• quadrotiles@reddthat.com
      31·
      1 year ago

      I bought a big pack of msg from the Asian supermarket and use it instead of normal salt for many things. My partner and I call it wonder salt.

      (Of course, msg like normal salt or anything should be used in moderation lol)

      • megane-kun@lemm.ee
        25·
        1 year ago

        I bought a big pack of msg from the Asian supermarket and use it instead of normal salt for many things. My partner and I call it wonder salt.

        I hear the voices of my ancestors cry in confusion.

        But seriously speaking, I’ve never encountered MSG being used in place of salt. We use it here to give food more of that nondescript meaty taste (aka umami).

        Personally, if I need both salty and umami tastes I’d reach for soy or fish sauce first (depending on what’s being cooked). I’d only add MSG and/or salt if I really have to—usually to make minute adjustments.

        • quadrotiles@reddthat.com
          6·
          1 year ago

          I’m sorry for offending your ancestors. I hope they can find it in their hearts to forgive me lol

          Tbh, I’m not very good at cooking and I rarely add salt to my food. If I want saltiness, I usually get it through ingredients like soy sauce, for example. I guess I don’t mean that I use the msg instead of salt, but I do use in foods where you might add salt, and I just happen to not since I added something else that serves a similar purpose. Does that make sense? But then, like I said, I’m not good at cooking and I just try to make things and experiment a bunch (a lot of experiments have failed horribly)

          Also - maybe it also makes a difference that I eat vegan/vegetarian and I don’t always know how to fill in the “meaty” gap that I feel like can be missing.

          • nickiam2@aussie.zone
            111·
            1 year ago

            The purpose of salt in cooking is as a flavour enhancer. It brings out the other flavours that already exist in the food. Salt is not a flavour. It’s why a lot of recipes call for salt to taste, as how much you add can vary a bit. Next time you cook something that tastes a bit dull, try adding a small amount of salt and note what it does to the flavours as you add more. If it tastes “salty” you probably added too much.

            Source - I was a chef/cook for 9 years

          • megane-kun@lemm.eeEnglish
            4·
            1 year ago

            They seem to be a lot more confused than angry, lol!

            But yeah, thanks for the explanation about your use case. This, and your comment about using MSG on tomato-ey stuff has clarified things for me. The reason I brought up soy and fish sauces earlier is because they too, have MSG, and depending on the flavor profile I’m after, I might elect to use one or the other. That usually takes care of MSG in a lot of cases.

            I just happen to not since I added something else that serves a similar purpose

            … Taken that way, we both do a similar thing.

            I eat vegan/vegetarian and I don’t always know how to fill in the “meaty” gap that I feel like can be missing.

            Ah, that explains a lot, thanks! And I don’t really have experience in vegetarian/vegan cooking so I am afraid I can’t help with that. There are meat substitutes, of course, but the one I had experience with relied on gluten to achieve a meat-like texture. I’ve heard, too, that mushrooms can used to give that earthy taste that can be enhanced with MSG. Tofu as well. But please take these with a pinch of… MSG, lol!

            • quadrotiles@reddthat.comEnglish
              4·
              1 year ago

              I really appreciate the explanation! I’ve learned a lot from you and the others, and I have some ideas for things I want to try for the next time (which is probably very soon, since it’s almost lunch time lol)

              I actually bought some mushroom sauce a couple of days ago, and I’m looking forward to giving that a go. I only recently discovered this amazing Asian supermarket near where I live (in Germany) and it has been so fun learning to use things I didn’t know I had such easy access to before!

              • megane-kun@lemm.eeEnglish
                2·
                1 year ago

                My ancestors are happy to have reeled one in. HAHAHAHAHAHA!!

                But yeah! Have fun exploring the various (weird) flavors that you can find in Asian supermarkets. Some of them might be a bit too weird for your tastebuds, but I think that’s part of the fun. You might also want to explore Buddhist vegetarian cooking as well, if you haven’t already, since there are a lot of techniques there might be useful for you.

      • Zarxrax@lemmy.world
        9·
        1 year ago

        I heard a lot about how msg can make stuff taste great, so I bought some a while back and I try it every now and then, but I can’t really tell the difference. If I use too much I do notice that it makes the taste worse. I don’t know if I’m doing it wrong.

