MSG: good or bad? A timeless, long-standing debate.
When I was in high school, a friend started a (successful) business selling deep-fried macaroni seasoned with a spicy seasoning. It was ridiculously delicious. Everyone called it "matol" or makaroni tolol. That means "stupid macaroni," because apparently a lot of MSG was used in the seasoning, and the belief was that MSG made you stupid. We would avoid eating matol before exams or assessments. It even became a running joke.
I'm sure every Indonesian has heard something similar from their elders: "Don't eat too much micin (MSG), or you'll be stupid." Most of the people who think MSG is bad probably would argue against MSG consumption with something along those lines: MSG makes you stupid. MSG is not healthy. MSG gives you headdaches. The source: "Trust me bro," or "I personally can't tolerate it, I got a headdache once while eating at this restaurant, blah blah blah."
Where do I stand on this debate, you ask? I stand on the side of science. And to be able to science, we must first understand what MSG is.
MSG is a flavour enhancer used in cooking. It stands for monosodium glutamate. This means it is a chemical compound that consists of one sodium ion and one glutamate. Chemists would call it the sodium salt of glutamic acid. Here is a picture of the compound from the Wikipedia page on MSG:
This is a skeletal structure that chemists often use to simplify the structure of molecules. Carbon and hydrogen atoms in the backbone are not showed, but in total, MSG has 5 carbon, 9 hydrogen, 4 oxygen, and 1 nitrogen molecule. Oh, and of course the sodium ion too. Sodium is positively charged, glutamate negatively.
Now wait just a minute, glutamic acid? Might sound fancy, but it's actually just glutamate, with an extra hydrogen attached to it. It's a neutral (uncharged) molecule, and what many people don't know is that glutamic acid is one of the twenty amino acids found in our bodies.
Why am I using so many fancy terms? What is an amino acid? An amino acid is one of the chemical building blocks in your body. There are twenty different kinds of amino acids that join together in countless different combinations to form the different proteins that form you—your hair, nails, skin, and all the likes. The combination of different proteins is determined by your genes—that is to say, DNA. But that's another story.
That means yes, glutamate is produced in your body, and it's in it right now! And—brace yourself—it's not just there in the proteins that form you, it also takes up extra roles as neurotransmitters! This means that it regulates the signals that your brain sends to your nerves and all the other cells in your body. So contrary to the myth that MSG makes you stupid, it's actually essential to regulate normal brain functions.
Okay, what about the sodium part of MSG? Sodium is actually one of the two elements that make up table salt. It plays many important roles in your body. One of them is to make sure that your body has just enough water and fluids. It's also important to transmit signals in your nerves and muscles.
Now that we know that both sodium and glutamate aren't dangerous, and that we actually need them in our bodies, let's talk about where we can get these in the foods we eat. I've mentioned that sodium makes up half of a molecule of table salt, so salt is an obvious source of sodium. So we naturally consume sodium every day, because pretty much every savoury dish has salt in it.
What about glutamate? Where can we find glutamate? Remember, glutamate is an amino acid, a protein building block. This means that we can naturally find it in foods that are rich in protein. How much glutamate depends on the kind of protein—every protein is different and some contain more glutamate, some contain less.
Glutamate is what contributes to the flavour of umami, which is a hearty, savoury kind of taste. Following this trail of logic, foods that are savoury are rich in glutamate: this includes seaweed, fish, tomatoes, mushrooms, cheese, meat and yeast extract, and soy sauce.
Speaking of yeast extract, this is a popular flavour enhancer that many people think is the "natural alternative" to MSG. You might find snacks and other foodstuff that proudly boasts a "NO MSG" seal, but has yeast extract listed in its ingredient content. I suppose the "no MSG" statement can be proven to be true—it's possible that MSG, in its white crystalline form, was not added during production. Even so, the product would still contain glutamate as a flavour enhancer. And if there's also salt in the mixture, then it would literally make no difference. You'd still be eating glutamate and sodium = MSG.
So anyone who claims that eating foods seasoned with MSG gives them headdaches, would also get headdaches when they eat that delicious slice of anchovy cheese pizza, or that bowl of tomato soup. There shouldn't be discrimination between them.
Of course, too much of anything is bad. Too much sodium in your blood (like when you eat too much food containing salt) can mess up the regulation of water in your body, which can eventually lead to kidney disorders. Likewise, too much glutamate would probably also have adverse effects in your body.
But this is nothing new, because we know that if the metabolites in our body isn't balanced, problems will always occur. Consuming too much sugar will cause hyperglycemia. Too much protein will strain your kidneys, and too much fiber will cause bloating and indigestion.
Alright. So we've learned that MSG is a totally normal, safe-to-consume ingredient, just like table salt or pepper or whatever spice, seasoning, or ingredient you might have in your kitchen. Are there any other arguments I need to debunk?
Oh yes, I just remembered. Some people might think that MSG is bad because it's industrially produced, and that industrial = chemicals = unnatural = bad. Besides the fact that this way of thinking is very flawed, MSG is actually mass produced via bacterial fermentation of natural, plant-based ingredients such as sugarcane, sugar beets, corn, and cassava. So aside from it being completely natural, it's also vegan.
Wait a minute! Why bacteria? Bacteria make you sick, don't they? Well, not all of them do, and bacteria is used to ferment a lot of things to produce the things we eat every day. Some bacteria ferment milk into yogurt. Some fungi ferment grape juice into wine. Fermentation is nothing new in the world of food production.
And if you take a closer look at the ingredients fermented, you'll notice that they're all rich in sugars (carbohydrate). This is because the metabolic pathway (the chemical reaction that occurs in living things to produce one thing from another) for glutamate uses compounds that come from the metabolism of sugar.
Is sugar bad? Not in the right amount. In the right amount, it's essential. This is always the case with the things we eat: we need to eat just the right amount of everything. Too much or too little is bad. The same goes for MSG, which is a source of sodium and glutamate—the bonus is that MSG enhances the flavour of food by adding in that extra umami factor. It's like salt, but on crack. It's like salt's younger sibling.
Take home message: it's the dose that makes the poison—too little and too much of everything is never any good and eat things in moderation. If you keep this in mind, congratulations, you're one step closer to eating a balanced diet!
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