According to the Daily Mail of October 29, Japanese research has found that Chinese takeaways not only satisfy people’s taste buds, but are also medically helpful.
Scientists now believe that monosodium glutamate, commonly used in Chinese dishes such as chicken fried noodles and Sweet and Sour Spare Ribs, can help patients with dementia.
Japanese researchers tested 200 people with dementia. Participants were divided into two groups based on whether they ate MSG, a controversial food additive-also used in hot dogs, canned foods and potato chips-as a flavoring agent to make food taste better.
In the past few decades, however, monosodium glutamate has fallen out of favor because of safety concerns.
To compare the two groups, the researchers asked volunteers to take memory tests.
The researchers found that participants who ate MSG every day had a slight improvement in memory, were able to remember more words in the test and were able to say the time more accurately.
But the researchers were unable to explain why the additive helped improve memory, possibly because MSG boosts the absorption of zinc, which in turn can repair damaged brain cells.
More than 850000 people in the UK now have dementia, according to the charity. There are about 5.5 million people with Alzheimer’s disease in the United States, and Alzheimer’s is the most common form of amnesia. The charity has turned up a huge body of scientific evidence to refute scientists’ new findings that a healthy diet can cure dementia.
For decades, monosodium glutamate has been the culprit for headaches or discomfort after takeout.
Scientists have yet to produce conclusive evidence of the negative health effects of MSG, which is thought to be harmless to the body. However, when MSG is used as a condiment, it can still cause unhappiness for people who eat MSG.
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