MSG and links to Autism?

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Well, won't cause much harm to try to eliminate MSG if you are sensible.

i found this list of hidden names for MSG...

I strongly agree with Evil_Chuck.
This is true, there is little to lose except less tasty food. Perhaps it is wasted effort though?

I think this is a bit paranoid... most of the things listed aren't MSG. They might be chemically similar compounds. However, glutamate isn't harmful, it's an essential part of our diet; saying we should eliminate protein so we don't consume MSG is potentially very harmful.

The reason manufacturers use different names is because of groundless fearmongering.

Folks, please hear me out, because as simple as this post is, I sincerely believe it can benefit the entire forum and our discussion of many autism studies going forward.



1. Okay. Let's step back from what the actual facts are for a second, and just think logically about this. Rhetorical show of hands: who agrees that a site called "the MSG Myth" is likely to have an agenda, if not an outright mission, to discourage the use of MSG and/or uncover an alleged conspiracy related to it? (If you don't already concede this, a look at the site itself will remove any doubt.)

2. Another rhetorical show of hands: is it also likely that, because the site's reason for existing is to build a predetermined case that MSG is, quote, "A TERRIBLE HEALTH MENACE" (rather than the objective scientific study of human gastrointestinal physiology), all of its findings and reports may therefore be slanted, cherry-picked, insufficiently peer-reviewed, or propped up with unverifiable anecdotes in order to support that case--or at least to avoid contradicting it?

3. And finally, if we agree that these are reasonable assumptions, isn't it also reasonable that if we really want to understand MSG (or any particular subject for that matter), then the best course is to study reports on it from multiple sources--preferably valid scientific institutions who will follow the evidence wherever it leads, rather than one couple with a dodgy-looking website?



If we can at least agree on that, and I hope we do, then we've basically killed the thread. Because there's really not much else to talk about here until the threadstarter broadens his research into MSG and compares and contrasts what he finds.

In fact, it may be a far more worthwhile endeavor to study the psychological implications of people being fixated on their digestive tract and what they're putting into their bodies. Because every 2 or 3 weeks here on WrongPlanet, literally without fail, we WILL get one of these threads where somebody digs up "[insert food preservative, additive, or bacteria here] causes/exacerbates/is linked to Autism." And there is never any real, objective, peer-reviewed scientific evidence provided for this stuff, but it is still thrown around constantly. If you want an easy answer badly enough, somebody will be more than happy to give it to you. Preferably in exchange for money and attention.

I'm still waiting for Carl Sagan's 'The Demon-Haunted World' to arrive at my house. When I've had time to read that I will probably have more to say about this very human phenomenon, where almost everybody has this deep-seated urge to believe in something illogical or unscientific, and life is just this big thing where everybody stumbles around having to put up with each others' pseudo-scientific beliefs of choice.

So you think this MSG and nothing to do with Autism, but what is this...

Linkage and association of the glutamate receptor 6 gene with autism.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11920157

Now i lack the knowledge to understand most of that, but doesn't this prove that a glutamate imbalance may related to Autism?

Protip: If you lack the knowledge to understand science either get the knowledge or stop trying to evaluate things you don't understand and then ascribe causation to autism. Please and thank you. You are doing us far more harm than good when you do that.

Nobody said anything about limiting protein.

I ask you this, how can one country ban Aspartame and the other one use it? Somebodies got to be wrong.

The list of hidden names for MSG contained several types of protein, and noted that glutamate is produced when proteins encounter protease enzymes. Our bodies produce protease enzymes... In other words, to avoid glutamate, you'd need to avoid protein.

Which countries have banned Aspartame?

Excitotoxic neonatal damage induced by monosodium glutamate reduces several GABAergic markers in the cerebral cortex and hippocampus in adulthood.

I learned enough to know that scientific world is flawed.

Nothing travels faster than the speed of MSG fearmongering... except for that subatomic dollar.

In fact, it may be a far more worthwhile endeavor to study the psychological implications of people being fixated on their digestive tract and what they're putting into their bodies. Because every 2 or 3 weeks here on WrongPlanet, literally without fail, we WILL get one of these threads where somebody digs up "[insert food preservative, additive, or bacteria here] causes/exacerbates/is linked to Autism." And there is never any real, objective, peer-reviewed scientific evidence provided for this stuff, but it is still thrown around constantly. If you want an easy answer badly enough, somebody will be more than happy to give it to you. Preferably in exchange for money and attention.

I'm still waiting for Carl Sagan's 'The Demon-Haunted World' to arrive at my house. When I've had time to read that I will probably have more to say about this very human phenomenon, where almost everybody has this deep-seated urge to believe in something illogical or unscientific, and life is just this big thing where everybody stumbles around having to put up with each others' pseudo-scientific beliefs of choice.

You have utterly failed to acknowledge the meaning of my post, much less refute a single word of it. It is clear by your responses to me and others that you would rather clap your hands over your ears and continue to repeat half-baked ideas you picked up from elsewhere. I hope at the very least that this is serving some kind of therapeutic purpose for you, because it certainly is not going to convince any reasonable person that a naturally occurring amino acid causes autism.

You're presuming that the glutamate they mass produce is the same as the glutamate found in Milk, cheese, vegetables, etc. MSG produced outside the body probably has impurities.

US banned Aspartame twice i think, i'm not sure when.

Here's that study about the Broccoli extract i mentioned earlier...
http://www.pnas.org/content/111/43/15550.abstract

And is Aspartame banned in the USA now? What do the FDA think about it?