1, healthy consumption of monosodium glutamate
Whether monosodium glutamate is good for health has always been a controversial topic. In fact, monosodium glutamate is safe as long as it is eaten in moderation, and it is beneficial to human health from the perspective of nutrition and health care. Therefore, learning to use MSG scientifically can not only make your diet more delicious, but also make your eating method healthier.
Monosodium glutamate is a kind of sodium glutamate made from corn and other starches by biological fermentation. As a common flavoring agent, it is widely used in food industry, catering and home cooking. In the history of 100 years, monosodium glutamate has always been recognized as a safe food ingredient. As early as March 1987, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the World Health Organization (WHO) announced that monosodium glutamate was listed as the safest food additive after more than ten years of follow-up study on its safety, and considered that the daily acceptable intake (ADI) of monosodium glutamate was unlimited. In 199 1, the European Committee for Food Science (SCF) also issued a report, which identified monosodium glutamate as a food ingredient with "no defined acceptable daily intake (ADI)". Nowadays, monosodium glutamate has become one of the basic raw materials for cooking, and it is also widely used in food industry and condiment industry.
We know that the ingredient of monosodium glutamate is sodium glutamate. So what kind of "magic" does this substance have to make food taste fresher? In fact, the umami taste of food comes from glutamic acid in protein. When food is cooked, glutamic acid in protein will be released, which will stimulate umami receptors on human tongue buds and make people feel umami. As a cooking material, monosodium glutamate will ionize a large number of glutamate ions when used, which will combine with the umami receptor of human body and make people feel delicious from food. Similarly, foods such as soy sauce, tomatoes and grape juice are delicious because they contain free glutamic acid.
However, monosodium glutamate should be used in cooking to a certain extent. It is believed that monosodium glutamate contains sodium, and excessive intake will lead to high blood pressure. The elderly are particularly sensitive to sodium intake, so the elderly and people with diseases such as hypertension, kidney disease and edema should eat less monosodium glutamate. In addition, if you eat too much monosodium glutamate, it will even lead to an increase in the content of glutamic acid in the blood, limiting the use of essential minerals such as calcium, magnesium and copper. In particular, glutamic acid can combine with zinc in blood, and the unusable zinc glutamate is excreted, which leads to zinc deficiency in human body, and zinc is an important nutrient for the physical and intellectual development of infants. Therefore, infants and nursing mothers should fast or eat less monosodium glutamate. In addition, recent studies have shown that long-term excessive consumption of monosodium glutamate may lead to thinning of retina, decreased vision and even blindness. Therefore, from a scientific point of view, the elderly, pregnant women and children should eat less monosodium glutamate to avoid diseases.
In addition, there are some tips for seasoning with monosodium glutamate. When to use it and when not to use it is clear after reading the following introduction. First of all, you don't need monosodium glutamate for cooking. Because the broth itself is fresh and clear, the use of monosodium glutamate will cover up the original taste, and the taste of the dishes is neither fish nor fowl. Secondly, monosodium glutamate is not suitable for dishes with strong acidity, such as sweet and sour, vinegar baked vegetables and so on. Because monosodium glutamate is not easy to dissolve in acidic environment, the greater the acidity, the lower the solubility and the worse the umami effect. In addition, monosodium glutamate should not be used in dishes containing alkaline raw materials, because monosodium glutamate will synthesize disodium glutamate when it meets alkali, resulting in ammonia odor. Finally, when using monosodium glutamate, we should master the dosage. If the dosage is too much, it will produce a bitter and strange taste in the dishes, which will be counterproductive. No more than 0.5 mg per dish. Add monosodium glutamate when cooking. Because at high temperature, monosodium glutamate will be decomposed into sodium pyroglutamate, that is, dehydrated sodium glutamate, which is not only tasteless, but also produces toxins harmful to human body.
2. The harm of eating more monosodium glutamate
1, monosodium glutamate is mainly composed of sodium glutamate, which can be decomposed during digestion, and the latter is converted into an inhibitory neurotransmitter by enzyme catalysis in brain tissue. When monosodium glutamate is ingested too much, this inhibitory neurotransmitter will inhibit various nerve functions in the human body, resulting in a series of symptoms such as dizziness, headache, drowsiness, muscle spasm, anxiety and confusion. Some people with sensitive constitution may even feel sore bones and weak muscles. Moreover, excessive inhibitory neurotransmitters can also inhibit the secretion of thyroid stimulating hormone in human hypothalamus, hinder bone development, and have a significant impact on children.
2, because monosodium glutamate contains sodium, excessive intake often leads to thirst, which easily leads to high blood pressure. People over the age of 60 are particularly sensitive to sodium intake, so the elderly and people suffering from diseases such as hypertension, kidney disease and edema should especially eat less monosodium glutamate.
3. When the consumption of monosodium glutamate exceeds the metabolic capacity of the body, it will also lead to an increase in the content of glutamic acid in the blood and limit the use of essential minerals such as calcium, magnesium and copper. In particular, glutamic acid can combine with zinc in blood, and the unusable zinc glutamate is excreted, resulting in zinc deficiency in human body. Zinc is an important nutrient for infants' physical and intellectual development. Zinc deficiency can lead to mental retardation, night blindness, sexual late maturity and adult dwarfism, so babies should be carefully fed.
4. Excessive intake of monosodium glutamate is a vision killer, which will lead to the decline of protein and make the growth of the eye axis out of control. Moreover, monosodium glutamate can also reduce taurine in human body, affect retinal development, and even some people will have temporary blurred vision after eating monosodium glutamate.
After excessive consumption of monosodium glutamate, the content of glutamic acid in human blood will increase, which will hinder the absorption of calcium and magnesium, thus causing short-term symptoms such as headache, heartbeat and nausea, and will also have adverse effects on reproductive system.
6. Eating too much MSG will make people dependent on MSG, and then eating food without MSG will feel tasteless, which will also hinder the absorption of other nutrients.