Do you like cilantro?

trmiv

Lifer
Oct 10, 1999
14,670
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I cannot stand this devil herb known as cilantro (aka coriander leaves or chinese parsley). This crap shows up on every food item at the local Mexican restaurants, and just ruins the food for me. I personally think the stuff tastes like soap, and I am very sensitive to the taste, and can't stand even a little bit of it. I've heard, although I can't confirm, that there is something genetic that affects how people think cilantro tastes. Anyone know anything about this?
 

Jfur

Diamond Member
Jul 9, 2001
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I like it in little pieces
edit: I'd never describe it as soapy, so maybe the genetic thing is correct. I do, however, get violently ill from basil :(
 

FSUpaintball

Banned
Jun 12, 2001
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I know nothing about it. I know that MSG (Mono-Sodium Glutimite?) causes half of my family to get AWFUL migranes. And that's in a LOT of food.
 

luv2chill

Diamond Member
Feb 22, 2000
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That's really interesting, because when I saw your thread title I immediately thought "soap". I don't mind the taste (although if there were too much cilantro I probably would). One time I remember having some salsa out of a dish and thinking that there was still some dishsoap in there--my friends told me that's the cilantro. Learn something new every day.

l2c
 

N8Magic

Lifer
Dec 12, 2000
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I agree totally on the soapy taste.

Even the smallest amount ruins a dish for me... it's the first thing I taste. :disgust:
 

Ryan

Lifer
Oct 31, 2000
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When I lived in Panama, cilantro grew as a week in my grass :) I like it :)
 

jlee75

Golden Member
Oct 8, 2001
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i love the taste of cilantro. it's great :) if i have it i'll try it on everything. usually on those bamboo leaves wrapped over glutinous rice things. or yeah on mexican food it's good. :)
 

amnesiac

Lifer
Oct 13, 1999
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Originally posted by: FSUpaintball
I know nothing about it. I know that MSG (Mono-Sodium Glutimite?) causes half of my family to get AWFUL migranes. And that's in a LOT of food.

That's BS. Clinical tests have proved MSG to be no more likely to cause reactions in people than table salt.
MSG is a sodium salt of a very common amino acid, glutamate. Glutamate is found naturally in MANY foods, and is found everywhere in your body.
lookie
Chances are it's due to something else, very possibly high blood pressure.
 

Jfur

Diamond Member
Jul 9, 2001
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Originally posted by: amnesiac 2.0
Originally posted by: FSUpaintball
I know nothing about it. I know that MSG (Mono-Sodium Glutimite?) causes half of my family to get AWFUL migranes. And that's in a LOT of food.

That's BS. Clinical tests have proved MSG to be no more likely to cause reactions in people than table salt.
MSG is a sodium salt of a very common amino acid, glutamate. Glutamate is found naturally in MANY foods, and is found everywhere in your body.
lookie
Chances are it's due to something else, very possibly high blood pressure.

What studies? :) I'd be very interested in reviewing them. I know I've have a strong headache from some foods containing msg but I also dislike salt. A friend gets hives, but perhaps we are responding to something else in the foods.
 

IGBT

Lifer
Jul 16, 2001
17,976
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Yeah...it's good. On salsa,,vegies and lots other stuff..yes..more cilantro!!!!
 

FSUpaintball

Banned
Jun 12, 2001
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Originally posted by: amnesiac 2.0
Originally posted by: FSUpaintball
I know nothing about it. I know that MSG (Mono-Sodium Glutimite?) causes half of my family to get AWFUL migranes. And that's in a LOT of food.

That's BS. Clinical tests have proved MSG to be no more likely to cause reactions in people than table salt.
MSG is a sodium salt of a very common amino acid, glutamate. Glutamate is found naturally in MANY foods, and is found everywhere in your body.
lookie
Chances are it's due to something else, very possibly high blood pressure.


Well, I know for a fact that their migranes are caused by MSG. I've lived with them for 21 years, and it never fails, even when they don't realize they've eaten MSG. They're not a bunch of fakers.
 

amnesiac

Lifer
Oct 13, 1999
15,781
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Originally posted by: FSUpaintball
Well, I know for a fact that their migranes are caused by MSG. I've lived with them for 21 years, and it never fails, even when they don't realize they've eaten MSG. They're not a bunch of fakers.

You understand that the human body can not distinguish between MSG and say, glutamate naturally occuring in a tomato, correct?
I would stop to see what other external factors could be causing the headaches. Get their blood pressure checked. See if they have some sort of sensitivity to sodium.

I will agree that while many people DO report migranes that coincide with MSG injection, clinical tests have yet to provide any correlational evidence between the two.


Originally posted by: Jfur
What studies? :) I'd be very interested in reviewing them. I know I've have a strong headache from some foods containing msg but I also dislike salt. A friend gets hives, but perhaps we are responding to something else in the foods.

Links to studies (1)
FAO / UN study of MSG
 

Jfur

Diamond Member
Jul 9, 2001
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Originally posted by: amnesiac 2.0
Originally posted by: FSUpaintball
Well, I know for a fact that their migranes are caused by MSG. I've lived with them for 21 years, and it never fails, even when they don't realize they've eaten MSG. They're not a bunch of fakers.

