An elimination diet is a great way to identify food intolerances, sensitivities and allergies. Find out whether it is right for you and how to follow…. Gluten-, dairy-, or nut-free: Specialized diets are common. But not everyone with special dietary needs has the same reaction to offending foods….
Nutrition labels can be confusing and misleading. This article sets the record straight about how to avoid falling into some of these consumer traps. Celiac disease is a digestive disorder caused by an abnormal immune reaction to gluten.
Learn about celiac disease symptoms, diagnosis, and treatment. MSG symptom complex refers to a group of symptoms some people experience after eating food containing monosodium glutamate. Learn about the symptoms…. Food sensitivity tests check how your immune system responds to different types of food.
Read more to figure out which test is best for you. Bee sting allergy refers to a serious bodily reaction to bee venom. Learn about symptoms and treatment. Health Conditions Discover Plan Connect. Medically reviewed by Natalie Butler, R. Evidence Symptoms Treatment Outlook Overview. Symptoms and diagnosis. Read this next. How to Do an Elimination Diet and Why. Instead, MSG is used as an ingredient to enhance the natural flavours of foods such as meat, poultry, soups, stews, casseroles, gravies, seafood, snacks and vegetable dishes.
Glutamate itself is also found naturally in foods such as corn, green peas, mushrooms and tomatoes. Some people have reported a sensitivity to MSG. It is the glutamate part of MSG that can produce symptoms such as:.
These symptoms of MSG sensitivity are generally temporary and can appear about 20 minutes after eating MSG and last for about two hours. If you suffer from this sensitivity, it is best to avoid MSG and glutamate. Note: Do not automatically assume that you have a sensitivity to MSG if you experience any of these symptoms. Check with your doctor to make sure that you do not have another condition or allergy that might be causing these symptoms. There is not enough research to prove whether MSG triggers migraine headaches.
If you find that you tend to get a migraine after eating MSG, the best advice is to avoid eating MSG-containing foods. For more information on dietary triggers of migraines and headaches read our article.
So, your attempt to minimize others experiences to it when there are so many, is not scientific. You need to ask why and then go find the answer instead of dismissing ALL of us. I feel the same way. Have learned throughout the years to read labels.
And what restaurants not to eat at. Starts with really bad stomach cramps like someone is kicking you in the stomach. Diarrhea, vomiting, shaking, cold sweat and heart palpitations. Now my granddaughter is going through the same thing. At least I can tell her what to watch for and what restaurants use to much MSG.
Yet when made without MSG I sleep well and the following day is productive. Note I also am sensitive to other food additives, and stabilizers in processed food and keg beer. My credentials? Advanced chemistry degree, and a career of identifying root cause for problems. I just have the same symptoms as you do when I eat food with MSG.
The author of the article sounds inexperienced or innocent or not smart- sorry for being rude. This is very false. MSG causes a sensitivity in some people, a sensitivity which is poorly understood. It differs from a true allergy, but symptoms can be similar. It does not lead to death the way a peanut or shellfish allergy can but the symptoms are disconcerting.
My sensitivity began with severe headaches when I would eat at chinese restaurants as a child. Now at fifity, I never have had headaches like that in my life. I realised I was sensitive to it and would always avoid it. The last time I accidently had it the symptoms progressed to a shortness of breath. I exused myself from the table and went to the restroom.
I felt faint and my chest turned blotchy red. The symptoms lasted for about ten or fifteen minutes. When I returned to the table to question the waitress she said there was MSG in the soup, which was communual to the table, I had just eaten the soup and that is what made me sick. My third similar reaction was at a restaurant that it turns out had it in the sauce. Knowing it is not a true deadly allergy is helpful, as I have learned it lacks the ige response.
However the symptoms are unpleasant enough for me and many others which is why we avoid it. Every single person I know that avoids it has personally had the physical responses similar to me, they are not just afraid it is bad for you for no reason, they have personally experienced it. The reaction is immediate and horrendous.
