The chinese restaurant syndrome

[anthrax]

You 've already have a headache after eating in a chinese restaurant ?
check this article :

The food additive, monosodium glutamate (MSG), which is found in everything from spicy kung pao chicken to tangy sweet and sour pork. Chefs use MSG to enhance the flavor of your favorite dishes.

That's because MSG consists of a mixture of sodium and the amino acid glutamate. Together, they form a very powerful flavor enhancer, changing almost any food from bland to tasty.

Many people, however, pay more than just the restaurant check for their MSG-enhanced gastronomic pleasure. For some, the price includes a headache and numbness in the back of the neck, which can radiate down the arms and back. Other people report symptoms of mild to severe headaches, tightness in the chest, pressure around the cheeks or jaw, mild mood changes, weakness, tingling, burning sensations, heart palpitations, or vivid and bizarre dreams. A few people report asthma-like symptoms after consuming even small amounts of the food additive.

These temporary but uncomfortable symptoms are often so subtle that people don't realize the additive has affected them, which makes it hard to determine precisely how many people are sensitive to MSG. However, this reaction to MSG is widespread enough to have a name: Chinese restaurant syndrome.

If you're sensitive to MSG, reduce your intake of the additive or stay away from it entirely. Physicians haven't established a safe range because it varies from person to person. Generally speaking, the larger the amount of MSG, the more likely it is that you will be sensitive to it and will develop symptoms, which can surface just minutes after ingesting MSG. And people with high blood pressure or those who must watch their sodium levels should limit their MSG intake as well.

If your symptoms become really bothersome, consider consulting an allergist. Or try eliminating all MSG-containing foods from your diet for at least two weeks. This will take a bit of sleuthing. MSG goes by a variety of names and is hidden in many foods, making it difficult to avoid all the sources. It's sold in your grocery store under the brand name "Accent." On food labels, MSG is also listed as autolyzed yeast extract, hydrolyzed vegetable protein or HVP, potassium glutamate, sodium caseinate, broth, natural flavorings, or simply flavorings.

This doesn't mean that MSG-sensitive people must deprive themselves of pot-stickers and mu shu pork. Instead, frequent restaurants, Chinese or otherwise, that promise to serve only MSG-free food. And if you have a favorite restaurant, don't be afraid to ask the chef to omit the MSG from your dishes.

 

[JayBro]

Good post Anthrax.

Twice now after eating at the same resturaunt my girlfriend has mentioned a numbness feeling in her neck.

 

[MS]

???


From Regul Toxicol Pharmacol (1999 Oct;30(2 Pt 2):S119-21)

The significance of excursions above the ADI. Case study: monosodium glutamate.

Monosodium glutamate (MSG) has been allocated an "ADI not specified" by the JECFA, which indicates that no toxicological concerns arise associated with its use as a food additive in accordance with good manufacturing practice (GMP) and for that reason it is not necessary to allocate a numerical ADI. The question in this case, then, is not whether excursions above a numerical ADI might occur but whether high peak intakes might arise which could invalidate the assumption of absence of hazard. Two major issues have arisen in relation to high intakes of MSG: (1) What is the significance of neural damage (focal necrosis in the hypothalamus) seen following high parenteral or intragastric doses of MSG to neonatal animals and is this a particular risk for children? (2) What is the role of MSG in "Chinese Restaurant Syndrome" (flushing, tightness of the chest, difficulty in breathing, etc.) following consumption of Chinese foods? In relation to the first issue, human studies have been crucial in resolving the question. The threshold blood levels associated with neuronal damage in the mouse (most sensitive species) are 100-130 mumol/dl in neonates rising to > 630 mumol/dl in adult animals. In humans, plasma levels of this magnitude have not been recorded even after bolus doses of 150 mg/kg body wt (ca. 10 g for an adult). Additionally, studies in infants have confirmed that the human baby can metabolize glutamate as effectively as adults. It is concluded that blood levels of glutamate + aspartate do not rise significantly even after abuse doses and babies are no more at risk than adults. Intake levels associated with the use of MSG as a food additive and natural levels of glutamic acid in foods therefore do not raise toxicological concerns even at high peak levels of intake. It is not envisaged that use of MSG according to GMP requires the allocation of a numerical ADI. With regard to the second issue, controlled double-blind crossover studies have failed to establish a relationship between Chinese Restaurant Syndrome and ingestion of MSG, even in individuals reportedly sensitive to Chinese meals, and MSG did not provoke bronchoconstriction in asthmatics. Thus, high usage of MSG in ethnic cuisines does not represent a situation in which intakes might achieve unsafe levels, even among individuals claiming idiosyncratic intolerance of such foods. In the light of the toxicological studies, the human metabolic studies in neonates and adults, and the physiological and nutritional role of glutamic acid and the fact that food additive use does not markedly increase the total dietary burden, no foreseeable circumstances arise in which intakes would be such as to invalidate the appropriateness of allocating an ADI not specified to MSG.


Additionally there is evidence that excess L-tryptophan may be a cause of this syndrome in some folks. There is also some evidence that this syndrome is more prevalent in sodium sensitive individuals, and that the extra sodium both from MSG and added salt/soy sauce can trigger this syndrome in these individuals. To state unequivically that MSG is the culprit is not accurate.

 

[anthrax]

well....
it seems that there is no scientific proof of the danger/inocuity of MSG (anyway it depends of which studies you read)..

but if you can avoid taking a lot of MSG (chinese food, industrial soups,...)
why take the risk ?

 

[D00fy]

skrew that i like my sesame chicken and general tso chicken and orange chicken
wocka wocka wocak

 

[Benzi]

Chinese is amazing
don't yoall be dissing chinese

 

[the nature boy]

sure MSG isn't that great, but you'll find the food won't taste as good without it. plus MSG is why you have to go to the bathroom 15 minutes later, it's a semi-laxative. You can pretty much find something unhealthful about any food if you ask me. Live a litte. Now if you're getting headaches, that's a differnent story. I love chinese food. Hell I love food period.

 

[MS]

Yo D00fy, Benzi and The Nature Boy. You have all distilled what I was trying to say in my clumsy way. Between 1-3% of the population will be hypersensitive to this syndrome (for a variety of reasons). It's a little like the ECA debate. A few people (a very few) seem to have problems with chinese restaurant food. For this minority the best advice is to avoid chinese restaurants (not just MSG). For the vast majority of people there is no need for alarm. It's kinda like the ECA debate/controversy but with MSG substitiued for ECA!!

 

[the nature boy]

exactly MS. Good point.