 It's round, it's sharp, it's beefy, it's complex. Monosodium glutamate, also known as MSG. Over the years, MSG has gone on a really bad rap. I can't eat that Chinese food, it has like too much MSG in it. Ugh, I can't have too much ramen, I'll get a headache. Careful now, MSG will give you cancer. I was going through my Facebook and I came across this graphic. Oh no, the horrible MSG, it will cause obesity, brain damage, Parkinson's, Alzheimer's, and chronic inflammation. Oooooh. Well, guess what people, it's all a lie. Monosodium glutamate, a salt form from glutamic acid. Invented in 1908 by Kikunae Ikeda. It's commonly used as a flavor enhancer for Chinese food and other Asian cuisines. Giving food that meaty, sharp taste called mommy. For years, there has been a myth floating around that MSG will give you headaches, give you obesity, or MSG causes cancer. It's all a lie. Manufactured by xenophobia. The year was 1848. James W. Marshall had found gold in Sutter's Mill in Coloma, California, and thus began the start of the great California gold rush. With this, people all over the world wanted a piece of the golden pie. 300,000 people moved to California, which was huge. Considering the population of the United States was only at 17 million at the time, and a majority of the immigrants entering through Angel Island in San Francisco. Gold was plentiful and a lot of people became rich. Approximately $56 billion worth of gold was found. And life was great until the gold ran out. The people who didn't get gold were angry and wanted some. And the people who did get gold were greedy and wanted more. They wanted someone to blame. Man, if it weren't for those dang Chinese, I would have had more gold. So tensions began to rise. Anti-Asian sentiments were at an all-time high. Laws were made that prevented Chinese people from owning land. The Anticouli Act of 1862 heavily taxed Chinese immigrants from doing business in California. The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 prevented Chinese people from immigrating to the United States. Because of all the anti-Asian atmosphere, Chinese and other Asians had to stick together in close-knit communities such as Chinatowns. No one wanted to hire Asians or associate with them at all, which meant Asians had to become entrepreneurs and start their own ventures to gain money. This caused the birth of many Chinese restaurants in America. However, a lot of American business owners and restaurant owners saw Chinese restaurants and their success as an enemy and a competitor. Fast forward to 1968, a letter from, ironically, a Chinese doctor, Homan Kwak, who reported general weakness and health palpitations after eating a Chinese meal. He offered a number of reasons, only one of which was attributed to MSG. Thus began the witch hunt. MSG, a popular ingredient in Chinese and Japanese food, became the target of Western criticism. MSG was attacked in order to destroy the credibility and image of Asians and Asian restaurants. MSG gives me headaches. Like, honestly though, MSG hurts my stomach. If that were true, everyone in China and Japan would have headaches 24-7, and pretty much everyone would die of cancer, right? Well wait, if Japanese cuisine is so bad, why is their average life expectancy 84 years? The lie became so big that in the 1960s it was dubbed the Chinese Restaurant Syndrome. Tons of experiments were done, and the conclusion is that MSG has zero, no harmful effects. To quote the FDA, over the years, the FDA has received reports of symptoms such as headache and nausea after eating foods containing MSG. However, we were never able to confirm that the MSG caused the reported effects. Literally, the only way you can die from eating MSG is from overeating, you know, because it's so delicious, so you eat too much. It's funny how people eat plates worth of fried food and sugary desserts, but then they complain about the MSG. Oh, it's not the fried grease or the thick nasty oils or the sheer amount of sugar consumed. It's the flavor enhancer, I'm sure of it. There has been no correlation or causation of headaches or asthma, or what some people call Chinese Restaurant Syndrome associated with MSG. There are apparently some individuals that are intolerant or have some concerns about MSG, but from a population standpoint, we don't have any sort of reason to believe that it would be unsafe at any level that is currently used in the US. Over the years, there's never been any empirical or factual evidence, only anecdotal, which is a fancy way of saying, in my experience, or