        • quadrotiles@reddthat.com
          12·
          1 year ago

          Yeah, using too much is going to make your food taste gross, just like adding too much salt would too. I also think it might not be suitable for every dish, so I think there’s some experimentation required. For me, I like to add it to things that have a lot of tomato in them (like a sauce) or when I feel like there’s something “missing”. I find it rounds out the taste.

          Maybe while you’re cooking, taste your food before and then immediately after adding some msg, taste it again. It won’t be like a huge, in your face difference - it’s pretty subtle imo. Then again everyone’s tastes and taste buds are different and it might just actually not be for you!

    • SPOOSER@lemmy.today
      23·
      1 year ago

      I remember when I was looking up diet videos years ago everyone was VEHEMETLY advocating against MSG and how bad it was for you, especially for diabetics. I’m still not entirely sure what to believe, but I know MSG isn’t as bad as everyone thought it was.

      • Stovetop@lemmy.world
        19·
        1 year ago

        It’s basically just salt. Salt can be bad for you if you eat too much of it. Don’t over salt your food and you’re fine.

        • SPOOSER@lemmy.today
          9·
          1 year ago

          That was the conclusion i came to, it’s just another seasoning like paprika or salt. The opposition to it is what keeps me skeptical, if it’s just a seasoning why are people so randomly against it? I think it’s because it’s used in lots of fast food.

          • Stovetop@lemmy.world
            332·
            1 year ago

            It’s rooted in racism. Chinese American food was cheap and delicious, steadily growing in popularity. Non-Chinese restaurant owners viewed us as a threat. So the racists among them used dubious studies, which have since been discredited, to try to spread this myth that Chinese food was unhealthy because it contained MSG.

            Of course it was all a fabrication. People would claim to feel bloated/sick even after eating Chinese food containing no MSG, probably because it tastes so damn good and people are bad at eating in moderation. Likewise, people could eat non-Chinese food containing MSG and somehow there are minimal complaints.

            My family’s restaurant was put through the ringer over this in the 80’s-90’s and almost went out of business, but thankfully the science prevailed in the end.

      • coldredlight@beehaw.org
        13·
        1 year ago

        MSG isn’t “bad” at all, it’s just another ingredient really. The campaign against it was entirely bullshit that was driven by racism against Asian people because it’s a common ingredient in Chinese food.

      • Aasikki@lemmy.ml
        6·
        1 year ago

        It’s almost like a cheat code to make almost anything taste better!

        But I also I don’t understand people who think that it literally is cheating and shouldn’t be used because of that. If msg is cheating, salt is also cheating.

        For me, msg has become almost as important “tool” in the kitchen as salt.

        • howrar@lemmy.ca
          11·
          1 year ago

          My understanding of “cheating” when it comes to cooking is that you’re becoming reliant on something that might be/become difficult to get ahold of. Pure salt is ubiquitous in western cuisine, so most would feel comfortable relying on it. That’s not the case with MSG.

          • Aasikki@lemmy.ml
            1·
            1 year ago

            Well if people won’t use it because it’s “cheating”. Then it’ll never make it to bw ubiquitious next to salt, like it imo deserves to be.

    • Reliant1087@lemmy.world
      61·
      1 year ago

      I love the taste of msg, unfortunately over the past few years it seems to have become a trigger for my migraines. I miss eating noodles with msg.

      • 6jarjar6@lemmy.sdf.org
        32·
        1 year ago

        Had a gnarly migraine yesterday after having msg. Hope its not msg causing it, so tasty 😩

        • Reliant1087@lemmy.world
          22·
          1 year ago

          I sometimes eat it knowingly and then question all my life decisions once the migraine sets in 🤣

    • Sendbeer@beehaw.org
      5·
      1 year ago

      I remember reading something from Chef John being against MSG (he was commenting within one of his YouTube videos). But not for health reasons. He just felt the flavor punch it gave lead to addictive overeating.

      I’m like bitch, that delicious food you showcase does the same thing, you don’t hear me bitching about it.

    • Rachelhazideas@lemmy.blahaj.zone
      3·
      1 year ago

      That’s actually a misconception within a misconception.

      It’s not that MSG allergies don’t exist, it is that they are often downplayed for the same reason that Celiac’s disease is downplayed. When a few people fake or overexaggerate their symptoms, credibility is taken from the rest of us who actually suffer from it. Now people are always quick to invalidate those who are symptomatic.

      Yes, it’s true that some of the rumors around MSG are racially motivated, and that some people who claim to be affected are lying. But that doesn’t mean that MSG related symptoms aren’t real for the rest of us. Speaking as someone who is from Hong Kong, grew up with MSG, and absolutely loves the taste of it, but developed health conditions that were comorbid with MSG intolerance.

      As a chronic pain and migraine sufferer, large quantities of MSG is a common trigger for migraines (or headaches when I’m lucky). I’ve been blind tested before with someone else’s help using the same quantities of salt vs MSG in a cellulose capsule. Each time, I would happen to be fine after taking the salt capsule with a glass of water. But after taking the MSG capsule with a glass of water, I would have have a headache or a painfully tense sensation around my head. This was done multiple times across separate days to rule out confounding factors.

      It’s likely true that for the vast majority of people MSG doesn’t trigger a reaction. However, a few of us have an intolerance and we are frequently dismissed and medically gaslit. Please believe us. I’m so tired of people telling me that what I’m experiencing isn’t real. I wish it didn’t have to be real so I could go back to eating whatever I want and not worry about migraines.

    • pax27@lemmygrad.ml
      1·
      1 year ago

      I was confused at first how anyone thought that Madison Square Garden was dangerous, could it be all that ice-hockey they play there. Then I read the other comments and now I realize it’s the basketball.

    • Aurenkin@sh.itjust.works
      19·
      1 year ago

      Careful, friend. Once you start giving a shit about people who don’t have much money it’s a slippery slope

  • Chainweasel@lemmy.world
    156·
    1 year ago

    In South Korea most fans have timers so they’re not left on overnight, because people think it’ll kill you if you do leave it on.
    This belief wasn’t helped by medical examiners putting “death by fan” on the death certificates of suicide victims to help the dead save face and spare the families the embarrassment of a “cowardly death” for a few decades.

  • PonyOfWar@pawb.social
    100·
    1 year ago

    For my country (Germany): Catching a draft. Basically people believe that a light breeze from an open window will make you ill.

    • minorsecond@lemmy.ml
      44·
      1 year ago

      We have a similar one here in the US. People think if you go outside when it’s too cold, you’ll get sick.

      • Perfide@reddthat.com
        191·
        1 year ago

        It’s not completely baseless. You can’t get sick from the cold itself, but lower core body temp does weaken your immune system until you warm up, making it easier for you to get sick if you do get exposed to something.

        • RaLiChu@lemmy.ml
          3·
          1 year ago

          The cold, dry air during the winter can also dry out the mucus membranes in the sinuses which can make it easier for pathogens to enter the body. Again, doesn’t make you sick directly but does interfere with your body’s defense mechanisms.

      • OceanSoap@lemmy.ml
        141·
        1 year ago

        In the US, I hear this more when your hair is wet: “Don’t go outside, it’s cold and your hair’s wet, you’ll get sick!”

    • AggressivelyPassive@feddit.de
      23·
      1 year ago

      Not only colds, but you also get stiff necks! According to my mother, it’s almost instantly. Leaving two windows open makes here neck stiffer than a priest in a kindergarten, but only inside. Standing in the wind outside is perfectly fine.

    • yads@lemmy.ca
      18·
      1 year ago

      Also Russia and probably most eastern European countries. One of my kids will catch a cold and the first thing my mother or grandmother will ask is if they were somewhere drafty.

        • quadrotiles@reddthat.com
          4·
          1 year ago

          Schon, wenn meine Mutter lüftet. Alle Fenster im Haus (auch im Winter) und das ist nicht mehr ein Zug, aber ein ganzer Hauptbahnhof lol

          • hollunder@discuss.tchncs.de
            2·
            1 year ago

            Sei froh! Wenn sie die Fenster nur kippen würde wärt ihr wahrscheinlich schon tot oder zumindest schwer krank. Soweit ich weiß ist so ein kleiner Zug, den man kaum spürt, am gefährlichsten. Weil dann fühlt sich der Körper sicher und Killerviren haben leichtes Spiel!

