Is it true that sodium glutamate is harmful to health?

It is common that a popular taste amplifier can lead to various unpleasant sensations: from a rapid heartbeat to the general weakness of the body. We checked how reasonably such an opinion is.

Glutamate sodium is one of the most famous and at the same time discussed food additives. Many people do not see anything bad in this amplifier, others try to avoid it in every possible way. According to the International Council for Food Information, about 40% of all Americans Refused From the purchase in the supermarket, if the product contains sodium glutamate. At the same time, concerns associated with the substance are not a purely American phenomenon. For example, in 2013, deputies of the State Duma from the LDPR Offered Prohibit food manufacturers use glutamate sodium. Legislators explained their initiative to "the dominance [of this substance] in food and the negative impact on the health of the nation."

The discussion about the possible harm of glutamate sodium began several decades ago. In 1968, in the American scientific magazine The New England Journal of Medicine was Published A letter from Professor Robert Ho Man Kvok called the Syndrome of the Chinese Restaurant. The scientist reported that every time after visiting such an institution, he began to experience malaise. Ho Man Kovk suggested that this may be associated with one of the ingredients characteristic of Chinese cuisine: soy sauce, culinary wine (special The wine, which is released not for drinking, but exclusively for cooking) or a glutamate of sodium, but could not establish an exact reason, inviting colleagues to discuss. Soon to the discussion joined And journalists, choosing a glutamate with the object of their publications (probably due to an incomprehensible “chemical” name).

Half a century later, the researcher Jennifer Lemesuria joined the discussion. Not being a doctor or biologist, she wondered: how did such a common belief grow out of one letter? IN article In 2017, Lemezury came to the conclusion that the idea successfully spread due to the fact that it came to beneficial grounds-in those years, racist prejudices and the humor associated with them were universal. She failed to chat with Professor Ho Man Kvok himself - he died three years before the publication. In 2018, Lemesuria received a voice message from a man named Howard Steal. He said that in 1968 he argued with a friend that he could write a text that would be published in a scientific journal. Style allegedly composed a letter under the invented name Robert He Man Kovk, and when he realized that the situation was getting out of control, he tried to print a refutation in the same journal, but the editor refused to do this. True, the Steal died soon, and his daughter toldthat the father really loved such draws.

Glutamate sodium is the salt of one of the amino acids, of which all the proteins consist. The professor of Tokyo University Kikunae Ikead was able to allocate this salt for the first time in 1908. He also found out that Glutamate Sodium is responsible for the minds - the fifth taste, which, along with sweet, sour, salty and bitter, recognizes the receptors in the human mouth. This is a substance Contained In many products familiar to us - for example, in tomatoes, mushrooms and cheese.

Many international and national food organizations do not see anything bad in Glutamat. World Health Organization Referes This salt to food additives does not bring recommendations for the most acceptable dosage. Office for Sanitary Supervision of the Quality of Food and Medicines of the United States He thinks Adding glutamate sodium to food “universally recognized” and emphasizes: “Although many people consider themselves sensitive to glutamate sodium, in research with the participation of such people ... scientists could not observe the corresponding reactions.” A study conducted by the Federation of American Society of Experimental Biology, showed: short -term malaise can appear in some people if they eat at least 3 g of glutamate sodium on an empty stomach. At the same time, how biologists emphasize, the usual portion of food contains no more than 0.5 g.

In 1993, scientists from the University of Western Sydney Spent On 71 volunteers, an experiment designed to characterize the possible influence of Glutamate sodium on the well -being of a person. Experts came to the conclusion that their study "did not demonstrate significant side effects of high levels of glutamate sodium in food." To similar results They came And American biologists. Australian scientists also emphasized that all food products have a huge amount of substances and elements that can lead to a deterioration in well -being, and “easily recognizable but poorly understood” names like “glutamate sodium” simply serve as “scapegoats”.

Not true

What do our verdicts mean?

Read on the topic:

1. https://knife.media/food-myths/
2. https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20151106-is-bad-bad-as-its-made-out-to-be
3. https://www.fda.gov/food/food-additives-petitions/queswers-monosodium-glutamate-msg
4. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2018/03/20/why-americans-still-avoid-even-though-thfects-baen-been-debunked/
5. https://ria.ru/20190806/1557192756.html