So much so that you will change your lifestyle to avoid it. When I go back through my week, I realize if one or more item I ingested had it in it, it explains why I got it.
Sulfates and Nitrates also trigger migraines. MSG adds flavor and shelf life. The food industry is actually poisoning us withe these unecessary ingredients. Sorry Dr. Whoever you are not accurate on this one. I suffer from migraines only after I ingest MSG. Although my experience is only one data point, I can assure you that every time I have a migraine it has been directly traced to MSG I accidentally consumed.
My mother used to put MSG on everything I ate. This only started when I was about I suspect there is some limit that my body reached. I am the same way. I was about 35 when I had my 1st migraine. Almost every migraine since then has been brought on by MSG. And it does. Whenever I ingest a meal that contains msg I get a serious stomach spasm by the following day.
Does it help to report the restrant that uses MSG which has made a dozen or more people I know sick? Sweet Tomatoes is basicly a vegetarian Restrant, but it also serves soups and breads. Not as a flavor enhancement. I honestly believe this is what its intended for. Or there is that something else being used to make people feel fuller? Wish I knew what it was.
Should be unlawful. Gives so many people I know headaches and diarea. Something needs to be done. I agree.. Maybe he needs to his homework or actual clinical studys. Another person here who gets serious migraines, the kind that mess with my vision, when exposed to msg. It took me many years to figure this out. The exact same foods that were prepared without msg the ones I could do that for produced no migraine. Your article makes me wonder because as far as I can tell the migraines are only triggered by added msg, i.
Turns out I ate some food with added msg last night. Then I went online to see if anyone had done more research since last time I looked many years ago, to find your article calling it a myth. It is very frustrating to still not have a handle on this and then be told it is in my head. I believe you, BB. After a CT scan and a bunch of tests turns out I had a hemiplegic migraine- I thought I was having a stroke. Whole left side of my body became paralyzed for 10 minutes, and the aura symptoms lasted for 6 hours.
I get migraines, but never that bad. The beef sandwiches, turns out, are loaded with MSG. I usually dont eat them, but the restaurant gave it to me on accident and let me keep it.
I will never eat one again. Glad you cleared that up. I am in Japan and having bad react ions to the food — like a severe bloating water retention it may be MSG or other ingredients used- i was concerned for anaphylaxis as it usually manifests in lower extremities but last night involved my hands i could not make a fist- i did then take a antihistamine doxylamine i use for sleep and it is better this am started diuresing and its almost all gone.
Does anyone know if not MSG what other ingeedient may cause this effect? I know what you mean.. MSG is an Excitotoxin and excited the central nervous system in sensitive people. The reason that diphenhydramine helps is not because of anaphylaxis but because diphenhydramine has central nervous system depressant properties and helps with the symptoms.. I get a terrible reaction to MSG. Usually super tired right after meal, followed by very specific unpleasant sensation all over my body searing tingles that make me twitch and short of breath , followed by being tired the next day.
The protein in your body is literally made of it. It occurs naturally in high levels in tomatoes, grapes, cheese, mushrooms and other foods. It is present in your brain and functions as a neurotransmitter. It is possible that your mind associates MSG with a previous bad food experience. If you had vomiting and diarrhea from under-cooked or contaminated food that also contained high levels of MSG your mind can be programmed to associate MSG with this bad food experience.
The worse the bad food experience the more likely this is too happen. There are cases of severe food poisoning where a person will feel nauseous years later just by smelling the offending dish.
This can be caused by inflammation, head injury, and degenerative diseases. Even so, these headaches should quickly subside as your gut scavenges free glutamate and turns it into energy. MSG is the chemically derived version of glutamate. Not the same. But it is a copy, not natural. So I cannot believe science can completely understand the way our bodies respond to natural vs chemical copies.
