One of my all-time favorite things in the world is undeniably food. It is among my top 3 reasons to travel, and in my daily life, I generally put a lot of thought into it.
I lived in Indonesia for a year in 2015-16 and like I stated on my previous post, I've recently returned. One of my favorite things about Indo is its food. Yet it is only a few days ago that I found out about MSG and ultimately made the connection to already knowing about this decades ago from home and the famous use of Ajinomoto in Ecuadorian cooking.
But what on Earth is Monosodium Glutamate (MSG)?
Long story short, it is a very commonly used flavor enhancer. It is known to trigger the fifth taste known as umami* or savory taste. FYI, the other basic tastes are sweet, sour, bitter and salty. It tricks your brain (via your tastebuds) into believing it is consuming something tastier and actually nutritious. Unfortunately, it is not only added to industrial ready-made foods, such as chips, frozen goods or broths, but also to households and local cuisine everywhere and I mean everywhere in the world; Japan, USA, Ecuador, Indonesia, to name just a few.
Simple made complicated, it is an excitotoxin, which like the name suggests, overexcites the cells to potentially harmful levels that can in the long run cause serious cell damage and we all know what that can lead to.
Funny thing is, the idea for MSG came from a natural seaweed broth that once upon a time blew the tastebuds out of someone.
Before ever moving here I thought it'd be though to stick to a healthy vegetarian diet, but when I arrived I was pleasantly surprised that it was pretty simple given the fine array of veggie options in the local warungs or food stalls around. I, blissful in my ignorance, enjoyed this last year to the fullest, now that I have this information, I can't yet let it go. What I've done is I found a local warung that I love and just asked if they use it, they said no. Is it true or not? I guess I will never know and I can honestly say that I will keep going back either way 😔
*Discovered by MSG (Ajinomoto) creator, Japanese chemist Kikunae Ikeda more than a 100 years ago.
References:
http://www.msgtruth.org/whatisit.htm
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2009/04/21/msg-is-this-silent-killer-lurking-in-your-kitchen-cabinets.aspx
Funny thing is, the idea for MSG came from a natural seaweed broth that once upon a time blew the tastebuds out of someone.
Before ever moving here I thought it'd be though to stick to a healthy vegetarian diet, but when I arrived I was pleasantly surprised that it was pretty simple given the fine array of veggie options in the local warungs or food stalls around. I, blissful in my ignorance, enjoyed this last year to the fullest, now that I have this information, I can't yet let it go. What I've done is I found a local warung that I love and just asked if they use it, they said no. Is it true or not? I guess I will never know and I can honestly say that I will keep going back either way 😔
*Discovered by MSG (Ajinomoto) creator, Japanese chemist Kikunae Ikeda more than a 100 years ago.
References:
http://www.msgtruth.org/whatisit.htm
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2009/04/21/msg-is-this-silent-killer-lurking-in-your-kitchen-cabinets.aspx
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