Eat more MSG, you know, for your health

In March, the World Health Organization published a terrible warning it was also quite obvious: almost everyone on the planet consumes too much salt. And not just a pinch too much; on average, people consume more than double what is recommended each day, which increases the risk of common diseases such as heart attacks and strokes. If governments intervened in such excessive salt consumption, the WHO insisted, they could save the lives of 7 million people by 2030.

Such salt warnings are so ubiquitous that they are easy to ignore. In the United States, salt consumption has been a public health issue for over a year. a half-century; since then the IInitiatives launched to combat it have been deemed by health officials as “too numerous to describe”, but little has changed in terms of policy or appetite. The main reason salt has remained an issue is that it is such a big part of all processed foods and it makes everything delicious. Persuading Americans to cut back would require a convincing dupe — something that cuts down on unhealthy sodium without making the food less tasty.

There is no perfect dupe. But the next best thing might be… MSG. Seriously. Last month, the FDA propose reduce sodium in certain foods by using salt substitutes. A candidate who has done research is monosodium glutamate, the white crystalline powder that has long been decried in the West as an unhealthy food additive. A common seasoning in some Asian cuisines, MSG was linked in the late 1960s to ailments — headaches, numbness, dizziness, heart palpitations — known as Chinese restaurant syndrome. The health issues associated with MSG have since been debunked and the FDA considers it safe to eat. But it still has a bad rap: many products are still proudly advertised as MSG-free. Now, the chemical may soon get its revenge. Given the possibility of replacing salt in some of our foods, it could possibly represent something healthy, maybe even something close to in good health.

Concerns about MSG originated in 1968, when a person claiming to be a Chinese-American doctor, writing in The New England Journal of Medicine, described feeling generally sick after eating Chinese food, which he believed could be due to MSG. Other researchers soon produced studies that seemed to support this claim, and MSG became a public health villain. In the 70s, the Chicago Grandstand ran the title “Chinese food driving you crazy? MSG is the #1 suspect. All the attention” renewed medical legitimacy [for] a number of long-standing assumptions about the strangely ‘exotic’, ‘bizarre’ and ‘excessive’ practices associated with Chinese culture,” said historian Ian Mosby. writing in 2009. (The author of NEJM letter was later revealed to invent.) This is not to say that all the symptoms associated with MSG are superfluous; people can be sensitive to MSG — like any food — and can experience broad symptoms such as headaches after eating it, Amanda Li, a dietetic nutritionist at the University of Washington, told me. But “research has shown no clear evidence linking MSG consumption to serious potential adverse effects,” she said.

Overall, MSG seems better than salt itself, given that excessive salt consumption poses many chronic health risks. A relatively small amount of MSG could be used to save the flavor of salt-reduced products without endangering health. Part of the reason this is possible is due to the molecular makeup of MSG. It satisfies the craving for salt to some extent because it contains sodium (it’s right there in the name, after all) – but just a third the quantity, by weight, of salt. The rest of the molecule is made up of the amino acid L-glutamate, which registers as the savory, “bubbly” flavor known as umami.

MSG isn’t a unique salt substitute, but that’s what makes it such a promising alternative. It is a general flavor booster seat, meaning it can amplify the perception of salt and other flavors that are already in a dish, as well as add an umami element, sensory scientist and school principal Soo-Yeun Lee told me. of Food Science from Washington State University. . One secret to this effect is that unlike salt, which gives a burst of flavor and then quickly dissipates, MSG stays on the tongue long after the food has been swallowed, producing a lasting savory sensation, Lee said. It can amplify saltiness by increasing salivation, letting sodium molecules wash more freely onto the tongue, Aubrey Dunteman, a food scientist at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, told me.

All of this gives MSG the potential to play a role in a salt reduction strategy. A study 2019 in the magazine Nutrients found that substituting MSG (or other similar but more obscure chemicals) for some of the salt in certain foods could have major impacts: adults who eat deli meats could cut their intake by 40%; cheese eaters, 45 percent. Another study by researchers in Japan found this incorporating MSG and other umami substances into common Japanese condiments, such as soy sauce, seasoning salt and miso paste, could reduce salt intake by up to 22.3%. Doing the same in chicken curry and chicken chili soups, Malaysian scientists have found, could be used to cut recipes. 32.5% salt content.

Take these results with a grain of, uh, MSG. Recent studies have consistently found MSG to be a safe and promising salt substitute, but many, including both the Nutrients and the Japanese study, were funded at least in part by Ajinomoto Co. – the company that introduced the first commercial form of the substance – or the International Glutamate Technical Committee, a trade group. Lee and Dunteman also received funding from Ajinomoto for some of their MSG work, including a study showing that the substance could improve the flavor of sodium-reduced bread. Lee said it aims to show that substituting MSG for salt is “doable, so if any food companies want to grab it and try it on their own systems,” they have a basis to do so. Her goal, she added, “is not to sell bread with MSG.” (The paper, along with the other two mentioned that received industry funding, have been independently peer-reviewed.)

Obviously, more independent research is needed, but food companies have plenty of reasons to help find a better alternative to salt. More than 70% of Americans’ salt intake comes from processed and manufactured foods, and if the FDA decides to crack down on salt intake, its policies will largely target the food industry, Lee said. Already, some soup and canned fish manufacturers are experimenting with salt substitutes.

Deploying MSG in a massive sodium reduction campaign would not be straightforward. MSG is more expensive than salt, Dunteman noted. More importantly, in many foods, salt provides more than flavor; it can also act as a preservative and regulate the texture for example, adding juiciness to lean meat or stabilizing yeast dough. In their study on bread, Lee and Dunteman found that removing too much salt reduced chewiness and firmness, even when the MSG compensated for the taste. Among common processed foods, bread is a prime target for future MSG research, as it is the largest contributor to sodium intake in the United States– not only because of its salt content, but also because of the considerable amount that Americans consume. When MSG is used instead of salt to enhance flavor, “foods can taste just as delicious but without affecting hypertension,” Katherine Burt, professor of health promotion and nutritional sciences at Lehman College, including in writing on MSG was not industry funded, I was told. It’s “a great way to make food exciting and healthy.”

MSG can also be used to deliberately reduce salt intake at home. Adding a new ingredient to a pantry can be daunting, but consider that MSG is already present in most kitchens, occurring naturally in umami-rich foods such as parmesan and mushrooms and added to processed foods such as Campbell’s Soup and Doritos. These days, it’s pretty easy to find it online or in stores, sold in shakers or packets, much like salt. Li recommends that those curious about MSG start seasoning their food with a 50-50 mix of MSG and table salt. When eating processed foods, choose low-sodium versions of products (not “reduced sodium” products, which may not contain low levels of salt). They’ll likely taste bad, so add MSG in increments until they taste good, Lee said.

We still have a lot to learn about MSG as a salt substitute, but the biggest challenge to its take-off is cultural, not scientific. To some extent, tastes change: celebrity chefs like David Chang defend himand an Popular New York restaurant now serves an MSG martini. But the perception that MSG is unhealthy still persists, despite evidence to the contrary. Words such as “sly,” “disguised,” And “bad” are still used to describe it, and grocery stores such as whole foods And Trader Joe’s be sure to mention that their foods do not contain MSG. Nonetheless, as long as old misconceptions about MSG persist, they will continue to hamper the potential for a better salt substitute. America’s aversion to MSG may be intended to promote better health, but at this point it might just be doing the exact opposite.