MSG and other food additives

Whenever I eat foods with large quantities of MSG (ie. instant noodles, chinese restaurant food etc.), I wake up in the morning with swelling. The swelling is most noticeable in my hands. This morning, after a late-night snack of instant noodles after a winterlicious dinner at Pangaea, I woke up to so much swelling in the hands that it felt tight when I clenched my hands to make a fist. 

MSG is a mysterious ingredient to me. I know it's "bad" and I do dutifully check the label for MSG before considering making a purchase (usually...almost always, this is instant/junk food). Then there are foods that I know that contain MSG but I will choose to have it anyways. Instant noodles is one of such items. I know it's bad for me, but I don't care until the next morning.

After going to the gym, I felt so much better, and since I had some free time on a Sunday afternoon, I decided to do some light (*emphasis on light) research on MSG.

Then I hit upon this website.

This website contains a lot of information, if true, should make me a wiser eater. Did I read it from top to bottom? No. Here are the notes I took from the website for future reference.

• "FDA does not require manufacturers to label these foods MSG unless the added ingredient is 99% pure MSG."

• "If MSG is produced as a result of protein hydrolysis or a byproduct of protein processing, the FDA does not require MSG to appear on the label."

•  "Moreover, a product labeled “No MSG” may still have MSG or free glutamic acid as a result of protein processing, as long as pure MSG was not added."

• "Glutamic acid found in unadulterated “whole food” protein does not cause adverse reactions. To cause adverse reactions, the glutamic acid must have been processed/manufactured or come from protein that has been fermented."

• "Names of ingredients that always contain processed free glutamic acid:

• Glutamic Acid (E 620)2
• Glutamate (E 620)
• Monosodium Glutamate (E 621)
• Monopotassium Glutamate (E 622)
• Calcium Glutamate (E 623)
• Monoammonium Glutamate (E 624)
• Magnesium Glutamate (E 625)
• Natrium Glutamate
• Yeast Extract
• Anything hydrolyzed
• Any hydrolyzed protein
• Calcium Caseinate
• Sodium Caseinate
• Yeast Food
• Yeast Nutrient
• Autolyzed Yeast
• Gelatin
• Textured Protein
• Soy Protein Isolate
• Whey Protein Isolate
• Anything :protein
• Vetsin
• Ajinomoto

From time to time, I remind Bear that I'm the queen of the kitchen. I control 90% if not 100% of what we eat in our daily lives. The saying 'we are what we eat' rings true. I should educate myself more about food and nutrition.