Chinese restaurant syndrome (also known as Chinese restaurant syndrome , also mistakenly known as sodium glutamate syndrome ) is a hypothetical set of symptoms that include headache, facial flushing, sweating, and a feeling of heaviness in the mouth. There was a particular opinion that the cause of the syndrome is sodium glutamate , however, many scientific studies, including double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical studies, refute any connection between glutamates and similar symptoms [1] [2] [3] [4] [5 ] [6] [7] .
The concept of “Chinese Restaurant Syndrome” first appeared in a letter from a Chinese man, Robert Ho Man Kwok, to the editor of The New England Journal of Medicine (published in the “Letters from Readers” section), in which he described his own feelings about visiting Chinese restaurants in the USA:
It has been several years of my stay in the country, during which I have a strange sensation every time I eat in a Chinese restaurant, especially one that serves Northern China. The syndrome occurs 15-20 minutes after eating the first dish, lasts about two hours, passes without any consequences. The most pronounced symptoms are numbness of the back of the neck, gradually spreading to both arms and back, general weakness and heart palpitations. Symptoms are similar to those that I experience in connection with my hypersensitivity to acetylsalicylic acid , only milder.
Original textFor several years since I have been in this country, I have experienced a strange syndrome whenever I have eaten out in a Chinese restaurant, especially one that served Northen Chinese food. The syndrome, which usually begins 15 to 20 minutes after I have eaten the first dish, lasts for about two hours, without any hangover effect. The most prominent symptoms are numbness at the back, general weakness and palpitation. The symptoms simulate those that I have had from hypersensitivity to acetylsalicylic acid, but are milder.
The author of the letter suggested that possible reasons could be: soy sauce , wine , monosodium glutamate, or high sodium chloride . He also said that several of his acquaintances from China seem to experience similar symptoms [8] .
The symptoms listed by Robert Kwok are quite nonspecific and common.
Interesting Facts
LDPR deputies I.V. Lebedev , Y. E. Nilov , A.N. Svintsov in the text of the explanatory note to the bill No. 315432-6, submitted on July 15, 2013 to the State Duma of the Russian Federation, stated that the term "Chinese restaurant syndrome" as if it means a person’s addiction to the consumption of sodium glutamate, supposedly similar to addiction to tobacco and alcohol [9] [10] [11] [12] . The bill provided for the application of large inscriptions on food products (30% of the front side) warning of the presence of monosodium glutamate, similar to inscriptions on tobacco products [13] .
Unlike the FDA rules [14] , the bill does not specify whether such warning labels are required for products containing significant amounts of natural sodium glutamate, such as tomatoes, cheeses, meat products, fermented products like soy sauce and yeast extract.
Director of the Nutrition Research Institute of the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences noted that glutamate is an essential amino acid for all people [15] .
According to Kommersant , no methods have been developed for instrumental monitoring of glutamate content in food products, the substance can be naturally formed in products, and the initiative of the deputies can be an enhancement of the “marketing program of individual meat processing companies” [16] .
Notes
- ↑ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10736382 Review of alleged reaction to monosodium glutamate and outcome of a multicenter double-blind placebo-controlled study. J Nutr. 2000 Apr; 130 (4S Suppl): 1058S-62S. PMID 10736382
- ↑ The Chinese restaurant syndrome: an anececote revisited. Food Chem Toxicol. 1986 Apr; 24 (4): 351-4. PMID 3525357 : “Double-blind testing of individuals who identify themselves as suffering the 'syndrome' has failed to confirm the role of monosodium glutamate as the provocative agent."
- ↑ Review of Alleged Reaction to Monosodium Glutamate and Outcome of a Multicenter Double-Blind Placebo-Controlled Study // J. Nutr. April 1, 2000 vol. 130 no. 4 1058S-1062S: "... Chinese Restaurant Syndrome. Numerous reports, most of them anecdotal, were published after the original observation. Since then, clinical studies have been performed by many groups, with varying degrees of rigor in experimental design ranging from uncontrolled open challenges to double-blind, placebo controlled (DBPC) studies. Challenges in subjects who reported adverse reactions to MSG have included relatively few subjects and have failed to show significant reactions to MSG. "
- ↑ Why MSG allergy is fake science. Our failure to differentiate between quackery and hard science has perpetuated the Chinese restaurant syndrome myth : "As the New York Times put it in an article by Julia Moskin published last year," 'Chinese restaurant syndrome' has been thoroughly debunked (virtually all studies since then confirm that monosodium glutamate in normal concentration has no effect on the overwhelming majority of people) “…. article in 2005 by Alex Renton that says “at no time has any official body, government or academic, ever found it necessary to warn humans against consuming MSG“ ”
- ↑ Freeman M. Reconsidering the effects of monosodium glutamate: a literature review // J Am Acad Nurse Pract: journal. - 2006 .-- October ( vol. 18 , no. 10 ). - P. 482-486 . - DOI : 10.1111 / j.1745-7599.2006.00160.x . - PMID 16999713 .
- ↑ Rosenblaum I., Bradley J., Coulston F. Single and double blind studies with oral monosodium glutamate in man (Eng.) // Toxicology and Applied Pharmacology : journal. - 1971. - February ( vol. 18 , no. 2 ). - P. 367-373 .
- ↑ Tarasoff L., Kelly MF Monosodium L-glutamate: a double-blind study and review (Eng.) // Food Chem. Toxicol. : journal. - 1993. - Vol. 31 , no. 12 . - P. 1019-1035 . - DOI : 10.1016 / 0278-6915 (93) 90012-N . - PMID 8282275 .
- ↑ MATTER WITH MINDS: TASTE. Chinese Restaurant Syndrome // Popular Mechanics, April 2012
- ↑ Automated legislative support system
- ↑ The text of the explanatory note to the bill No. 315432-6 ( copy : “At the same time, there is a negative and reasonable opinion among experts and specialists about the dangers of using E 621. The human body quickly gets used to its consumption (there is even a special term -“ Chinese restaurant syndrome “ ). Some studies show that consumption of E 621 is associated with an increased risk of glaucoma, Alzheimer's disease, and others. ”
- ↑ A bill banning the use of monosodium glutamate in foods was introduced to the State Duma , Parliamentary newspaper, 07/15/2013
- ↑ Glutamate without glitch. Products with a flavor enhancer will receive a special label // RG, 07/15/2013: "The human body supposedly can quickly get used to its consumption: there is even a special term -" Chinese restaurant syndrome. "
- ↑ Citizens will be informed about the presence of flavor enhancers in products // Klerk.ru, 07/19/13
- ↑ Meadows Michelle. MSG: A common flavor enhancer (neopr.) // FDA Consumer . - United States Food and Drug Administration. - T. 37 , No. 1 .
- ↑ MPs branded monosodium glutamate products
- ↑ The State Duma has tested nutritional supplements. Deputies propose banning monosodium glutamate // Kommersant newspaper, No. 83 / P (5114), 05/20/2013
Links
- Chinese restaurant syndrome // Medicine Plus Encyclopedy, 10/14/2012
- CHINESE RESTAURANT SYNDROME: FACT OR FICTION? // The Lancet, Volume 315, Issue 8162, Pages 251—252, 2 February 1980, doi: 10.1016 / S0140-6736 (80) 90732-1
- Monosodium Glutamate and the Chinese Restaurant Syndrome // Letters to Nature; Nature 227, 611-612 (08 August 1970); doi: 10.1038 / 227611a0
- FDA and Monosodium Glutamate // US Food and Drug Administration. FDA Backgrounder. August 31, 1995