from what I've heard. Here's a list of organizations and doctors with actual factual and empirical evidence that say that MSG is safe. I mean, rays of hands. How many of you guys have gotten sick from eating Doritos or Lays? Pretty much any brand of potato chips. Fried chicken, chicken nuggets, french fries. Well, guess what? All of those contain MSG. You ever have Campbell's chicken noodle soup? Delicious, right? Wait just a minute. What's this? It's funny. Campbell's has had MSG in their food for years, yet nobody bats an eye. But the second you eat Chinese food, it's automatic cancer. In fact, tomatoes, broccoli, walnuts, mushroom, and a variety of cheeses all naturally contain glutamate. The average American consumes 500 milligrams of MSG a day, just from eating a normal diet. This is without the Chinese food. So why do people say they get sick? A lot of people have reported that they've had headaches and nausea. Scientists have attributed this to the nocebo effect. In essence, if we think something is harmful, our brain tricks us into thinking that it's harmful. In the double blind experiment in 1993, it included 71 individuals who stated they had experienced MSG after effects like headaches and nausea. However, in the experiment, these same individuals did not experience any side effects at all. They were still consuming the same old monosodium glutamate. The only difference is they didn't know it. There was no misguided bias to let them believe that they were eating anything bad. The food wasn't served to them on a Chinese platter in a Chinese restaurant by a Chinese waiter. So there's no way it could be bad, right? This same experiment has been repeated multiple times over the years, and the conclusion is always the same. There is no correlation with MSG and any adverse after effects. Ian Mosby, PhD, award-winning author and historian, wrote in the Journal of Social History of Medicine, stating that Chinese restaurant syndrome was, at its core, a product of racialized discourse that framed much of the scientific, medical, and popular discussions surrounding the condition. Debates over the syndrome's causes and existence brought to the surface and in a way granted of renewed medical legitimacy to a number of long-held assumptions about the strangely exotic, bizarre, and excessive practices associated with Chinese culture. Thomas Germain, in his article A Racist Little Hat, the MSG debate and American culture, wrote, It's clear that racial biases sparked the original medical concern over MSG. These prejudices encouraged anti-MSG sentiment, and many doctors and scientists reached conclusions that crumble in the face of scrutiny. What's your feeling on MSG? I don't mind MSG. Yeah, I think it's good stuff. I do not react to it. Right. No, not me too. Nobody does it, so it's a lie, man. But you find a lot of natural MSG in tomato. In breast milk, in parmesan. Yeah, in a lot of products. Yeah, you know what causes Chinese restaurant syndrome? Racism. Who had the headache? It must have been the Chinese guy. Years and years of anti-Asian sentimentalism and anti-Asian propaganda are the reason that the myth exists. The MSG myth is just a lie born from racism and xenophobia. And it's really sad. Think of all the health implications MSG could have on the society if it wasn't for the backlash. Umami, which is a flavor that MSG utilizes, lasts longer than any flavor, like sweet, sour, or bitter. It also increases the flavor of the food without any additional sugars, fats, or calories. This would help patients that have trouble with appetite. It could be a way to make vegetarian and vegan food tastier. A lot of low-fat, low-carb food could be made edible with the help of MSG. The elderly face challenges in appetite due to decline in taste sensitivity. The addition of excess sauces and dressings may make food appetizing, but could be detrimental to health due to high sodium content. Umami enables food to be flavorful while luring the sodium content of the food and stimulating the appetite. There are so much health benefits that can come out of this, but the world refuses to see past this horrible lie. All right, due to world of favor, try some ramen, try some pad thai. Eat some Chinese fried rice. It's delicious. You know, there's so much good food in this world. Don't let some century-old lie stop you from enjoying the good things. Hey guys, I hope you liked my video. Hit the like button and hit subscribe. And remember, when you're eating sushi, dip the fish into soy sauce. You buy the sushi for the fish, not the rice.