"Eating too much MSG will make you stupid", "Eating MSG every day will make you age faster and is bad for your health"... Rumors about MSG have almost never stopped. In an era where people are paying more and more attention to nutrition and diet health, concerns about MSG are also increasing. What exactly is MSG? Does it affect human health?
As early as 1907, Japanese people discovered that when they evaporated seaweed soup, they would get a umami substance. Adding it to food significantly enhanced the umami flavor. This substance is monosodium glutamate (MSG). Later, people obtained MSG by fermenting raw materials such as starch and sugar beets, which is the common MSG we know. The production process of MSG does not add any chemical raw materials. The MSG sold on the market today is a highly purified fermented product. According to China's national standards, its MSG content is at least 80%.
Is MSG safe? There are many discussions and studies on this at home and abroad. Reviews by authoritative bodies such as the US FDA, the American Medical Association, and the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives have shown that the use of MSG in food is "unrestricted" and its safety does not need to be a concern.
At the same time, voices claiming that MSG poses health risks have also frequently appeared. Zhai Fengying, deputy director of the Institute of Nutrition and Food Safety at the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, stated that in their survey, they found a certain correlation between MSG consumption and being overweight among Chinese adult residents. Among people whose daily MSG consumption exceeded 1 gram, the proportion of being overweight or obese was 37%, while among those whose consumption was below 1 gram, it was 28%. A cumulative daily intake of MSG exceeding 2.2 grams significantly increases the risk of being overweight. Researchers at North Carolina State University in the US conducted a 5.5-year follow-up survey on the dietary habits of 10,000 Chinese adults. The results showed that compared to people who consumed less than 0.5 grams of MSG per day, those who consumed more than 5 grams had a 30% higher chance of being overweight or obese after 5.5 years. Japanese researchers have also found that too much MSG may lead to vision damage; and because MSG contains sodium, excessive intake may also lead to high blood pressure.
As a flavor enhancer, moderate intake of MSG for adults is generally not an issue. Professor Ma Liping, vice chairman of the Guangxi Nutrition Society, stated that children and elderly people with chronic diseases such as high blood pressure should preferably not eat MSG. Ma Liping also reminded that many people believe that chicken essence is healthier than MSG. In fact, the main ingredients of chicken essence are still MSG and salt, and it has little to do with chicken, so people should not be misled.