Just ate a pinch of straight MSG when I was refilling the jar, now have swollen neck, onset migraine, and red/flushed face. My sister gets similar reactions from time to time. Despite knowing that a few limited lab-based placebo studies have failed to find a strong...1/3

...link between MSG and MSG Symptom Complex, it’s pretty clear more studies need to be done on what causes these symptoms, and under what specific conditions.

No proof of a link is not the same as proof of no link (as many people adamantly insist), and...2/3

...telling people who experience these symptoms that science has proved they’re either imagining them or they’re psychosomatic is a) not helpful to them b) incorrect (science has *not* proven this) and c) boggles my mind to suggest, given the preponderance of reported cases. 3/3

(BTW: I still use it in cooking, and I generally don’t get a strong reaction, but when I do, it’s a very strong one. Similar to how I can drink alcohol fine normally, but once or twice a year I get severe Asian flush, which, coincidentally or not, feels very similar to MSG-SC.)