re is msg sensitivity superstition in article annick cortex physiol su oz au annick cortex physiol su oz au annick ansselin writes in c nfdg en sdf lonestar org marco sdf lonestar org steve giammarco writes and to add further fuel to the flame war i read about years ago that the natural msg extracted from the sources you mention above does not cause the reported aftereffects it s only that nasty artificial msg extracted from coal tar or whatever that causes chinese restaurant syndrome i find this pretty hard to believe has anyone else heard it msg is mono sodium glutamate a fairly straight forward compound if it is pure the source should not be a problem your comment suggests that impurities may be the cause my experience of msg effects as part of a double blind study was that the pure stuff caused me some rather severe effects i was under the possibly incorrect assumption that most of the msg on our foods was made from processing sugar beets is this not true are there other sources of msg soya bean fermented cheeses mushrooms all contain msg i am one of those folx who react sometimes strongly to msg however i also react strongly to sodium chloride table salt in excess each causes different symptoms except for the common one of rapid heartbeat and an uncomfortable feeling of pressure in my chest upper left quadrant the symptoms i had were numbness of jaw muscles in the first instance followed by the arms then the legs headache lethargy and unable to keep awake i think it may well affect people differently well i think msg is made from a kind of plant call tapioca and not those staff you mentiond above
