• Stovetop@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    19
    ·
    1 year ago

    It’s basically just salt. Salt can be bad for you if you eat too much of it. Don’t over salt your food and you’re fine.

    • SPOOSER@lemmy.today
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      9
      ·
      1 year ago

      That was the conclusion i came to, it’s just another seasoning like paprika or salt. The opposition to it is what keeps me skeptical, if it’s just a seasoning why are people so randomly against it? I think it’s because it’s used in lots of fast food.

      • Stovetop@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        32
        arrow-down
        2
        ·
        1 year ago

        It’s rooted in racism. Chinese American food was cheap and delicious, steadily growing in popularity. Non-Chinese restaurant owners viewed us as a threat. So the racists among them used dubious studies, which have since been discredited, to try to spread this myth that Chinese food was unhealthy because it contained MSG.

        Of course it was all a fabrication. People would claim to feel bloated/sick even after eating Chinese food containing no MSG, probably because it tastes so damn good and people are bad at eating in moderation. Likewise, people could eat non-Chinese food containing MSG and somehow there are minimal complaints.

        My family’s restaurant was put through the ringer over this in the 80’s-90’s and almost went out of business, but thankfully the science prevailed in the end.