
|> no facts. I suspect there is a strong psychological effect at
|> work here. Does anyone have results from a scientific study
|> using double-blind trials?
Here is another anecdotal story. I am a picky eater and never wanted to
try chinese food, however, I finally tried some in order to please a
girl I was seeing at the time. I had never heard of Chinese restaurant
syndrome. A group of us went to the restaurant and all shared 6 different
dishes. It didn't taste great, but I decided it wasn't so bad. We went
home and went to bed early. I woke up at 2 AM and puked my guts outs.
I threw up for so long that (I'm not kidding) I pulled a muscle in
my tongue. Dry heaves and everything. No one else got sick, and I'm
not allergic to anything that I know of.
Suffice to say that I wont go into a chinese restaurant unless I am
physically threatened. The smell of the food makes me ill (and that *is*
a psycholgical reaction). When I have been dragged in to suffer
through beef and broccoli without any sauces, I insist on no MSG.
I haven't gotten sick yet.
--
Doug Bank Private Systems Division
[email protected] Motorola Communications Sector
[email protected] Schaumburg, Illinois
[email protected] 708-576-8207