What is monosodium glutamate and should you be afraid of it
Miscellaneous / / April 06, 2021
Actually, this is a natural product.
What is monosodium glutamate
Monosodium glutamateNutrition and healthy eating Is a flavor enhancer that is often added to instant products: noodles, instant soups, chips, canned food. In the Russian Federation, it is known as a food additive E621SanPiN 2.3.2.1293-03. Hygienic requirements for the use of food additives.
What is monosodium glutamate made from?
Chemically monosodium glutamate is a salt of glutamic acidQuestions and Answers on Monosodium glutamate (MSG). This is the name of one of the most important amino acids, of which all proteins are built. Including those that make up our body.
Monosodium glutamate is found naturally in all protein foods, including meat, mushrooms, and dairy products. Especially a lotMonosodium glutamate it in ripe tomatoes, parmesan, meat broths and breast milkPhysiological roles of dietary glutamate signaling via gut - brain axis due to efficient digestion and absorption.
Actually, this food supplement was once obtained from natural products.
In 1908, Ikeda Kikunae, a professor at Imperial University of Tokyo, became interested in what kind of element gives the traditional Japanese dish, seaweed broth, characteristic spicy taste. This substance turned out to be monosodium glutamate. The chemist was able to isolate it from the broth. A year later, he set up a commercial production of the additive, selling it under the name "ajinomoto" (translated from Japanese - "the essence of taste").
Later, scientists have tried many times to synthesize monosodium glutamate artificially. But in the second half of the twentieth century, a simple, cheap and natural method of production was found. Instead of extracting and crystallizing glutamate from broth, they began to obtain it by fermenting starch, sugar beets, and sugar cane.
The same fermentation process is used in the production yoghurt, vinegar, wine. Therefore, E621 is not an artificial food additive, but an absolutely natural product.
Why does it seem so delicious
Monosodium glutamate has not just a piquant, but a very special, basic, desirable taste for our body.
Many people still believe that the human tongue is sensitive to only four types of taste: sweet, salty, sour, and bitter. However, we also have receptors that recognize glutamic acid and its salts. Thanks to them we feelPhysiological roles of dietary glutamate signaling via gut - brain axis due to efficient digestion and absorption fifth taste - umami (this Japanese word means "piquancy").
Umami is a protein food marker. It informs the body that food is high in vital protein (just like the sweet taste indicates high-calorie carbohydrates, and salty indicates the content of critical for life sodium and chlorine). This is why we love foods high in monosodium glutamate so much.
Why is monosodium glutamate dangerous?
Virtually nothing. The American Food and Drug Administration (FDA) unequivocally attributesWhat is MSG? Is it bad for you? monosodium glutamate to safe food additives.
And this is justified. Monosodium glutamate in supplements is no different from a chemical point of viewQuestions and Answers on Monosodium glutamate (MSG) from glutamate, which is present in dietary proteins. The human body processes them in exactly the same way. It doesn't matter if you got this compound from meat broth, cheese, tomatoes or from a package with salted nuts.
Where did the myth that monosodium glutamate is bad for?
The origins of the myth are experiments on laboratory mice and rats. So, in the studyBrain lesions, obesity, and other disturbances in mice treated with monosodium glutamate 1969 newborn mice were injected with significant doses of glutamate. Later it turned out that this caused neurological damage, as well as obesity and infertility in females.
In 2002, another experiment was carried out.A High Dietary Intake of Sodium Glutamate as Flavoring (Ajinomoto) Causes Gross Changes in Retinal Morphology and Function, this time over the rats. Scientists offered the animals a diet for six months, 20% of which was the sodium salt of glutamic acid. Some rodents have this diet led to visual impairment.
However, it is incorrect to apply the results of both studies to humans. First, we do not consume glutamate by injecting it subcutaneously, but in a different way. Secondly, it is simply impossible to eat so much of this compound that it makes up 20% of the daily diet.
Assuming that the average person consumes about 2 kg of food per day, to feel like an experimental rat, he should receive 400 g of monosodium glutamate. By comparison, a typical serving of food supplemented with E621 containsQuestions and Answers on Monosodium glutamate (MSG) approximately 0.5 g of this element.
Does this mean that he is completely safe
No. There are a number of problems associated with MSG indirectly. The main one is overeating.
E621 additive improves the taste of products so much that often we do not feel the proportion. AND can't stopuntil we have eaten the entire packet of chips or a packet of salted nuts. With corresponding consequences for waist size, body weight and related health in general.
The second problem is possible individual sensitivity. The same FDA regularly receives reports of mild adverse reactions to MSG products. Experts from the reputable medical organization Mayo Clinic callNutrition and healthy eating such messages are anecdotal. However, they describe the symptom complex associated with the sodium salt of glutamic acid:
- headache;
- sweating;
- tingling, fever, numbness, which are felt on the skin of the face, lips, neck;
- cardiopalmus;
- nausea;
- drowsiness.
It is assumed that such short-term sensations may occur in people sensitive to monosodium glutamatewho also receiveQuestions and Answers on Monosodium glutamate (MSG) at least 3 g of substance per meal. But it was not possible to find convincing evidence of the connection between E621 and these symptoms.
So there are simple safety rules for this food additive. If after eating chips, instant noodles, sauces and other products that include E621, you feel somehow wrong, just give them up. And in any case, limit the amount of such food, so that you do not accidentally, carried away by the taste of the minds, eat too much.
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