Monosodium Glutamate has been used for centuries in food preparation, and naturally occuring in seaweed has been an intrinsic flavouring in Japanese cuisine. Its taste is not sweet, sour, salty, or bitter but what is described in Japanese as Unami. This apparently innocent molecule however is blamed for a wide range of neurological disorders, and is known to be a reaction trigger in Crohns disease.
Monosodium Glutamte, C5H8NaO4, is the sodium salt of Glutamate. Glutamate is an amino acid naturally occuring in the human body, it is an essential neurotransmitter and vital for metabolism.
Monosodium glutamate is thought to be responsible for several disorders and illnesses. One of which is known as Chinese Restaurant syndrome. The symptoms of this "illness" are supposed to be numbness, tingling and tightness of the chest lasting for up to two hours.
MSG is also alleged to have effects on the brain that can induce obesity and brain damage. In trials performed in 1969 by J.W.Olney mice which were given MSG from a young age were found to have brain damage in the region of the hypothalamus. More information can be found about this research at
None of the large amounts of research have been deemed as conclusive enough to prove the connections with ilnesses and monosodium glutamate. The American government health agency says that MSG IS safe.
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