My recovery was entirely dependent on avoiding MSG and glutamates entirely.
Are you sure you avoided glutamate entirely, Asklipia?
I think it would be an interesting experiment for ME/CFS patients to avoid glutamate, and see if this helps with their symptoms. However, glutamate does not just come from the additive monosodium glutamate (MSG), but also from the
natural free glutamate found in foods.
Many foods naturally contain both
free glutamate, and
protein-bound glutamate.
Protein-bound glutamate is unable to activate the glutamate receptors in the body, so this does not count for our purposes. However, the free glutamate naturally found in foods does activate glutamate receptors, and so this free glutamate is just as bad as MSG.
Here is a list of foods showing their natural free glutamate content (in mg per 100 grams), which is just as bad as MSG:
Marmite 1960
Kelp 1608
Vegemite 1431
Roquefort cheese 1280
Parmesan cheese 1200
Soy sauce 1090
Green tea 668
Walnuts 658
Cured ham 337
Sardines 280
Fresh tomato juice 260
Grape juice 258
Peas 200
Mushrooms 180
Broccoli 176
Tomatoes 140
Mushrooms 140
Oysters 137
Corn 130
Potatoes 102
Chicken 44
Mackerel 36
Beef 33
Eggs 23
Pork 23
Human milk 22
Sources for these figures:
List of foods with free glutamate (see page 2)
Glutamate concentration in foods
If MSG is so bad for you, why doesn't everyone in Asia have a headache?
Note that by comparison,
the average American consumes less than 1 gram of glutamate per day from MSG.
So this means that you would get more free glutamate from eating a single 100 gram portion of roquefort or parmesan cheese than you would from all the MSG in your entire day's food intake.
And even if you avoid the foods naturally containing super high levels of free glutamate (foods like like roquefort, parmesan and walnuts), all the smaller amounts of free glutamate in the other foods you eat will add up over the course of the day, so that you may still get a substantial daily dose of natural free glutamate — a free glutamate dose probably higher than your daily dose of MSG derived glutamate.
So if you are going to cut out MSG, you also need to cut out foods containing substantial levels of natural free glutamate.
Notes:
Some of the names MSG goes under: monopotassium glutamate, glutavene, glutacyl, glutamic acid, autolyzed yeast extract, calcium caseinate, sodium caseinate, E621 (E620-625 are all glutamates), Ajinomoto, Ac'cent, Gourmet Powder.
The following may also contain MSG: natural beef or chicken flavouring, hydrolyzed milk or plant protein, textured protein, seasonings, soy sauce, bouillon, broth, spices.