Again, dismissing the experiences of so many. Glutimate is abundant but MSG itself is an extract and is in concentrated form. Anything with fermentation or msg or any processed free glutamic acid makes me severely sick. It gives me facial tension neck discomfort nausea vomiting weakness sweating and usually takes 24 to 72 hours before I feel back to normal. Naturally occurring msg contains L-glutamic acid whereas manufactured msg contains a mixture of L-glutamic and D-glutamic acid.
These molecules have the same chemical components but are mirror images of each other — these are called enantiomers, and it is entirely plausible that your body would react differently to different enantiomers. Hi, we are talking about two different things — 1 natural msg 2 manmade msg.
Most of these people are saying they have issues with MSG in Chinese food, but are you just as sensitive to Doritos and other snacks which are loaded with MSG. I do react to Doritos and all other packaged foods with MSG. So much so that I started checking labels for it years ago. But I can eat other chips just fine. Doritos no. I have to read labels and cannot have Doritos or many snack foods.
I have never had a reaction to Chinese food because I am particular in the restaurants I go to. All foods containing msg… all of them. Spinal taps, strong pain medication, hell all through childhood and teens until made the connection. So why do I have a severe physical reaction to eating pho?
If I eat pho and drink to much of the broth, I break out in a rash, my head neck and back skin feels like it is literally on fire, I get a migraine, and my stomach kills me, and I sweat the whole night.
But that is not normal or ok. Hey there — you may want to try one of the food sensitivity tests or see a specialist. Hahahaha did you know Asian people use a lot of msg in their food? Once your body has had too much that is when it gives you problems. Started getting really bad head pressure so severe I went to the ER. Told I was fine. I changed my diet and felt better off and on but every time I eat instant ramen or fried fish cane or ate out at Asian restaurants it got really bad.
I eat a lot of Asian food without msg. Not all of it has MSG.. They talk about this in Asian Countries. My wife was a Nurse in Thailand and knows all about this stuff and how msg stores in your body and causes osteoporosis.
This article is debunked and so does more than half of your comments. Go to Asia and do some real test then come back and write a real article. All these people saying that they eat at Chinese restaurants and then react — my question is, do you react when you eat chips?
Home-made noodles? Because they all contain MSG. If you react to MSG, you have to avoid most processed foods, or be very careful about what you do eat. I say this as someone who is allergic, not sensitive, but allergic to MSG. There are no studies showing that it affects the body in any way, and every country has deemed it safe.
Go to the doctor and get tested for what ever it is you are actually reacting to. Maybe for some it is something else and not MSG. I react badly to doritos. Most restaurant chinese food. Ive pinpointed all my migraines to msg foods. Ive had this problem for the last 20 yrs. The Dr has not tested anybody with msg sensitivity. His comments are what make alot of people skeptical about what drs say.
I actually do react to chips and other things and try my best to avoid it all. I get horrible migraines to the point of throwing up and not seeing. So now I guess I have to announce to everyone whenever I get a severe migraine. Chips, ham, pre made sauces, even some ice creams. Yes, it was chips like Doritos, and other snack foods that made the connection for me in the first place. I must read labels very carefully. Yes to your whole first 2 sentences.
Horrible experiences into adulthood. I cannot eat fast food, without knowing the ingredient list. I would constantly be sent home from school and trips to ER, multiple food sensitivity tests, spinal taps, MRIs. They stopped in adulthood once I knew to avoid the additive. I forgot to read the label.
The amount matters. I may have some chips that contain some MSG. I may also have a big portion of chicken sate with plenty of sauce. Restaurants use incredible amounts of MSG in their meats and sauces. So yes, it is possible to have significant effects from Chinese food and less so from other sources. The racist bit is just completely misplaced.
Interesting that this article suggests that if you want further information on the topic to refer to the US FDA. Not sure I would trust their track record. My wife once a thought as you until we had kids. Like myself my kids are extremely sensitive to MSG or free glutamate.
I cam tell if any food has MSG from the first bite. My wife thought it was all in my mind until our kids had the same sensitivity. Now anytime we eat out my wife makes me try a bite before feeding to our kids as they start bouncing off the walls from free glutamate or MSG. That brain fog you experienced the following day is from over-stimulated brain neurons. Some studies suggest msg causes accelerated brain aging.
