Supplementing chicken broth with monosodium glutamate reduces hunger and desire to snack but does not affect energy intake in women

Abstract

The effect of monosodium glutamate (MSG) supplementation in soup or broth on satiety is not well understood. In the present study, the relative effects of four chicken broths with or without added MSG on motivational ratings and energy intakes at the next meal were compared using a double-blinded, within-subject design. A total of thirty-five normal-weight women, aged 20-40 years, took part in four study sessions. The four broths were base chicken broth (63 kJ), broth with added MSG (1·19 g) and nucleotides (0·03 g), broth with added MSG (1·22 g), and broth with added fat (BAF; 681 kJ). The preloads were presented twice at 09.00 and 11.15 hours for a maximum cumulative dose of 2·44 g MSG. Motivational ratings were collected before and at 15 min intervals post-ingestion for a total of 210 min. A test lunch meal was served at 12.00 hours, and plate waste was measured. The addition of MSG to chicken broth did not increase energy intakes at lunch or affect motivational ratings over the entire testing session. Both hunger and desire to snack between the second preload exposure and the test meal were significantly reduced in the MSG condition relative to the base broth condition (both, P ¼ 0·03). However, only the BAF significantly suppressed energy intakes at lunch compared with the base broth control condition. Supplementing chicken broth with MSG can increase subjective ratings for satiety but does not alter energy intake at the next meal relative to an equal energy broth without added MSG.Key words: Satiety: Appetite: Monosodium glutamate: SodiumThe amino acid L-glutamate is primarily consumed in the form of monosodium glutamate (MSG) and is known to elicit a distinguishable fifth taste termed 'umami'. MSG has been shown to improve the sensory characteristics of many different foods (1) and is commonly used as a flavour enhancer. The highly palatable savoury umami taste can also be achieved by pairing MSG with the nucleotides inosine 5 0 -monophosphate and guanosine 5 0 -monophosphate (MSG þ ) (1,2) .Enhancing the palatability of foods could potentially lead to overeating; however, evidence that MSG is associated with excess energy intake is mixed. Whereas some short-term experimental studies on satiation in relation to MSG intake have reported that MSG supplementation could lead to a more rapid recovery of hunger, no significant differences in hunger ratings or differences in subsequent energy intake were observed (3) . Other behavioural studies have reported that adding MSG to some foods can lead to higher energy intakes at a subsequent meal compared with an equal energy control without MSG, even when no effects on hunger ratings were observed (4) . In addition, that study reported that the addition of MSG in combination with the nucleotide ionosine monophosphate-5 (IMP-5) did not lead to higher energy consumption at a subsequent meal relative to the control and concluded that further investigation into the impact of MSG, alone as well as in combination with nucleotides, was warranted (4) . The results o...

Intraduodenal infusion of a combination of tastants decreases food intake in humans

“…Another interesting finding is that the reduction in hunger feelings as observed during umami (MSG) infusion did not result in a decrease in food intake. A similar discrepancy was seen in previous studies in which MSG was added to a meal (19,20). It was reported that MSG led to a more rapid recovery of a motivation to eat.…”

Sensory influences on food intake control: moving beyond palatability

“…Similar findings were reported for a combination of inosine 5′‐monophosphate alongside MSG in a protein‐rich soup . Other researchers using lower proportions of protein in their test foods have reported minimal to no effect of umami taste on protein‐based appetite suppression and future intake . Thus, more research is required to assess whether the satiating effect of umami depends on congruent protein delivery to determine the relevant quantities of protein and umami taste needed for this interaction.…”

Susceptibility to Overeating Affects the Impact of Savory or Sweet Drinks on Satiation, Reward, and Food Intake in Nonobese Women3

“…Enhancing savory broth with MSG as a mid-morning preload was associated with a shorter suppression of hunger compared to broth without additional MSG (26). More recently, MSG supplementation in a double-preload design (the first consumed with breakfast and the second mid-morning) was found to decrease hunger in the period following the second preload compared to no-MSG control (27). However, neither of these preload studies found effects of MSG on energy intake at the subsequent test meal (26,27).…”