Too many Chinese take-away meals can damage people's eyesight, researchers find.

The Sydney Morning Herald | Tuesday, 31 December 2002 | staff writer

[yankeedame]

Too many take-aways 'could damage eyesight'

December 31 2002

Too many Chinese take-away meals can damage people's eyesight, researchers have found.

Scientists found that eating large amounts of monosodium glutamate (MSG), used to flavour oriental and processed foods, can injure the retina and lead to vision loss.

Rats fed diets high in MSG in Japan developed thinner retinas and began to go blind.

Glutamate is an amino acid which acts as a neurotransmitter, a chemical that sends signals between nerve cells.

Previous research has already shown that it causes nerve damage when injected directly into the eye.

But the Japanese study at Hirosaki University was the first to show that eye damage can be caused by eating food containing MSG.

Rats were fed three different diets for six months, containing either high or moderate amounts of MSG, or none.

In animals on the high MSG diet, some retinal nerve layers thinned by as much as 75 per cent.

Tests to measure retinal response to light showed that the rats' vision was impaired. Those on the moderate diet also suffered damage, but to a lesser extent.

The findings, published in the journal Experimental Eye Research, also showed high concentrations of MSG in the vitreous fluid which bathes the retina.

MSG bound to molecules on retinal cells and destroyed them, causing secondary reactions that reduced the ability of the remaining cells to relay electrical signals.

Hiroshi Ohguro, who led the research, acknowledged that large amounts of MSG were used, New Scientist magazine reported.

Rats in the highest group were fed diets consisting of 20 per cent MSG.

"Lesser amounts should be OK," said Ohguro, "but the precise borderline amount is still unknown."

Professor Peng-Tee Khaw, a glaucoma expert at Moorfields Eye Hospital in London, said the amount of MSG in the highest diet was "a lot, lot higher than you'd eat".

But he added: "If you're a sodium glutamate junkie then you could potentially run into problems with your retina."

DPA

[Drango]

Uhhhh? Can I do "it" till I need glasses?

[EggsAckley]

*all of your MSG are belong to us*

[Bloody Sam Roberts]

Too many Chinese take-away meals can damage people's eyesight, researchers find.

This is so true!

I've been eating Chinese takeout religiously for the last 2 years and now I can't see my feet!

[anobjectivist]

Wow 20% MSG. Is that even close to a normal amount of MSG in chinese food?

Feed a rat 1000 times more concentrated food, no matter what kind of food, and I guarantee something will go wrong with it.

[Libertarianize the GOP]

For the study to correspond to a human eating Chinese food he would likely have to eat 10,000 calories a day all from Chinese food over 50 years to achieve half the relative dose fed to the rats.

[mysterio]

Even water can kill you. A few tablespoons of water injected directly into the lungs will kill you. 20% MSG? I think that would do a little more than make you go blind. I think these idiot researchers should conduct the experiments on themselves to obtain a more accurate human model.

[general_re]

This is so true!

Don't worry too much - the same study shows that you'll be able to see normally again a half-hour after eating Chinese...

[putupon]

If I eat Chinese food, people downwind stand so far away I can't recognize their faces.

[BlueLancer]

"I've been eating Chinese takeout religiously for the last 2 years and now I can't see my feet!"

I've been eating Chinese for most of my life and now I can't see my hair!!!!

[martin_fierro]

It's OK.

I didn't want to see the dogmeat in there anyway. <|:)~

[BILL_C]

Personally, I avoid MSG as much as I can. Do a Google search on MSG and excitotoxins and you probably will too! The following is what got me looking into MSG:



Excitotoxins : The Taste That Kills
Russell L. Blaylock



Paperback (December 1996)
Health Press; ISBN: 0929173252



Editor’s and Customer’s Reviews from Amazon.co.uk

A reader , 13 May, 1997
Chronicles dangerous ingredients in your foods
Excitotoxins are substances added to foods and beverages that literally stimulates neurons to death, causing brain damage of varying degrees. They can be found in such ingredients as monosodium glutamate, aspartame (Nutrasweet®), cysteine, hydrolyzed protein, and aspartic acid. Dr. Blaylock's book describes what excitotoxins are, where they are found, and how they react in the body. Dr. Blaylock, a board-certified neurosurgeon, presents the latest research findings to demonstrate how exposure to excitotoxins will damage nerve cells in the brain. The use of aspartame, hydrolyzed vegetable protein, and monosodium glutamate in prepared foods and beverages continues to increase on a yearly basis. Dr. Blaylock clearly demonstrates that the neurotoxic potential of excitotoxins such as MSG and aspartame is so overwhelming that it can no longer be ignored. The message contained in this book is of particular importance to members of high-risk groups; the elderly, young children and those people at risk of or with a family history of neurodegenerative diseases.

[mbynack]

I once knew a guy who lost the vision in one eye while eating chinese food. He vowed to remember to remove the chopsticks from the wonton soup before trying to drink out of the container the next time.

[F.J. Mitchell]

"See",I told you so!

[Physicist]

The fortune in my last fortune cookie read, "You no more eat this stuff. You go brind!"

[F.J. Mitchell]

And judging from that shirt, that guy wisely chose a profession in which seeing well is a handicap.

[G.Mason]

It's evident these Japanese scientists are racial bigots.

This calls for an investigation into their motives.

Five to one they are owners or stockholders in Japanese resturants.

Please respond in bold type as I am having a hard time seeing the small print.

[Kenton]

My eyesight's been starting to blur over the last few years but I always figured it was "that other thing" that my Dad used to warn me about...

[mhking]

"Hold muh beer 'n watch this!" PING....

If you want on or off this list, please let me know!