Go figure hmmm. That is really interesting. Actually a lot of MSG is still extracted from kelp so it is a plant-based source. I have thought there may be a genetic component as well. When i was a kid jr high and high school i noticed one time while eating w my family in a local Chinese Restaurant that i felt like i was somewhere else.
Like i was in a cloud. After about 5 mins it went away. Of course i didnt say anything and just ate my fortune cookie. Skip ahead about a year and im in the same place with different people and it happened again. Pressure in my head, ears ringing and a feeling of disconnect from the group. Once again i didnt say anything and the feeling went away.
I didnt even know what she was talking about. The feeling kind of scared me so i self avoided Chinese Food for years. A few years back i tried some Chinese food at a different place and it didnt happen again. So not sure what was happening but i know it wasnt me. Something weird was going on. Im now a nurse practitioner. I do believe that you need to listen to people as they are usually pretty good judges of whats going on in their own body. This MSG thing may not be a true allergy but that doesnt mean that people arent correct in the way it affects them.
Neither can the blood work granted there are additional markers that need to be measured. Check for free glutimate reactivity…if I take a glutimate I have the same reaction. I was advised to do so to heal digestive challenges and sure enough, the glutimate caused the same reaction, heaviness, fog, shaky, numb, weak and ill, heart palpitations and low feeling the next day. Study glutimate in some people and target that reaction.
An abundance of added glutimate may have an adverse affect on GABA receptors. Most people would agree that diarrhea is a sign of a problem and caused by sickness. I didnt realize this until recently and am I realized I am MSG sensitive after a bowl of organic canned soup.
Within 30 mins of the soup, I had a couple strong stomach cramps followed by explosive diarrhea. I havent had much diarrhea while eating at home for a long time. It made me realize though that subconsciously I associated eating out at restaurants with diarrhea. Not only restaurants but, growing up, I thought diarrhea was normal stool and not because of sickness. As someone who is a big fan of Asian food and has cooked it at home in the past often as well, I had also had diarrhea reactions from mushrooms.
Interestingly, I had showed up sensitive to mushrooms and brewers yeast on a food intolerance test before. Please accept my response in the generous spirit it is intended. They need doctors who will respect them, listen to what they know about their own bodies, and who are interested in helping them get to the bottom of whatever is wrong…without shaming commentary or gaslighting making a patient feel like their experience is all in their head along the way.
That would have been wonderful info to include in your article, instead of burying it in a comment. Dr Wallace, I am telling you now people can have bad reactions to msg. I have reactions to added msg in food — and also to too much glutamate in food.
Ie: a steak that is aged so has more naturally occurring glutamate. I have had headaches from added msg in chicken, and naturally occurring glutamate that is high in certain foods like older beef, lamb. Maybe the connection is the glutamate which I understand is high in added msg?
I have epilepsy and both added msg and too much glutamate can give me partial seizures. This is a real thing and it is very annoying that people say that its all in our heads — like you are suggesting in your article. I would recommend you change your article and have some more respect for people who have this intolerance. Perhaps you are funded by the msg industry? I hope not. Whenever I have food with msg, I am awake all night, rapid heartbeat and brain fog the next day.
I have unknowingly eaten things with MSG and ended up with a horrible migraine. Going back over all of the food I had eaten and there it is! There is such a thing as Chinese food without MSG and many Chinese restaurants are getting away from using it. I want to know how this is true. Is there any way to have it checked or stopped? Trust me, I promise.
Just like a used car salesman. Are you willing to put money behind it? If so, how much? Interesting article, thank you. And some interesting respondents too. Are there carbs in msg seasoning. That his how i tested my self. I bought msg seasoning. Im no scientist and defenatly not a dr. Explain that to me please. Recently discovered that not only do I have a severe reaction after eating something with MSG, but I also have the same and sometimes worse reaction from items containing Yeast Extract.
