Recently, each of us has become wary of going to the grocery store, because the media are full of information about their harm and danger to health. Often the information is very contradictory, and not everyone has the opportunity to delve deeper into the problem. Often supposedly harmful food for the body – for example, sandwiches – is quite safe. Let's deal with one of the allegedly "harmful" additives in food products, which is known as monosodium glutamate or umami, because it is it that the food industry uses several million tons every year. And you can find a lot of negative reviews about it, as a preservative that causes a chain of diseases. estet-portal.com got to know this supplement better and studied the myths about its effect on humans.
Myth #1: Monosodium glutamate – this is an artificially created additive
The first fears about the unsafeness of the additive were in Asia, but now the population there consumes the product without fear, and in Europe this food is accompanied by many legends. The first of them speaks of glutamate as a synthetic substance that is extremely dangerous for the body. In fact, glutamic acid, which is converted in tandem with sodium into monosodium glutamate, is present in the protein, and this is a component necessary for normal life. It is found in nuts, meat, milk and many vegetables.
The artificial way to create E621 is to combine bacteria with sodium salts, but in the end there is practically no difference between natural and artificial. For humans, it's just two sets of identical molecules with a difference of 0.5%.
Myth #2: Monosodium glutamate – tasteless powder that will enhance the taste of any food
Our receptors are able to detect salty, sweet, bitter foods and umami. For the first time in food production, the additive was introduced by Kikunae Ikeda, who described the taste as follows: “peculiar, but rather weak, therefore it is easily overshadowed by stronger tastes.” And if earlier only an experienced taster could recognize it, today on the label with the – E621 – it's not that hard.
The opinion that a preservative enhances the taste of any dish is erroneous, because more often the component is used for products where it is already present, but it is lost during processing of products (soaking or washing). To improve the taste, the food industry also uses an additive.
A food supplement created artificially has the same effect on the body as a natural one. Glutamate has a peculiar taste that can complement products containing it in its composition, but not any dish.
Myth #3: Monosodium glutamate in high doses makes food taste better
Food workers do not go beyond adding E621 to products, but put it in such an amount that is necessary to create an impeccable taste. There are certain boundaries – 10 g additive per 1 kg of product to achieve the desired result. For example, chips, which, according to many, are one of the most stuffed foods with glutamate, contain only 0.5% of the substance.
To use an additive in excess of the norm is tantamount to the fact that you happened to oversalt or oversweet food, there will be no positive effect from this. Such food will not taste good and will not be bought, so it is not in the interests of the food industry to go beyond the norm.
Myth #4: Monosodium glutamate in foods causes food addiction
The problem of food addiction is so broad and deep that there is no point in focusing only on food supplements. Attachment to food arises in a person due to various factors: genetic, psychological, etc. There is a version that the taste of «umami» for a person – this is a sign of protein food, so people with protein deficiency in the body are more attached to food with a supplement.
Studies conducted in America have shown that meals with E621 lead to the fastest satiety. This was easily determined: two groups of subjects were offered soup, one – with minds, another – without. And then the second dish was served, and it turned out that in the first group they were able to eat less of the second.
Myth #5: Monosodium glutamate excites the nervous system
This myth originated due to the fact that glutamate is involved in the processes of excitation, in addition, it provides support for long-term and short-term human memory. Thus, the component acts as a neurotransmitter that affects the activity of the nervous system. But it is important to take into account the fact that we are talking about a substance that is produced in the brain, and the supplement with food enters the intestines, in minimal amounts into the blood, but not into the brain.
The blood-brain barrier prevents the chemical from entering the human brain, so there is no direct effect of E621 on the activity of the nervous system. To be healthy, it is important to know which foods are harmful and limit their number a little, and not write off everything on one component in the diet.
Myth #6: Monosodium glutamate causes a number of diseases
The most common version is about the effect of a substance on the body, which results in various kinds of diseases. Among the most popular ailments attributed to the supplement are:
• allergic manifestations, which are possible only with the use of the substance in large doses and in its pure form, and not with food;
• blindness and obesity, because in experiments on rats that were fed E621 in its pure form, a similar reaction was observed, but people do not eat umami with spoons, but only as an additive to food, in any case, obesity can be avoided if is present balanced nutrition;
• oncological diseases – the myth has no scientific evidence.
The substance is not used in large quantities in the food industry, because there are restrictions, and an overdose can spoil the taste of the products. Glutamate has nothing to do with diseases such as allergies, cancer, obesity and blindness.
As you can see monosodium glutamate – a food supplement that does not contain components that are extremely hazardous to human health. It can harm health only in large doses and in its pure form. The taste of the additive is not so strong that it can kill the smell of a rotten dish, as many believe, because the substance is added to certain dishes, and not to everything. Therefore, going to the store and noticing the E621 icon on the label, you should not panic, because the dosage in food is present in a certain dose, which does not exceed the daily allowance allowed in our diet.
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