MSG is MSG, this is 4 dangers if consumed in excess

He said, cooking without MSG is like cooking without salt, aka less delicious. Yes, the use of flavorings or flavor enhancers in everyday cooking is no longer a strange thing. Starting from housewives, street vendors, to cooks in restaurants, they often add MSG so that the dishes they make are more delicious and inspiring.

Eits, but be careful. Most consuming MSG can cause various dangerous side effects for your body, you know.

MSG is another name for MSG

Before knowing the side effects of MSG, it's a good idea to get acquainted with this one food flavoring. In fact, MSG is another name for micin / mecin or monosodium glutamate aka MSG. For the people of Indonesia, micin is certainly not a strange thing anymore.

MSG has been used as a cooking ingredient for decades. MSG is added to cooking to produce a savory taste, similar to the glutamate that is produced naturally by fresh food ingredients, such as tomatoes, asparagus, cheese, milk, fish and meat.

Side effects of consuming too much MSG

Basically MSG is a safe and useful flavoring ingredient for food. However, as with various other food ingredients, MSG should not be consumed in excess.

Some of the side effects that may occur due to consuming too many foods containing MSG are:

1. Headache

Have you ever had a sharp headache after eating certain foods? It could be the cause of the headache you feel because you eat foods that contain too much micin or MSG.

The taste receptors on tongue cells are similar to the glutamate receptors in brain cells. Well, this is the reason why MSG is able to trigger various abnormal activities on the nerves in your brain. When the nerves in the brain are over stimulated, you are more likely to experience dizziness and headaches.

If this condition persists, it can cause the death of nerve cells in the brain (neurons). In fact, neurons play a very important role in carrying out brain functions.

2. Increase in blood pressure

Not only that, the glutamic acid content in MSG is also believed to make your blood vessels narrow and widen. This constriction and dilation of blood vessels can cause a significant spike in blood pressure. As a result, your blood pressure becomes high after consuming foods that contain MSG.

3. Chinese restaurant syndrome

Chinese restaurant syndrome is a group of symptoms that a person experiences after consuming food from Chinese food restaurants. These symptoms include headache, reddish rash on the skin, weakness and lethargy, a burning sensation in the throat, and excessive sweating.

This condition is thought to be due to excessive use of MSG. However, more research is needed to be sure that micin, aka MSG, can cause symptoms Chinese restaurant syndrome.

3. Liver damage

When consumed in excess, MSG can cause inflammation of blood vessels, damage to red blood cells, and even death of cells in the liver. Studies have also shown that these food seasonings can trigger the production of chemical compounds in the body that cause inflammation.

On the other hand, most of the foods that contain MSG tend to have a high trans fat content. Studies show that the combination of MSG and trans fats can cause non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. Non-alcoholic fatty liver itself is a form of potentially serious disease. If not treated properly, this condition can lead to cirrhosis and liver failure.

4. Diabetes

Liver damage caused by eating too much food containing MSG can also lead to insulin resistance. Insulin resistance is a condition that occurs when your pancreas produces insulin, but the cells in your body don't use it as it should. As a result, there is a buildup of sugar in the blood.

This type of insulin resistance is the same as that that occurs in type 2 diabetes. If you don't get proper treatment, this condition can cause high blood sugar levels, the body feels weak and powerless, and an increased appetite.

Use just enough MSG

It is important to know that MSG is not always the direct cause of the side effects mentioned above.

Apart from the many controversies surrounding the language of MSG for health, the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) or the equivalent of the Indonesian Food and Drug Administration (POM) has declared MSG a safe food ingredient in general with the official GRAS label. WHO and the Indonesian Ministry of Health have agreed on this.

In many cases, various side effects of MSG can also be triggered by many other factors. For example, because you adopt an unhealthy lifestyle, such as smoking, drinking alcohol, rarely exercising, and eating high fat foods.

So, don't immediately think that MSG is dangerous. As long as it is not consumed in excess, MSG is a safe food flavoring. Even so, you are also asked to always be aware of the health side effects that may occur due to eating MSG. Especially for those of you who are sensitive to eating foods that contain MSG.

How to prevent MSS side effects

The only effective way to prevent the side effects of MSG is to limit or even not consume them at all.

If you are eating at a restaurant or on the side of the road, ask the salesperson or waitress not to add MSG to the food you order. Meanwhile, when you cook yourself at home, try as much as possible not to use MSG.

To keep food delicious and appetizing, you can add natural MSG from ingredients in the kitchen. Some of them include onions, asparagus, oregano, mushrooms, saping meat, chicken, duck, seafood and so forth. Sea salt and Himalayan salt can also be used as a healthy substitute for MSG.

You should also avoid eating fast food, frozen food (frozen food), and canned food because these three types of food usually contain a lot of MSG. Make sure you always check the ingredient and nutritional composition labels on the packaging before buying it.

MSG, MSG, or micin are often listed by other names such as monosodium L-glutamate monohydrate, sodium glutamate monohydrate, glutamic acid, MSG monohydrate, or monosodium salt.