Hey Tran -
No, you haven’t upset anyone. We’re all here to learn.
— Begin quote from ____
"Tranquility wrote:
All meats, poultry, fish, eggs, dairy products, as well kombu are excellent sources of glutamic acid. Some protein-rich plant foods also serve as sources."
Glutamic acid + sodium = MSG, no? They’d pretty much have to ban all mean and animal products, and probably a bunch of plants as well.
— End quote
Well, what you are not understanding here is, yes, glutamate in its natural form (bound) is harmless. Yes, we all need it to survive. Its very common in many foods.
Glutamate in its “free form” is not harmless. Its a toxin. Its made in a factory, and its called “Monosodium Glutamate”. Its the processing of glutamate that makes it become MSG. So, no, Glutamic Acid + Sodium does NOT equal MSG unless its processed. Then we are talking a very different story.
— Begin quote from ____
Tranquility wrote:
Likewise, I think we should blame migraine, not the food.
— End quote
I apologize if I came across as blaming food. I have never claimed (nor will I ever) that MSG is the cause of my MAV. I don’t think thats possible. I CAN say with all certainty that MSG does indeed aggravate my MAV symptoms. If I had not discovered what MSG was all about, I would have given up the migraine diet after a couple of weeks, yet thankfully, I chose to continue with it and tweak it, and eventually found a major contributing factor in my suffering. I shudder to think - I’d probably still be home-bound and unable to care for my daughter had I not pursued it. But, thats just my own experience.
I’m sorry, I don’t know much about MAOI’s (antidepressants) or amines, but I hardly think thats a very good comparison. Please, correct me if I’m wrong.
I’m not one to be pushy on my opinions of MSG. I can only tell my story. I don’t mean to sound like a smart-*ss about the diet in general either. I mean it when I say, I can eat just about anything on it, as long as it doesn’t contain MSG. Tran, you are definitely correct when you say “not everyone is sensitive to MSG”. Thats true. I just hate to see people suffering through that diet, not getting results.
I say this: If you are doing the diet, and not seeing any results, give it up. If you truly want to give up MSG, then do your homework. Go on the Caveman Diet for 2 weeks and see if you get results. If you are reading labels looking for “Monosodium Glutamate” and thinking you are avoiding it - you aren’t. My motivation was simple. I wanted my life back. Avoiding MSG was the key for me. It was the absolute hardest thing I’ve ever done, and certainly I’m not cured. I still have MAV and all of its crappy symptoms, but at least I’m not homebound and spinning 24/7 anymore. :mrgreen: