Why do I get a head ache after eating Chinese food?

[colditz]

I always get a dull headache after we have a Chinese takeaway, and I am wondering if it is something in the ingredients?

I always have -

Battered king prawns
Sweet and sour sauce
House special chow mein
Some prawn crackers

All of this seems inoccuous enough to me!

Any ideas?

I have never reacted to tomatoes or meat. I don't think I have ever reacted to anything bar kiwifruit and fresh pineapple!

There is a difference between glutamate and MSG- ds1 supposedly can't have either, although glutamate doesn't turn him into the shrieking headbanging loon that MSG does (he now has glutamate, but not MSG, if he gets it by mistake we vow never again). Ready salted crisps are usually MSG free btw

msg gives me heart palpatations and insomnia.

good chinese restaurants don't use it ( but then plaster "we are MSG free" all over their menus and charge much more).

pretty horrible stuff, I'd certainly keep your 2 yo awa from it. If you haven't got a good chinese near you then the waitrose chinese range is msg free, don't know about the other supermarkets (not quite the same I know)

Goodness I am quite innocent aren't I, and here's me thinking I was a cynic!

I thought chow mein was just noodles, and then all the visible 'bits', the meat, veg and beanspouts. I thought it was a healthier option, I only got it to balance out the deep fried battered prawns!

Could it have been the prawns? [hopeful]

msg is used as a meat tenderiser (and also a flavour enhancer). if a chinese restaurant uses it at all, it will plaster it all over chicken, duck, meat etc etc to make cheap meat more tender. You know when yuo get some chicken in a chinese and it practically dissolves in your mouth it is so tender?

MSG.

Prawns might NOT have it, but it could still be in the sauce.

Basically if they use it, it is everywhere from what I can work out.

Oh goodness yes it was incredibly tender....

Oh, I am panicking a bit now, I am 27 weeks pregnant, have I hurt my baby? Or my 2yo ds? I still have a whopping headache!

When is it going to wear off? I am such a hypochondriac!

Jusr drink loads of water and no more take-aways for the next 4 months! be prepared to get up for wees in the night!

And no, of course you haven't hurt the baby or ds

no baby will be fine!

I stay away from chinese indian restaurants when preg but more because of risk of food poisoning than msg etc. Got food poisoned at a "good" indian in my last pg and it was horrid. But babe was fine!

Good, ok, I am calming down nicely now... phew!

Just one tiny problem... I have half a chow mein in the fridge that I was going to reheat (thoroughly, until sizzling!) and have for supper. And that's buggered that idea!

Thankyou all for informing and calming me!

nooooooooooo!

and NEVER do that anyway, that is foodpoisoning on a stick.

move AWAY from the chow mein and have some nice wholesome beans on toast instead. or cheese on toast. or just toast

I always wake up with excruciating leg cramps after a Chinese - is that MSG too?

Beans on toast, humph. Am going to waddle off and nearly finish the milk.....

When I have finished getting my knickers in a twist here, that is.

Just an afterthought, went shopping for somebits today and was label checking around the shop (another ingredient to wind my mother up with!) butnon of the things I picked up had it in the list.

Does it have to be stated as MSG or Monosodium Glutamate? Or can they sneak it in as merely Flavour Enhancer?

If you want to try and avoid MSG in Chinese food, you need to either find a good quality Chinese takeaway or order the spicier food where there is less need for MSG type flavourings. I know this as dh has a severe intolerance to MSG (it definitely is not mythical!) but he usually manages by ordering the spiciest dish on the menu.

I have a feeling MSG sometimes mascarades as an E number in lists of ingredients, but I can't remember which one it is. Perhaps you could find a list of E numbers somewhere?

TBH, dh seems able to eat foods with MSG in them, eg crisps, but not Chinese takeaways.

E621 according to this site .

Sometimes it's E622, too. I think.