Remember that the dose makes the poison. A can of store-bought soup probably contains much higher amounts of glutamates than a similar mass of tomatoes.
I remember seeing a video in the early days of web video, 10 years ago, about a group that tested high end vodkas versus truly shitty dirt cheap vodkas, but passing the dirt cheap ones through a Brita filter over and over. After a certain number of filterings, they could no longer taste the difference between the fancy vodka and the crap ones. And not just because they were drunk! I also have dim memories of the Mythbusters testing this at one point?
Ok, anyways, hereās my MSG story.
One weekend around 2003-ish, I had been invited to a friendās birthday party for his young son. Being a dumbass (as you will eventually discover, this is a recurring theme in my stories), I am not big on mornings or breakfast, and decided on that particular day that the Breakfast of Champions was a giant container of Wasabi Peas. I ended up eating the whole can of Wasabi Peas before we left for the party, which was maybe 16 ounces? It was a lot.
On the drive to the party, I remarked to my wife that I was having trouble seeing things directly in front of me. I had to focus on stuff that was slightly outside the center of my vision. It was super weird. My arms were also kind of tingly. It wasnāt enough for me to pull over or stop driving, but it was definitely disconcerting.
At the party, I found that I suddenly could not remember certain words in sentences that I wanted to say. I really struggled to make complete sentences as Iād get stuck on random words ā¦ which made me look like a dumbass in front of my friendās parents. My wife got worried and urged us to leave, so we did. She drove.
I went home, rested, had some liquids, and after a while the symptoms subsided. I never knew what all this was, it had never happened to me before, but I assumed it was related to the obvious thing ā me being a dumbass and eating an entire GIANT container of wasabi peas for breakfast. My wife suspected it was specifically MSG related. As a safety measure, I swore off wasabi peas from that day on.
My brother in lawās wife heard this story and also said she thought it was MSG related, specifically because MSG overdose symptoms can resemble stroke symptoms!
Anyway. mmmmm. Wasabi peas. 
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Thatās exactly what I was thinking of.
Iāve been searching on every term I can think of in multiple permutations, and I canāt find thatā¦
Dāoh! Just realized I can do a search-by-image, since thereās a clear url to the image.
ETA, and I found it.
Jesus, that āUnwanted Thoughtsā magazine cover isā¦ Very Unwantedā¦ Whoever does LiarTownUSA nailed it hardcore.
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Iāve tried to like V8, and also various tomato juices. I have the same thought process, itās good for me, i like tomatoes and veggiesā¦ maybe iāll like it this time. And then iām drinking what feels like pasta sauce and i immediately regret my hubris.
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I kinda like itā¦ not my favorite thing in the world but if I was feeling a bit down like a cold coming on or such at work a can of that would make me feel much better.
I donāt drink it as a habit though.
tl;dr: well-worth wading through the long-read.
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That was 10 years ago? I was almost kinda thinking of maybe looking that up myself to post in here.
Hey, I disagree with the way you approach certain social issues, but I wouldnāt say youāre dumb. Just this morning you came up as my #2 search result (I was looking to cite ātell it to the duckā for a co-worker).
Wow. Way to prove me wrong.
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Thereās a gluten free label on the bottle of seltzer water Iām drinking right now (ingredients: water, air). Just in case you were worried that your water was made with bread or something.
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I have never had any kind of MSG sensitivity or issues, but one time about 12 years ago, I ate a normal-size snack bag of wasabi peas while watching TV and had my first ever optical migraine immediately afterwards. No physical symptoms, no pain or nausea, but a spot right in front of my eyes became dark and hazy, and zig-zag shaped rainbow things, like crystals forming, appeared all around the edges of my field of vision. This got worse and worse and then faded after about fifteen minutes. Not sure if thereās something related to wasabi pea consumption that causes it, but there you go.
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Give Peas a Chance!
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That scene, and even moreso the scene where his brain lies pulsing on the subway stairs, is why I cannot watch that movie again. Itās a great movie, especially if you are familiar with Kabbalah, but I canāt watch it. Too evocative.
I tried it, but it made mine worse, and mine are already pretty extreme. The only things that seem to work for mine are major, serious opiates (which I do not like because I fear addiction) and Imitrex (sumatriptan succinate), which is a fscking wonder drug.
At one point I found Ponstel (mefenamic acid) to be very effective, and Iād recommend it particularly to women whose migraines coincide with the lunar cycle, but unfortunately I developed a tolerance to it after a few years and it stopped working for me.
Coffee/caffeine helps as a preventative, but not as a palliative or curative, and if I canāt get my daily coffee the caffeine withdrawal headache can help trigger a migraine. Feverfew hasnāt helped for me, but others have reported some effect.
People who are able to identify their migraine triggers by scent have both an advantage and a disadvantage; the advantage is that itās relatively easy to isolate the chemical trigger (unlike food allergies, since labeling is unreliable at best - how up to date is that menu?) the disadvantage is that chemicals that can be detected by smell are using a very direct pathway to the brain, and you may get hammered by a migraine before you can get away from the trigger. I approach elevators cautiously, and I stand near the door so that if a heavily perfumed woman enters I can exit immediately. Stairs are good exercise!
Remember, @Skeptic, the plural of anecdote is data.
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Whoops.
I am so strongly hoping Imitrex will work for me. I just got a prescription and Iām waiting for my regularly scheduled monthly pain fest to try it out.
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Itās been a lifesaver for me. Youāve been checked for possible heart problems, I hope?
Imitrex is wonderful stuff, as long as you donāt have certain rare heart conditions (which is why you must not share it with anyone who does not have an active prescription).
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Iāve got good blood pressure and no history or risk factors. Still nervous though, but I have anxiety problems so I secretly think everything will kill me.
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Pedant fight!!! 
If you want to go for literalisms: the plural of anecdote is anecdotes.
But I agree that anecdotes can be data and that a number of cute āskepticā aphorisms lack the qualifiers needed to make them completely true, hence why I try to emphasize the need for sound data, not merely ādataā.
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Ah, you tried weed but that is usually mostly THC with low CBD. What you need to do is either try CBD extract, CBD oil, or just weed with really low THC and high CBD. It might not do anything, but then again it might but the thing that tones down your migraines. Not to mention that as far as I know it doesnāt have any negative side effects at does consumable by humans.
Wikipedia page for CBD (Cannabidiol):
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You win this one, my friend!
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