Glutamate sodium, the side effects of which have not yet been fully clarified, are used very actively. Have you ever wondered why many products from the fast food series ("fast food") have such an inimitable natural taste? We buy chips, croutons, noodles, instant soups and rarely think about how meat taste is created in products without a gram of meat. We loved fast food products with the taste of bacon, ham, paprika, aromatic onion with sour cream, salmon, cheese and even black caviar ... They are delicious and quickly prepared. One can understand when people with shortage of time buy fast food. But we, adults, are not averse to substituting a full meal with a pair of sachets of crispy chips or quickly brewing a soup from a paper cup even when we are at home. And worst of all, we feed our children.
What is glutamate sodium?
Glutamate sodium is an industrially produced food additive. It is actively used in the production of canned food and concentrates, the preparation of culinary products, add sodium glutamate and ready meals. Having a crystalline structure, sodium glutamate dissolves well in water. It is used to enhance the taste and smell of meat products, to soften the salty and bitter aftertaste.
According to the "Encyclopaedic dictionary of medical terms", sodium glutamate is a monosodium salt of glutamic acid, used to enhance the taste of canned food, meat concentrates, meat, and so on. If taken in large quantities, weakness, nausea, dizziness, facial hyperemia, unpleasant burning sensations in the abdominal region may be noted. As we see, the side effects from the use of sodium glutamate are scientifically confirmed.
It forms glutamate sodium from glutamic acid, which is part of many proteins. But in natural products in a free form is rare and exclusively in a meager amount. With prolonged storage, freezing of products of animal origin, the concentration of glutamic acid decreases. And with it, the aroma and taste of meat is reduced. That is why very often in the food industry, sodium glutamate is added to sausages and canned foods. And if meat is not enough in meat products and most of its dishonest producers replace, for example, soy - then glutamate of sodium is truly irreplaceable! It is thanks to glutamate sodium that soy sausage acquires a natural meat taste and smell.
Outwardly, sodium glutamate is similar to sugar and salt. But he has a different taste. The Japanese call it "umami", in the Western countries it is called "savory" - broth-like. Glutamate, by its popularity, has become a real king of seasonings. In the food industry today, it can compete, perhaps, only with table salt.
Side effects of sodium glutamate
In the impetuous rhythm of modern life, "fast food" has taken root as rapidly, giving us additional precious time for work and other pressing issues. But the Western world was the first to sound the alarm: fast food is one of the main causes of excessive appetite and weight gain. The full-grown America amicably took up arms against McDonald's, demanding that fast food restaurants be erased from the "face" of their country. Well, "McDonald's" will disappear - will there be much change if the habit of millions to eat a tasty and satisfying "fast food" has firmly taken root? Food showcases are breaking from it both there and here. Food stuffed with sodium glutamate, occupied our home grocery stores and hypermarkets, settled in small shops along the way of our daily routes and in boundless markets.
But have you ever thought about where this wonderful taste comes from fast food? The answer is simple: food supplements, and first of all - sodium glutamate. Doctors seriously say that glutamate sodium makes us bulimans. That is - food eaters. Look at the culinary Internet sites, turn on the "search" command for the key concept of "sodium glutamate" - learn a lot of curious!
Bright bags with bouillon cubes and seasonings are often decorated with flower beds. They cause associations with delicious and healthy food. In fact, most condiments are hybrids of food chemistry with the addition of natural vegetables and spices. And it's not a fact that there will be more natural products! In addition to chemistry, almost half the weight of cubes and seasonings is cooked salt. As a result, fornication turns out to be salted and "overcooked". But the share of dried vegetables is indicated not by itself, but by the total mass. At the same time, their mass fraction is even less than that of salts. The third item of many spices, broths and concentrates are flavor additives: inosinate and sodium glutamate. They provide a taste for ready meals, not vegetables and greens. Usually, taste enhancers are added not much less than greens and dried vegetables. Producers do their best to make the most of their profits through our health.
Everyone knows that broths are very tasty and nutritious food. They contain minerals and other useful substances. Especially a lot in a natural broth of gelatin, containing collagen. Collagen is a natural designer of muscle tissue, skin, hair, walls of blood vessels. "A good broth revives the dead" - reads the Latin proverb. But is this a broth we get from the dry blocks, so colorfully represented in daily advertising TV stories? Industrially produced sauces and soups contain artificial additives that give them fish or meat flavors. Since using natural broths is too expensive for the manufacturer.
Mild doses of sodium glutamate allow the food industry to save on mushrooms, poultry, meat and other natural products. After all, the product can be put instead of a full piece of meat a small amount of ground meat fibers or its extract. And in order to recreate the sensation of a meat dish, it is enough to spice up the products with a pinch of sodium glutamate.
