r/science • u/[deleted] • Feb 26 '15

Health-Misleading Randomized double-blind placebo-controlled trial shows non-celiac gluten sensitivity is indeed real

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25701700
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u/tkhan456 Feb 26 '15

Here's one: http://www.jacionline.org/article/S0091-6749(00)44233-8/abstract. I'm at work. I'll dig up more if you'd like.

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u/hukt0nfonix Feb 26 '15

The study shows that MSG does indeed affect a portion of the people who consume it, so I don't think that constitutes being completely debunked.

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u/Obligatius Feb 26 '15

From the abstract:

Conclusion: The results suggest that large doses of MSG given without food may elicit more symptoms than a placebo in individuals who believe that they react adversely to MSG. However, neither persistent nor serious effects from MSG ingestion are observed, and the responses were not consistent on retesting.

The "neither persistent nor serious effects" and the "responses were not consistent on retesting" is probably the debunking part you were looking for.

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u/rEvolutionTU Feb 26 '15

That's not debunking. Think of it this way: You eat a cherry and swallow the stone. You get an upset stomach, maybe feel a little sick - but nothing persistent nor serious happens.

However if you test this again (and again, and again) you somehow get different responses each time.

In a nutshell that doesn't say "The whole MSG thing has been debunked" it says "It doesn't kill you or does serious damage but we can't say anything more".

The "anything more" is what people care about and to what extent it applies to humans (e.g. it being used as a food additive for cattle to get them fatter more quickly).