Chemist claims she reversed daughter's Autism symptoms

[Hum]

A Bay Area biochemist thinks she's found a sort of autism smoking gun: monosodium glutamate, or MSG.

It's a chemical compound almost exclusively connoted with Chinese food, but Katherine Reid points out that it's found in all but 5 percent of processed food, largely unbeknownst to us: It appears on the food label only about 1 percent of the time.

But if things like flavor or flavoring, soy protein, whey protein, pectin, corn starch, or stock make an appearance (many, many more listed on this pdf), you're consuming MSG, she says, needlessly.

According to Reid, many neurodevelopmental disorders like autism are potentially linked with an improper balance of glutamate intake.

?We have glutamate receptors in our body, and 50 percent of our nervous system is excited by glutamate, so we need certain amounts to function," Reid told FoxNews.com. "But it?s all about balance.  There?s a huge amount of scientific literature that links many diseases with a glutamate imbalance.  And it?s not just autism, but a number of neurological disorders too ? there?s a connection to this glutamic imbalance.?

But then there's Reid and her 7-year-old daughter. As the Chronicle explains, Reid's youngest child, Brooke, began showing signs of autism at the age of 2: wild tantrums, repetitive behavior, communication issues, digestive problems.

Tests revealed the girl was moderately autistic. Reid began researching diet options, first eliminating gluten and dairy; then she read about MSG, and the role glutamate plays in the body: It's essential for learning and function, but she came to believe that too much of it interferes with neural function?and that the glutamine in MSG can exacerbate the imbalance.

She wiped MSG from Brooke's diet (SantaCruz.com notes it's even found in toothpaste), and says the autism symptoms have been "completely removed."

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[blerk]

 

 

If MSG is really so bad I'd expect the entire population of Japan, South Korea and Taiwan, along with significant parts of China and the other Asian countries to be absolutely stuffed full of severely autistic kids. So many ingredient lists have MSG :D

 

 

 

Now I'm hungry...

[theyarecomingforyou]

Seems unlikely, though I'm sure it will be researched regardless.

[Torolol]

MSG probably do more bad for white peoples than what it did to Far-east Asian peoples. -Citation needed.

perhaps similar on how Lactose Intolerance are happened more often on far-east asian people than white peoples.

[Charisma Veteran]

I wouldn't be surprised, really. If not that one "smoking gun" maybe a combination of factors. Young developing bodies don't have as much tolerance for all the crap in a typical modern diet as adults do, and we already know adults experience plenty of issues due to it.

[Hum]

I try to avoid MSG -- surprising that it is not always listed on packages.

[Torolol]

I try to avoid MSG -- surprising that it is not always listed on packages.

I usually avoid any producer which in their product said "Contain NO MSG", but when i see the small print ingredients list it said "Mono NATRIUM Glutamat".

pfff, thats a deceiving attempts.

[jasondefaoite]

If MSG is really so bad I'd expect the entire population of Japan, South Korea and Taiwan, along with significant parts of China and the other Asian countries to be absolutely stuffed full of severely autistic kids. So many ingredient lists have MSG :D

 

 

 

Now I'm hungry...

 

That's a very good point.

[linsook]

I try to avoid MSG -- surprising that it is not always listed on packages.

 

its practically impossible to avoid MSG if you're not preparing all you food yourself from scratch and not using store bought spices/sauces/condiments, good luck...

[Albert]

... Reid's youngest child, Brooke, began showing signs of autism at the age of 2: wild tantrums, repetitive behavior, communication issues, digestive problems. ...

maybe it's just bad parenting. also, title said reversed the symptoms. not the "disease".

[T3X4S]

I knew an Asain guy whose family owned a bank in Plano.  He drove an NSX that was totally customized with carbon fiber - license plate said "NO MSG" - always thought that was clever.

[HawkMan]

maybe it's just bad parenting. also, title said reversed the symptoms. not the "disease".

 

In other words, the kid never had Autism, it just had one of those phases, which passed. and she claims she did it...

[Ryoken]

If MSG is really so bad I'd expect the entire population of Japan, South Korea and Taiwan, along with significant parts of China and the other Asian countries to be absolutely stuffed full of severely autistic kids. So many ingredient lists have MSG :D

 

That's not quite true..

The foods we eat in North America, and call Chinese, Korean, etc, are not the same as what it actually eaten there. As is said, the farther you get from China, the "shinier" Chinese food becomes :)

 

Also in those regions food is far more likely to be prepared at home, and less likely to have these sorts of additives.

 

Not saying I think it's true.

[DocM]

The Japanese often get their glutimates (which are in numerous non-Asian foods) naturally from boiling dried kombu seaweed, dried shrimp, dried bonito flakes or fermented soy. Glutamate is a key compound in cellular metabolism, so "eliminating" it isn't really a good idea.