Friday 5 December 2008

Hazy days...

I just had Chinese noodles for lunch, and as expected, I now feel like I've been smacked in the head with a baseball bat.

The MSG (mono sodium glutamate) is shooting its way through my bloodstream, causing a dense cloud of haziness to wash over me. My senses have dulled and the effects are similar to that feeling you get after downing a bottle of wine.

I've known MSG doesn't agree with me for some time now, but I'd never really delved further into it, so I thought I'd do a little google search and this is some of what I found:
  • MSG is a salt of the amino acid glutamate
  • Too much glutamate in the body leads it to change to GABA, another amino acid
  • GABA, whilst being waved about as a potential alternative to ritalin and dexies, may be addictive. It has a slightly sedative effect, which helps induce relaxation and sleep, and it affects the same receptors in the brain as valium.
No wonder I'm feeling totally out of it!

I found a really good overview of MSG here, which I think is worth a read.

But maybe you should finish eating those noodles first!

1 comment:

Ming the Merciless said...

I know people who react badly to MSG but I grew up eating it so I guess I'm immuned to it.

I had noodles for dinner two nights ago. So yummy.