It's the first I hear about "Chinese Restaurant Syndrome" but MSG is 12.28g per 100g sodium and so should be avoided by, or at the very least restricted in the diets of, people on a low-sodium diet, such as hypertensives, kidney patients and diabetics.
Which actually advocates for the use of MSG to reduce sodium, which I find very unreasonable. The point of MSG is to increase the umami taste- but you can get that from glutamate acid, without the sodium. The only extra thing you get from MSG is the extra sodium.
The article says that only a small amount of MSG is required to enhance taste, but just try asking workers in restaurants how much MSG is in the food they serve you. Try asking them how much salt is in it, even - I have a relative on a low sodium diet and I know it's pointless, people don't even understand the question. "How much salt? What do you mean?".
And of course, just because someone puts MSG in their food doesn't mean they don't also add extra salt to it. The result is that people like my relative can't eat food with MSG without getting about twice their safe daily intake from a single meal.
Another study on 1227 Chinese adults found that MSG increased blood pressure over a period of 5 years:
When cooking with MSG you generally use a very small amount, so the sodium isn't going to be an issue - I've found any more than a small pinch can completely ruin a dish.
See this previous in-depth discussion that includes references and links to the original Harvard and USG research findings on the issues with MSG, aspartame and artificial sweeteners/flavors in general, like why it's banned in baby food: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6703802
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Source of the 12.28g per 100g claim:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5694874/
Which actually advocates for the use of MSG to reduce sodium, which I find very unreasonable. The point of MSG is to increase the umami taste- but you can get that from glutamate acid, without the sodium. The only extra thing you get from MSG is the extra sodium.
The article says that only a small amount of MSG is required to enhance taste, but just try asking workers in restaurants how much MSG is in the food they serve you. Try asking them how much salt is in it, even - I have a relative on a low sodium diet and I know it's pointless, people don't even understand the question. "How much salt? What do you mean?".
And of course, just because someone puts MSG in their food doesn't mean they don't also add extra salt to it. The result is that people like my relative can't eat food with MSG without getting about twice their safe daily intake from a single meal.
Another study on 1227 Chinese adults found that MSG increased blood pressure over a period of 5 years:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21372742
But I can't read the full text.