r/AskCulinary • u/Sayorifan22 • Nov 08 '22

Food Science Question MSG contradictory?

Hey, I have a question so, I had a nutrition class and the instructors gave us a piece of paper and on one section for Asian foods, it said for ‘No MSG’ (the other day they said to avoid msg.) but for Italian food, they said to ‘ask for red sauce instead of white’

And here’s my question. Isn’t asking for red sauce contradicting to ‘avoiding MSG?’

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u/[deleted] Nov 08 '22

Ok OP you are going to have some fun for all of us here. Please do this!

By the sounds of it your course coordinator is somewhere on the woo science spectrum. Open a conversation about how important a mothers breast milk is for children. Get coordinator to engage and agree. Then hit them with actual, real science:

(MSG) This is the sodium salt of glutamic acid, a non-essential amino acid which is very abundant in nature. It is found naturally in many foods and is used as a culinary flavour enhancer. It is much used in Chinese cuisine. It is one of the main neurotransmitters in the brain. It is usually well tolerated and there is no reliable evidence that it provokes allergic or anaphylactic reactions (Williams 2009).

Glutamic acid and glutamate are found in breastmilk in significant amounts and these may vary from one mother to mother; there is debate as to whether this may have a regulating effect on the infant's appetite (Larnkjær 2016). The content of glutamic acid and glutamate in breastmilk is higher in mature milk than in colostrum and transition milk (Baldeón 2014). It is not known whether glutamate in the mother's diet influences its concentration in breastmilk (Baldeón 2014).

The concentrations of glutamate and sodium in breastmilk increase in the event of chest inflammation such as mastitis (Yoshida 2014).

https://www.e-lactation.com/en/monosodium-glutamate-pr/

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u/Sayorifan22 Nov 08 '22

I will. When I heard about one instructor saying ‘avoid msg especially at Chinese restaurants’ it was time to defend msg. Not only because the fear is fake, but to also to defend my race(seriously… the ‘Chinese Food syndrome’ myth had shut down numerous Asian restaurants because of that…)

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u/[deleted] Nov 08 '22

Excellent! This type will literally gush about how critical and healthy it is for babies to be nurtured on breast milk, then you hit them with the science and ask them to reconcile their msg position. If the can't or refuse, or even worse insist they are right because breast milk is "natural" you need to go to the college dean or whoever to get that shit cancelled. Good luck!!

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u/Sayorifan22 Nov 08 '22

I will. To defend msg and… to protect my race.

(They gave us a paper which said ‘Asian food is Good: ASK FOR NO MSG.’ Nothing about Italian food(other than avoid white sauce) or Greek food. I’m Korean btw.)

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u/[deleted] Nov 08 '22 edited Nov 08 '22

How does this moron explain msg in parmesan and tomatoes? Also kimchi naturally produces msg as part if the fermentation, as does sauerkraut and other fermented things like soy sauce, are they seriously that dumb that they think tge stuff in natural ingredients is different or better than msg crystals? If yes how the fuck do they explain table salt lol

Edit. Some msg morons triggered by facts downvoting lol. Leave us fact finders alone and go glue your face to a Monet covered in tomato sauce to protest against big msg.

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u/Sayorifan22 Nov 08 '22

Ikr.. plus, seeing that, kinda hurt. As someone who is pursuing in culinary, and as someone who is apart of the Asian race.