Posted by Viridis on June 8, 2003, at 4:52:31
In reply to Re: MSG and aspartame etc, posted by ladylight57 on June 7, 2003, at 15:04:02
I wonder about MSG. I recall seeing the results of a fairly large study not too long ago in which people who reported MSG sensitivity were tested for their reaction to MSG. Unfortunately, I can't recall where, or all the details (and haven't bothered to track it down yet), but the gist of it was that some of the "MSG sensitives" were given food that they were told contained MSG but didn't, some were given MSG-containing food and told so, some were given food without MSG and told so, and some were given food without MSG but told that MSG was present.
Those who believed they had consumed MSG had a significantly higher incidence of "reactions" (headaches, stomach upset, agitation, etc.), whether the food actually contained MSG or not. Conversely, if the person believed no MSG was present (even if it was) the incidence of "reactions" was very low. The conclusion was that a very small proportion of the population may actually be MSG-sensitive, but nowhere near the number who believe themselves to be. It struck me as a nice example of the power of suggestion.
As for aspartame -- I really haven't followed this much, since I consume very little, but unless you're drinking great quantities of diet drinks etc., it seems unlikely you'd get much more phenylalanine and aspartic acid than you already would if your diet is fairly high in protein. Based on my limited knowledge, the aspartame thing seems mostly hype to me (unless you happen to be phenylketonuric, i.e., unable to properly metabolize phenylalanine).
One site I looked at stressed the large number of carriers for phenylketonuria (PKU) and suggested that they're at risk. The actual incidence of the disease is fairly low, but "carriers", who possess just one copy of the defective version of the relevant gene but have a second "good" copy, are fairly common. PKU is well-understood as a recessive disorder, meaning that carriers are metabolically indistinguishable from those with two normal copies of the gene (two parents who are carriers have a 1 in 4 chance of producing a PKU child). Unless the anti-aspartame lobby knows something about the genetics of PKU that others don't, this just strikes me as risk inflation and sensationalization.
I realize that some food additives, supplements, etc. can have very real effects, but these two just don't appear to be high on the risk list for the average person with moderate consumption.
My focus is on obtaining adequate levels of key nutrients (some partly via supplements, e.g., fish oil, TMG, selenium, vit. E etc.), maintaining a diverse and reasonably balanced diet, and avoiding the additives that I consider demonstrably bad. Trans-fats = artificially hydrogenated oils top the list here, along with the "natural" sweeteners that are added to so many products, like high-fructose corn syrup etc.
poster:Viridis
thread:232138
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20030604/msgs/232338.html