About 30% of our population experience adverse reactions to MSG. Sometimes we don't see the symptom being MSG related because they may not show up for an hour or more after a meal while in some people, it can show up before they leave the dinner table. Most sufferers just pass it off as typical….an inconvenience they have learned to live with. Some symptoms are, migraine headache, simple headache, depression, rash, racing heart, lethargy, asthma like symptoms, nausea, vomiting, abdominal cramping, bloating, diarrhea, general weakness, gastric distress, shortness of breath, irregular heart beat, panic attacks, mood swings, flushing, tremors, poor concentration and hyperactivity in children.
Bowel complaints and IBS are probably the most common MSG induced reactions. Many people who have had their gall bladder removed complain of gall bladder attack like symptoms after eating foods containing MSG. Taurine, a free form amino acid makes bile that breaks down large fat globules which in turn makes them easier to digest. When MSG interferes with taurine's function, fat digestion becomes difficult and we end up with digestive distress.
You may not think of obesity as an MSG symptom simply because we don't feel the effects right away. I'm not saying that everyone who is over weight should blame MSG but, we are constantly hearing how obesity has more than doubled in the past fifty years and MSG's has been in use since the 1950's. Scientists fatten rats and mice to be used for experiments by injecting them with MSG. It is …
