I'm part of a FB group that discusses restaurants and cuisine in the State College area and boy oh boy are people sensitive.
Someone asked for any Chinese restaurants that don't use MSG. For those of you that don't know, MSG isn't bad for you. It never has been. The origins of thinking it's some terrible thing for you are extremely xenophobic in nature. Anyways, I said this:
"I know this doesn't answer your question, but the "MSG is bad for you" myth has been debunked. MSG does little to nothing when it comes to physical harm, but it sure can make food tasty."
You'd have thought I came to this old lady's house and punted her dog across the yard. Holy hell. A professor in nutrition that I know came and also posted some scientific studies showing MSG sensitivities are suuuuuuper rare. By and large they're all placebo effects. She also added:
"Are you able to eat parmesan cheese? Cured ham? Tomatoes? These have free glutamates in them. I'm wondering if it's the salt that's bothering you and not the glutamates?"
Seems reasonable right? If you have an MSG issue, you should have issues with all these other things too.
"I can’t believe the rudeness of these people. It affects you, and they can’t answer the question without acting like your dumb. What has happened to this group???"
"You are so out of line!! You should seriously be ashamed of yourself. I have serious issue when I digest food with MSG and for you to be so ignorant is really pathetic... no humanity what so ever"
These boomers just astound me. At one point the original poster said that she gets terribly sick when she has MSG or salt. SALT. It took every fiber of my being to not say "Then stay home and eat oatmeal..."
My late mother was sensitive to MSG to the point that it caused her physical pain. And yes, she was also sensitive to cheese, mushrooms, and similar foods high in glutamic acid (sharp cheese in particular would give her a splitting headache). She was also a nurse practitioner who did nutrition for her patients, and she had plenty of patients who also had MSG sensitivities. In particular, my mother found that for her interstitial cystitis* patients, may of them could reduce if not eliminate their pain/urge/incontinence symptoms by specifically cutting MSG out of their diets.
While MSG does not affect most people, I would not say that MSG sensitivities are "suuuuuuper rare." Neither is MSG sensitivity a placebo effect. My mother had literally hundreds of patients who could falsify that assertion.
* IC is a condition marked by chronic pain and inflammation inside the bladder, which results in pain, feeling the need to urinate, needing to urinate often, and incontinence.
