In response to this article on this blog, I wrote this. There's more to share, so I want to use my response to hold 'my place in my head' until later.
MSG Ain't So Bad After All
Discovered a century ago by a Japanese scientist, Kikunae Ikeda, MSG is a salty form of glutamic acid, itself a type of amino acid (the building blocks of protein). Glutamic acid occurs naturally in all those foods described as having an umami flavor: seaweed, mushrooms, cheese, soy sauce, ketchup. But, as the Japanese were quick to discover, you can also “free” the glutamic acid in the factory and turn it into a salty powder.
As Dr. Nuripa Chaudhari of the University of Miami told the New York Times, “Just like salt and sugar, it exists in nature, it tastes good at normal levels, but large amounts at high concentrations taste strange and aren’t that good for you.”
MSG IS A HORRIBLE, AWFUL, POISONOUS substance, especially for people with Asperger's Syndrome.
MSG can cause severe migraines and Grand Mal seizures, even in what would be considered 'insignificant' doses.
Soy protein isolayte and autolyzed yeast extract can cause the same reactions (severe migraines and seizures).
My hubby has Aspergers. We've been married 12 years. One of the first meals I cooked for him (Shake and Bake chicken) sent him to the hospital emergency room with a blinding migraine and a seizure. We didn't know about the MSG/Aspergers link at the time or his sensitivity to MSG. He had suffered for years, but no one made the link until that awful night.
Fortunately he still married me! And (under Hubby's tutelage) I have since learned to cook everything from scratch, with only whole foods ingredients. All the recipes you see on this site are not only "NYC Chef approved" but also "Aspie Approved" - which is sometimes the more difficult seal of approval to obtain!
Many times over the years we have been lied to by restaurants who "swear we don't use MSG." We know within 2 minutes of Hubby ingesting the food if we've been lied to. We have since stopped eating out because use of MSG has permeated the restaurant and the 'food stuffs' industry - sometime the "chef" (used loosely, it's usually a dishwasher who has worked his way up to the line, with no formal culinary training) has NO IDEA that MSG in in the dish - think, Applebee's or TGIF.
Perhaps you should rethink the "MSG ain't so bad" angle. Because, from someone who has first hand experience, it is. And should be banned by the FDA.
People with Aspergers can be extremely sensitive to MSG and other food additives (esp with yeast), and that certainly could contribute to 'meltdowns'.
As Hubby explains it, some foods create a
"painful yellow haze in which fire shoots from my [left] eye, my head and skin throb, and dealing with anything outside of me is beyond me."
We've found that by avoiding boxed and packaged foods, we've managed to eliminate episodes triggered by diet. We've also eliminated aspartame and artificial sweeteners, and now use local honey instead.
And as an aside, these situations have also triggered 'meltdowns': rapid changes in social environment, traveling, positive stress (ie, going to see family, celebrations, accomplishments, etc), not wanting to do something that was committed to previously (like a dentist appointment), being away from his dogs, low blood sugar, sudden or anticipated changes in daily schedule, and not being able to 'decompress'.
Decompression: Not being able to decompress is a big trigger. I would define "decompression" as time spent with self-selected stimulation (usually little to none). For example, we've found that whenever we return to the house after being gone (15 min, 1 hr, 6hrs, 2 days, whatever) - Hubby needs to decompress (rock in his chair, play video games, meditate, listen to music). Hubby decompresses about 4 times a day.
Physical Exercise is Key: Joint compressions - as much as you (and the person) can handle. Rocking chair or swinging on a swing, also good. Jumping on a trampoline. Judo.
I'm no medical expert, but I'm always happy to share what we've learned through the years.
