/kitchen/ - tasty morsels & delights

It's just glorified salt. Use a pinch of it in savory dishes like stir fry to make them more savory. It's not good for those with high blood pressure (hypertension), but neither is normal salt. People that think MSG is toxic forget the basis of toxicology itself is that _anything_ at the right dose to the right person is poison. Young kids can get an allergic reaction from it (hives; swelling lips), but that can be fixed with crushed diphenhydramine in a carbonated beverage. The CO2 causes quicker absorption of the antihistamine in the stomach alleviating symptoms faster.

[protip] Carbonation can get you drunker faster harder stronger with this same technique. Use such advice with caution, 007.[/protip]

>what should I put it on?
Hearty food benefits the most from it. I add MSG to fried rice, noodle soup and vegetable based hot meals, basically anything of asian cuisine.

>is it that bad?
Every pure chemical is able to damage the body, take sodium chloride or sodium bicarbonate for comparison. However I once asked a chemist about that and he told me it is slightly more toxic than purified water.

MSG is in some natural sources too, like meat or seaweed, hence their savoriness.