What's wrong with that?
Certainly this question will be asked by many readers. First, it saves not only the food industry, but also consumers. Natural food products are not cheap, it is not enough for each family to cook now. Secondly, it takes so long to prepare "real" food! It turns out, "deception is noble". No, this is a delusion. With fast food, we do not get enough amino acids and other components necessary for the body contained in natural products. Instead, we consume decent doses of sodium glutamate, which, as mentioned above, makes us bulimans.
As early as the middle of the last century, scientists found out how sodium glutamate helps reproduce smells and tastes that are similar to natural foods. The person in the language has receptors that react to glutamic acid - which is the main "fuel" for the brain. Glutamic acid increases intelligence, treats depression and impotence, reduces fatigue. But this applies to natural acid. The same receptors react sensitively to sodium glutamate, that is, the synthetically obtained monosodium salt of glutamic acid.
This additive came from the East. In one of the Japanese laboratories led by Kikunai Ikeda, in 1908 the world's first synthetic monosodium glutamate was obtained. It strengthened the aroma and taste of meat. And in 1947 it was announced to the whole world that most natural odors could be synthesized very soon within the walls of the laboratories. In this we are absolutely sure today.
In the mid-seventies, serious storms erupted around sodium glutamate. In many respects this was due to the popularity and wide development of the network of Chinese cuisine in the West. Soon, the so-called "Chinese restaurant syndrome" was noticed and described. This is an unpleasant side effect of sodium glutamate. Many visitors to these restaurants (as well as Chinese zabegalovok), having eaten the eastern exotic, soon experienced a surge of hot waves to the head, began to sweat and choke. Especially susceptible people even developed a typical asthma attack of suffocation. This side effect was the reason for further study of this food supplement. It turned out that sodium glutamate can really cause headaches. In addition, it blocks iodine in the body. As a result, with a deficiency of iodine, various disorders can manifest themselves. Including dehydration, weight gain, metabolic disorders.
Glutamate sodium is traditionally very widely used in the eastern kitchen. In Thailand, for example, its average consumption reaches 3 grams per day per person. Virtually no Chinese recipes for dishes can not do without this component.
Remembered the study of the American neurophysiologist John Olney, conducted in 1957. He found that sodium glutamate can cause brain damage in rats. After this, glutamate began to suspect the occurrence of many diseases - from the usual headaches to Alzheimer's. The most radical critics of "food chemistry" were hammered into the bells: artificially obtained monosodium glutamate is a toxin that excites the nervous system. It is the cause of overexcitation of brain cells, can potentially cause irreversible damage to the nervous system and the growing brain of the child. Several years of glutamate sodium was seriously studied. Most of the accusations were rejected and the food additive was generally considered safe. Although the "Chinese restaurant syndrome" and the negative impact on asthma, scientists had to admit. But under the influence of corporations, the business was hushed up.
Recommendations
Today, sodium glutamate is legalized. That is, it is admitted to use as a food additive and is denoted by the code Е 621 (on foreign products - MSG). It is believed that when applied within reasonable limits, glutamate sodium will not hurt anyone. The daily dose for adults should not exceed 1.5 grams, for adolescents - 0.5 grams. Children under the age of three generally should not eat foods containing glutamate sodium. As a whole, it contains today, according to various sources, 75-95% of industrially produced ready-made food products or semi-finished products.
Let's sum up. Obviously, in the history of one of the most widely used food additives, the point has not yet been set. But the information that is available should still alert us and encourage us to reform our food and housekeeping. We are so carried away by the arrangement of our kitchens! Beautiful furniture, sparkling, with all kinds of bloat plates, ovens, all kinds of electrical appliances. They are designed to facilitate and speed up the preparation of delicious and healthy food. And now what dishes! But are we often using all these combines, mixers, blenders, juicers, electron-knives? No, we do not turn on the stove every day - boiling water from the electric kettle, something to warm up - in the microwave, the rest of the food - from the package immediately to the table.
Of course, without "fast food" and semi-finished products, today it is almost impossible for us to manage. But it is not intended for every day! Even cooked sausage, sausages, dieticians recommend not to eat often. In addition to artificial enhancers of natural taste and smell, they also contain a lot of fat. Therefore, for their own health and the health of their children must be prepared by ourselves! Boiled borscht, porridges, cutlets, omelets, chops, fish and necessarily fresh salads. Remember that in the case of sodium glutamate, side effects can be expressed as unpleasant consequences.