You understand that the human body can not distinguish between MSG and say, glutamate naturally occuring in a tomato, correct?
I would stop to see what other external factors could be causing the headaches. Get their blood pressure checked. See if they have some sort of sensitivity to sodium.

I will agree that while many people DO report migranes that coincide with MSG injection, clinical tests have yet to provide any correlational evidence between the two.


Originally posted by: Jfur
What studies? :) I'd be very interested in reviewing them. I know I've have a strong headache from some foods containing msg but I also dislike salt. A friend gets hives, but perhaps we are responding to something else in the foods.

Links to studies (1)
FAO / UN study of MSG


thanks -- that studies on that first site are too few or otherwise limited to make that claim with any confidence (and a quick search revealed at least one double-blind study where high doses *were* correlated with headache and other symptoms, something also mentioned without reference on the NIH sites, so who knows). In my case, I have *low* blood pressure but I do find high-salt foods to cause discomfort (e.g., dry mouth), although not usually headache. MSG-laden foods give me a headache, and this has happened even when I did not know the food contained msg. But it could still be another food or ingredient allergy or some combination. Probably best for me to avoid it altogether.
 

brtspears2

Diamond Member
Nov 16, 2000
8,659
1
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Cliantro rules, it gives food a nice fragrant taste.

But then I'm in California, where all my produce is always fresh.
 

Bullhonkie

Golden Member
Sep 28, 2001
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Originally posted by: amnesiac 2.0
Originally posted by: FSUpaintball
Well, I know for a fact that their migranes are caused by MSG. I've lived with them for 21 years, and it never fails, even when they don't realize they've eaten MSG. They're not a bunch of fakers.

You understand that the human body can not distinguish between MSG and say, glutamate naturally occuring in a tomato, correct?
I would stop to see what other external factors could be causing the headaches. Get their blood pressure checked. See if they have some sort of sensitivity to sodium.

I will agree that while many people DO report migranes that coincide with MSG injection, clinical tests have yet to provide any correlational evidence between the two.


Originally posted by: Jfur
What studies? :) I'd be very interested in reviewing them. I know I've have a strong headache from some foods containing msg but I also dislike salt. A friend gets hives, but perhaps we are responding to something else in the foods.

Links to studies (1)
FAO / UN study of MSG

The safety/effects of MSG still remains pretty much up in the air to this day. I've never had any problems with it personally (and I've eaten plenty of foods with it while growing up, being from an asian family), but it wasn't until I met my current girlfriend that I saw the problems it can give some people. After eating anything with a decent helping of MSG, my girlfriend never fails to experience headache and shortness of breath.

We've made some dishes and soups with broth from recipes that use MSG and give you an amount of sugar/salt to substitute if you don't want to use the MSG. When making the same identical broth recipe, the version with MSG gave her a pretty bad headache and shortness of breath, the version with salt didn't effect her in any noticeable way.

Now I'm not in any way saying that amnesiac 2.0 is wrong, this is just one of those debates that will likely go on for some time still. If you want to read things from the other side, here are a few:

Adverse Reactions to MSG
MSG - An Additive Thay Many Can Not Tolerate
MSG - Pros and Cons

FWIW, the FDA does admit that some people can experience a reaction from MSG, but that it's generally safe for consumption.
 

amnesiac

Lifer
Oct 13, 1999
15,781
1
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Good finds, bullhonkie.

That's the problem with this argument, there's insufficient evidence to be 100% conclusive on either side.
My guess is there's some other factor involved in the consumption of MSG to cause headaches, etc. which still hasn't been isolated yet.
 

Bullhonkie

Golden Member
Sep 28, 2001
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Originally posted by: amnesiac 2.0
Good finds, bullhonkie.

That's the problem with this argument, there's insufficient evidence to be 100% conclusive on either side.
My guess is there's some other factor involved in the consumption of MSG to cause headaches, etc. which still hasn't been isolated yet.

Yeah, it'll be interesting to see how the debate turns out if/when they make some kind of discovery about how it might be related to the effects some people experience.

I was actually pretty skeptical myself to begin with, which is why I prodded her two years ago to try and make something she liked eating, both with and without MSG. After I saw how bad it made her feel afterwards, I started looking at some of the arguments/information from the other side.

It's too bad though, she misses out on a lot of good Chinese food. :( Although we've had limited success. At one local Chinese restaurant we can request a dish to be made without using MSG, and a few others have at least marked their menu to show dishes that have no MSG in them.

And before this gets totally hijacked, I don't mind a bit of cilantro. Too much of it though and I can't taste much of anything else.
 

Moonbeam

Elite Member
Nov 24, 1999
74,768
6,770
126
Celantro tastes like metal to me. I don't like how it tastes but I can still eat it in mexican and chinese food. I have long suspected that it tastes different to me than to other people. I have a similar reaction to Kiwi fruit. They taste delicious, but I won't eat them because they leave a metalic aftertaste that lasts for a long long time. There is at least one chemical I know of that has no taste of tastes bitter depending on the presence or absence of a gene.
 

SWScorch

Diamond Member
May 13, 2001
9,520
1
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Mmmm.. cilantro... has to be one of the best tastes ever.... yummy. I can't get enough of it.