Chinese food

[Typer]

Some people mention this as a no no for people with anx. Why is this? Does it have stuff that brings on anx?

Thanks in Advance

[suzy-sue]

Chinese food can contain Glutomate ,which causes anxiety .Perhaps be better to cook your own fresh from the supermarket for a while ,check the contents of the sauces before you buy .As these do contain a lot of additives and are high in salt too sometimes ..Sue

[playeasy]

wow i didnt know this

[Danath]

well I'm off to a chinese all you can eat buffet tonight, and ive never noticed any problems from eating the stuff, ill let you know how I get on if you fancy hearing the results for a little experiment like?

Dan

[suzy-sue]

lol..Its never affected me either .I ate loads of it in Lanzarote the best ive ever had .But like all things depends what you eat and how good the restaurant is .There are spot checks done on take aways restaurants from time to time ,and the salt and additive levels are checked .These results are then taken back to the the place and they are made aware of the health risks etc .Enjoy your meal Danath ..Sue

[KK77]

Some people are more sensitive than others in this respect. Chinese food usually contains MSG (monosodium glutamate) which is used as a flavour-enhancer. I've found it can cause palpitations and anxiety among other things, so I ask my local to cook the food without it.

Ask your Chinese to cook without it if it affects you in this way (though this isn't always possible because a lot of the sauces etc contain MSG).

And as Sue says, it can also contain a lot of salt too, which is bad news.

[sb001f8994]

Hi,
Monosodium glutamate (msg) can cause havoc to alot of people. Experts reckon a lot of hangovers arent actually caused by the booze but the take away after the booze. I dont eat anything anymore containing msg as it was found to trigger my migraines. It is very difficult banishing it from your foods as its in almost everything pre packaged. No more of the nice things for me! The ingredient list on foods lets you know if its in there, and anything containing onion powder or cheese powder does contain msg so be wary of this too. I am a food bore now and only eat fresh foods and sauces that I have made myself. I visit one takeway that does not use msg and it seems a lot of the big name chefs are now realising people dont want chemicals in their foods and are cutting them out. I miss my crisps and tomato ketchup but its a small price to pay as my migraines are few and far between now.
Happy eating!!!
Carol x

[Tricky]

I didn't know glutamate caused anxiety either!!!
A few years ago i stopped using salt on my meals and started using a seasoning called aromat...its very addictive and i just noticed glutamate is a flavour enhancer in the product...i think i'll knock the stuff on the head as i use it all the time, it might not make much difference but worth a try!
Tel

[KK77]

Hi,
Monosodium glutamate (msg) can cause havoc to alot of people. Experts reckon a lot of hangovers arent actually caused by the booze but the take away after the booze. I dont eat anything anymore containing msg as it was found to trigger my migraines. It is very difficult banishing it from your foods as its in almost everything pre packaged. No more of the nice things for me! The ingredient list on foods lets you know if its in there, and anything containing onion powder or cheese powder does contain msg so be wary of this too. I am a food bore now and only eat fresh foods and sauces that I have made myself. I visit one takeway that does not use msg and it seems a lot of the big name chefs are now realising people dont want chemicals in their foods and are cutting them out. I miss my crisps and tomato ketchup but its a small price to pay as my migraines are few and far between now.
Happy eating!!!
Carol x

I know how you feel! I've had to banish loads of foods because of MSG. I suffer from migraines too and MSG is lethal for this - but I didn't want to digress in my previous post. And you're right, it's not just Chinese that contains MSG (and ASs like aspartame - but that's another topic). Many fast foods and snacks (eg crisps) contain it - though companies are slowly taking it out of some foods.

I would suggest that people with anxiety/depression pay a lot of attention to the things they eat, because as you say, I feel that the effects are underestimated.

Anyway, back to my plain salad...

[sb001f8994]

Hi Melancholia77,
Thank god someone else has the same prob as me...my hubby was begining to think I was unique!!! There is a big blind spot in the way laws and food ingredients are listed. The government say all ingredients have to be listed for the consumer BUT ingredients that contain other ingredients dont have to be listed. For example if a product contains onion powder then onion powder is listed and not the contents of the onion powder which as well as a load of other chemicals it also contains msg. Its very difficult to get your head round, another thing I have come accross is foods that state 'no added msg' this just means they havent added any but some other ingredient on their list may have some. I told you I was a food bore!!!
I just stick to my own sauces and I have to say they taste rather nice...what did our grandparents do before TV dinners and convenience food?!
Carol x

[Danath]

Well, other than being exceptionally full and having to wait a few hours before going to bed, and gasping for water due to the high salt content, i was fine, had 2 platefuls of honeyed pork, duck in oyster sauce, spring rolls, onion rings, and seaweed followed by two bowls of ice cream covered with melted galaxy chocolate, no panicking but it definitely raises your blood pressure somewhat, perhaps this is what causes the anxiety in some people. Admittedly id had a few drinks as well, but I've still been known to get anxious after the effect of those has worn off.

Dan

[Alabasterlyn]

I had no idea that eating Chinese food could make anxiety worse either.

I had a Chinese takeaway last night as it was my son's Birthday. I also had a big piece of chocolate cake, but no alcohol.

When I went to bed I had really awful palpitations and found it so hard to sleep that I ended up listening to the radio on my iPod most of the night. Now I've got a headache too :weep:

I've also got an hour long dentist appointment at 4pm and even though it will be the 3rd long appointment I've had recently, for some reason today I am more anxious than usual. Makes me wonder now if it's connected to the takeaway I had :ohmy:

[Danath]

what one has to be careful of is reading this, then getting anxious after chinese food, as I think therre is a potential that if you have read this thread then go and eat chinese food, you could talk yourself into being anxious thinking 'chinese food could make me anxious! oh no!' and end up becoming anxious just because of that line of thinking.

Dan

[sharona]

Hi

I just thought I would add to this. I had a chinese once and had the most awful experience with panic, feeling dizzy,palapations, head zaps. I ended up calling 999 as I did not know what was happening to me.Everything was fine, they did not kno what caused it but looking back I do feel the food caused it but thats my opinion.

I do not eat it as much now as it frightens me but I do have extreme health anxiety.

Hope this helps.

Sharona

[Dee01]

what one has to be careful of is reading this, then getting anxious after chinese food, as I think therre is a potential that if you have read this thread then go and eat chinese food, you could talk yourself into being anxious thinking 'chinese food could make me anxious! oh no!' and end up becoming anxious just because of that line of thinking.

Dan


Thats me to a tee. I got it into my head that I was sensitive to MSG and whenever I realised I had eaten something that contained it, I got anxious and panicky and often had a full blown panic attack. I always blamed it on some chinese or other I had had and cut out ALL food until I was over the blip. :wacko:

But when I recovered after the last bout, I did some research. MSG is in EVERYTHING. From stock cubes to crisps to drinks. Its virtually impossible to avoid it in some form or other unless like Carol, you cook everything from fresh ingredients. (well done Carol, I wish I had your will power!)

That was when it clicked - I'm not sensitive to MSG - it was all just in my head!!!!!!! :blush:

And Dan I agree, people have to be very careful when reading this post because if you think you are sensitive to MSG, your brain will oblige and make you feel horrible when you eat it. If you have never had any effect or noticed anything strange when eating foods with MSG (pretty much everything), then remember that the next time you notice MSG in the something and don't panic!