Anyone else experience symptoms with this? Nature is wiser than us. I hope someone studies this for all of us who suffer. The conclusions drawn by the article above are unscientific anyways.
As a child my family got Chinese food about once a month, and every single time, I felt a particular kind of sick afterward — flushed and achy, with tender skin, especially around my shoulders and neck…like I was getting the flu. It was awful, and then it was over — no virus or anything. It was the 70s and no one was paying attention.
Did I ever connect the dots and avoid Chinese food? So I just avoided Chinese food, simple enough. It was a cold day and I gulped the delicious Pho broth down pretty quickly. Very quickly I started sweating and was flushed, with that horrible achy feeling and a rapid heartbeat.
I was doubled over and barely made it out of the restaurant. It is most definitely the MSG that I and others react to. I could probably have a couple sips of Pho. From my unscientific life experience, most people do just fine with MSG. But some people, including me, most definitely do not.
Interestingly, just recently my mom told me that every time she goes to the Chinese restaurant she feels sick afterward and has to lie down. She was not present during our Chinese takeout Fridays; that was with my dad and stepmother. Maybe it depends how much MSG was eaten that day in other foods? Maybe it depends how much sodium is in the meal? I would ask you to please reconsider your stance.
Why not be curious instead of condescending? Yeast extract is widely known to contain high levels of free not bound to protein glutamate. The glutamate in MSG is free glutamate. So, eating yeast extract is like eating MSG without the extra sodium. And it seems to bother m some of us just the same. Yeast extract gives me migraines everytime. I will get a migraine and go look back at something I ate when I thought it was safe, and realize I was exposed after the fact.
Dr Wallace, the reason I am reading this article is because I have been feeling so tired with a persistent headache and a tightness in my chest, as if I worked out too hard.. I never feel this way and that was a new food for me, so I read the ingredients and there was MSG listed. I looked up MSG sensitive symptoms and found your article.
You describe my symptoms to a tee, and yet you say they are not from MSG! Just prior to the incident I was having extreme bowel pain again, not normal. I went through a battery of tests; heart monitor, stress test, MRI, neurologist, etc. All negative. The conclusion by my GP and Cardiologist was that it was a Vasovagal Syncope event but they could not pinpoint the cause. So when I recently visited my Gastroenterologist for a yearly checkup, I mentioned the incident. He told me about a potential issue with MSG which prompted me to look it up and I wound up here!
I can almost set my watch by it. The migraines are so bad that I am unable to operate, unable to process thoughts, calculations, etc. They too are wrong… I do believe it has something to do with gut microbes or the lack thereof. Would love to get to the bottom of this. Regards, Mike. I hope you will open your mind up to msg sensitivity. I suffer chronic migrain maybe not always msg related but Ihave had far to many experiences with msg to discount it.
I wish you would keep an open mind on msg sensitivity. To insinuate that people think they are special because they have an issue with msg is totally wrong. I am a chronic migrain sufferer and would change that in a heartbeat if possible. My problem is not all Msg but a very large part of it. Therein lies the problem. I found this article because I have started suspecting MSG recently.
My son — now 15 — is sick every time he eats food high in MSG. Last time was last night — at a festival in Scotland.
He had chips with curry sauce went back to the festival today to check ingredients and yes, it was in the sauce. He was immediately very out of it and was sick multiple times; then slept for an hour then was OK. We used to eat Chinese when he was little at a fairly cheap Chinese place and he had the same symptoms every time.
A kick in the stomach, followed by face numbness and shortness of breath. Then, depending on how much I had, an incapacitating migraine. I hope dr W never has to go through all the symptoms described here and which he so flippantly dismisses. This compound affects how the neurons in your brain interact. Are we so advanced in neuroscience that we know how all there is about that?
I know that I am sensitive to MSG. I know that my symptoms increase ten-fold if I ingest it in a soup or sauce. I know that some foods that have it do not affect me at a conscious level, while others never fail to. Hi, Dr. And I always want to know why it cause to.
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