Is MSG (“Betsin”) bad for us?
Eating food with “Betsin” (MSG: Monosodium Glutamate, flavor enhancer) could cause a condition known as “Chinese Food Syndrome,” which could sometimes mimic a heart attack. It causes chest pains, facial pressure, and burning sensations throughout the body, sometimes with dizziness or fainting, which are mostly temporary. This phenomenon is a pharmacologic reaction to Monosodium Glutamate, a popular white powder food seasoning used in cooking. The symptoms are not really due to an allergic reaction and is dose-related. Most people are not bothered by MSG, but some react to it more severely. Although death is very rare with this syndrome, a surgeon classmate of mine, who was attending a meeting in Nice, France, a few years ago, had so violent a reaction after ingesting food with monosodium glutamate that he expired within an hour thereafter. Those who develop any of the symptoms enumerated above after eating food cooked with MSG should clearly request chefs or cooks in restaurants, at ho
