Given what you just wrote here, I'm sure you're not going to trust or believe the information on the website I am giving you as a source. You seem to have a bias against MSG and associate it with bad things based on what information you obtained previously that is incorrect. I don't expect to change your mind, but how do you know it's the MSG that does this to you? What kinds of testing have you done to isolate MSG as the cause? It's likely you have some other sort of food allergy or sensitivity but MSG got the blame. I would do some experiments to find out, especially if you eat tomatoes and don't have the same issues.
Anyway, here's my source:
The worst mouth ulcers I've ever had came from name brand ramen noodles. I can't even eat them its so bad. Another one was McDonald's McRibs.
The article seems to conflate glutamate with MSG. Do tomatoes have MSG or glutamate? My understanding is that MSG is artificial. I just briefly looked at it, but yes, bias seems to be very possible given the source. But thanks for the effort.
Try eating some MSG directly to rule out all other possibilities. If you have such a severe response, then it won't take much pure MSG to cause this reaction. As per the conflation of glutamate with MSG, the site does say the body treats them the same, but again you aren't willing to give the source any validity due to it standing against your bias. Until you can isolate MSG as the only cause of your issues, you are just disparaging it without proof. Maybe you should setup a blind test where someone else gives you food with and without MSG to see if you have a reaction or not. It could be psychosomatic from your fear/distrust of MSG.
Mouth ulcers are not psychosomatic. And I give the source less credibility because it seems to be promoting MSG. Promotional sources tend to be bias, whether they are right or wrong. Seems obvious.
Also, the 2 studies I saw were about MSG's link to headaches. And because there were no links made in the studies of MSG, or possibly glutamate, to headaches, the site seems to suggest they prove no links to any other health effects.
Further, the site claims that they have proven MSG has "no side effects" but that's not how science works. "No proven side effects", may be a legit claim, but "proven to have no side effects" isn't. Science doesn't prove negatives and claims in the negative tend to indicate a bias, or worse.
You didn't answer my question. Do tomatoes have MSG or glutamate? These are not the same thing.
As for experimenting, I'd just rather stay away for lab created flavorings and salts if possible. The body does know the difference. The body has no problem identifying harmful vs helpful bacteria and viruses, it can certainly tell the difference between natural and man made food ingredients.
But you eat all you want.
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