My lovely OS homecooked food is full of MSG! -what does it do to you?

bertiebots

atpug wrote: »

A little tangent to OP but I have noticed MSG in most Doritos and the Walker special range (sort forgot the exact range name). So on one hand they are claiming to decrease salt and fat levels but bump it up with nasty extras such as MSG.

I havent eaten doritos for ages as I have stopped buying anything like crisps etc:rolleyes: but now I know why I got a migraine with an hour of eating them....combined with a dip it was even worse:eek: . I seem ok with oxo cubes but am just using up what I have in,then changing to kallo organic (I know they still contain msg) but surely they must be a bit better. Have I missed a stock cube that is msg free?(quickly scanned through thread!) Although I do make my own stock sometimes I need a lot for soups etc.

angel81uk

mazza245 wrote: »

Bouncing this in case there are people who didn't read it before! We find that it isn't just MSG, but flavourings or artificial flavourings that are the problem. Like I said before, some version of these are in such a lot of foods that you just don't realise. My son has had a migraine from:

toothpaste (we can only use Ultrabrite which seems fine, everything else has flavourings in)
crisps (we can only eat plain as a lot of flavoured crisps have flavourings in, now M & S have started doing some with natural flavours - yippee!)
brown sauce (the bottle said Daddy's which is OK but the stallholder must have filled it with a cheapo version) - this caused a migrainal coma which my son took 3 days to come round from!

The list goes on. We, of course, can't eat anything cooked in a Chinese (my husband once had a steak in a Chinese restaurant and still got a migraine - presumably the pans are coated with MSG). All these other sorts of things have been found by painful trial and error.

We find difficulty in eating out and my husband and son can only pick things which can be eaten dry e.g. steak, gammon etc. When it comes to arranging catering for events we have to ensure that the caterers use only our stock cubes (Just Bouillon) and have to check through every item to make sure they will be OK. We are just trying to arrange our son's wedding later this year and we are having to go through everything again, it wouldn't do for him to get a migraine that day!

I can really sympathise with you! I've had the same problem since childhood, within 15 minutes of eating anything containing MSG, artificial flavourings or the worst one, artificial sweeteners and I have a severe migraine attack which puts me in bed for 3 days. I also have the same problem with tomatoes and peppers, although red peppers appear to be the worst. It makes it almost impossible to eat anything! I've seen various GP's over the years and had allergy tests etc but they never show anything up so I'm just accused of being a fussy eater by the medical profession.

But through my own research (mostly a carefully kept food diary) it appears as though I can't tolerate artificial sweeteners under any circumstances, but MSG and other flavourings it's more down to the different combinations and amounts which makes it really difficult!

I do seem to have an "early warning" system of sorts though, after the first bite of something which causes a reaction I get an itching sensation between my cheekbones and sinuses, deep within the bone almost as though it's above at the roots of my canine teeth. If I get the "itch"I know to take a dose of sumatriptan asap and then I'll get away with just a mild attack and can still function relatively normally. I have to stop eating the offending meal though of course or it's just asking for trouble!

Olliebeak

I get a terrible thirst with msg and then the next day a 'muzzy head' (not exactly a headache or a 'hangover-type') but a feeling of being 'not quite with us' - presume it's to do with becoming very dehydrated!

Angelraesunshine

well that explains a few things for both me and my Dh, so thanks OP. Tesco delivers tonight so i have knocked off the 4 boxes of oxo i had on it as they were on offer ( still got 1 box of veg and 1 box of beef in the cupboard though, will use them up but carefully) and have added the marigold veg one to it instead.

mazza245

You poor thing, Angel81uk, you are really suffering with this. We haven't found artificial sweeteners to be a problem, I don't think, but MSG and artificial flavourings. Nobody can believe how long it takes us to shop as we have to read every single label! You get 'tuned in' to seeing the words though, they are usually towards the bottom of the list and I can spot them in no time nowadays.

It's funny, my son and my husband cannot bide someone even talking about migraines, they feel funny and always think it might bring one on! I know, I know, it can't but it's amazing what the mind can do! After years of my family suffering, (we assume because we don't eat these things any more), I seem to have become sensitized to them and if I have a packet of flavoured crisps or something suspicious, I started getting migraines. My GP said "Don't be silly, you can't catch migraines!". I'm not saying I've caught them, but I have had them occasionally!

It's also funny what you say about the 'itch', my son knows the first sign of something wrong is when his teeth 'itch'!!!! He actually takes tablets each day as a prevention as well as has tablets handy for the first sign to catch it quickly before it ruins the next two days plus tablets to try and abort the sickness as well, but unless you get them immediately, they always get sicked up! Sorry if anyone is eating their tea at the moment. Oh yes, the next day or so is usually muzzy or not quite with us.

Dreadful thing - and all brought on by something added to food that doesn't need to be there at all. Presumably it's just a way of adding flavour cheaply. I have written to M & S (they supplied us with a list of foods that doesn't have anything in) and they seem to be making progress with products without MSG, it's a pity the other manufacturers don't do the same thing. Sorry for the length of this answer.

Dustykitten

I know this thread is old but worth a bounce especially this time of year when peole are eating food they might not have regularly.

I was up with my 18 year old last night as he was feeling sick, shaking from head to toe, numbness, anxiety. Scary for him but I am sure it was because he'd eaten a packet of BBQ pringles, not something I buy. On the odd occasion as a child he had takeaway like MacD he had a similar reaction.

I wonder now if this is MSG related? Good way to stop him going down the dodgy food route.

MadelinesMum

Thanks for bumping this. Reading through the first page I realised that it probably is not the just salt content in chinese takeaways that make me feel so thirsty during the night and feeling rubbish the next day. I even stopped eating the stuff because I made me feel so bad... now I know why!