Pain-Free After Cutting Out MSG, Tomatoes

Your Eating Smart column on Feb. 22, “No Single Food Cures or Prevents Disease,” talked about arthritis and a dietary link. In my experience, it is not only foods that can cause or at least make arthritis worse, but food additives too.

When I married, my new husband insisted that I use an additive that contained monosodium glutamate in all our food. It wasn’t long until my mild aches became excruciating. After experiencing a severe reaction to arthritis medication and because my doctor didn’t recommend any other medication, I began reading everything I could find on arthritis. One book said that food additives might be the cause of some arthritis, and thus I became a label reader and cut out all additives. After a month or so, my pain decreased dramatically but wasn’t completely gone.

At the time I was also experiencing a rash or raised bumps in my mouth every time I ate tomatoes, so I decided they might be a problem too.

After cutting out the MSG and tomatoes, I had 15 years of pain-free existence except when we went on vacation and ate in restaurants. There are several other additives that can have MSG in them such as natural flavorings. I’ve often wondered how much pain MSG is causing in this world when you realize how pervasive it is, especially in prepared food.

--MARY L. ADLER

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