    • thesalamander@lemmy.world
      9·
      1 year ago

      I’ve heard that cited in stories, usually older. A baby dies and they blame someone leaving the door open too long and letting in a draft.

    • lemmyvore@feddit.nlEnglish
      7·
      1 year ago

      I didn’t know it’s a thing in Germany too. 😊 Drafts are also blamed for pretty much any unexpected ailment, from rheumatism to toothache. And off course cold, flu and so on.

    • alokir@lemmy.world
      5·
      1 year ago

      I don’t know about that, I always get a pink eye and my sinuses start to hurt if I stay in draft for a longer period of time.

    • nickajeglin@lemmy.one
      3·
      1 year ago

      Yeah, but then they go and open all the windows to “change the air” no matter the weather.

      I used to work with a bunch of Germans in the US. I came in to the office one time at about 4:30am in February. One of the guys had all the windows open when the outdoor temperature was something like -20F.

      Like Moritz, I think that avoiding the draft is more important than changing the air at that point. 🙄

      I also had an old manufacturing guy tell me that drinking cold water in the summer would kill you because of the shock to your system.

  • swnt@feddit.de
    823·
    1 year ago

    Living near a nuclear plant.

    Little do they know, that they get more than 50x more radiation effect from the natural surroundings and the rocks in earth than from the nuclear plant 🤭 And our body is really capable of dealing with that since the beginning of our evolution (DNA repairs and co).

    https://pages.vassar.edu/ltt/files/2011/04/Screen-shot-2011-04-21-at-1.18.09-AM1.png

    here is a chart showing radiation intensities for various sources of radiation

    • Datman2020@lemmy.fmhy.mlOP
      14·
      1 year ago

      Woah, this one is actually surprising to me. Even though I am in favour of nuclear power, I do have some fear of living in close proximity of such plants, especially seeing how even the clothing used in the facility is mixed into the barrels of radioactive wastes.

        • Datman2020@lemmy.fmhy.mlOP
          6·
          1 year ago

          Yeah, you are correct. It is just that it never occurred to me how careful they take their operations to be. That is why I assumed they would even disallow residential buildings to be built close to them.

      • Umbrias@beehaw.org
        91·
        1 year ago

        Not all the clothing anyone wears in a plant. Clothing special for contamination areas. They also do scans at thresholds and anything you carry with you that gets contaminated is confiscated. Nuclear plants genuinely have a level of safety in the us that is pretty hard to comprehend, it’s all done out of an abundance of caution more than a genuine need for it. Not quite security theater, just a very high degree of security.

        • Fondots@lemmy.world
          10·
          1 year ago

          I remember reading about a guy who worked at a nuclear plant that was tripping their radiation detectors on his way into work but not on his way out at the end of his shift. Turned out he had a radon problem in his home that needed to be addressed.

    • rjh@beehaw.org
      13·
      1 year ago

      it’s not the background radiation that worries people, it’s the risk of a Fukushima-type incident.

      • Wahots@pawb.social
        21·
        1 year ago

        Ehhhh, those are the ancient light water designs. Fuck light water, even though it’s actually pretty safe. Advanced sodium reactors are where it’s at. One loop is molten salt and nuclear fuel. The salt makes it less dense so it can’t melt down like a traditional reactor. A second loop of salt is what steals heat from the fuel, which loops around to a water boiler further away. In essence, it’s airgapped. While corrosion can be an issue, the lack of water in the salt loops helps a ton.

        Solar towers with molten salt generators also work in the same way. The salts are molten and continue pumping out power for 12 hours after the sun has set, which makes them an excellent source of power for cities :)

        I’d live next to a nuclear plant any day of the week! Especially if the homes are less expensive because of it :D

        • ddh@lemmy.sdf.org
          4·
          1 year ago

          While the modern technology is relatively safe, it’s not a technical issue with the reactor design. It’s a trust issue with the humans, particularly for-profit companies, that operate it.

      • max@feddit.nl
        0·
        1 year ago

        And even then, despite the catastrophe it was, it only had 1 death attributed to it.

        • rjh@beehaw.org
          1·
          1 year ago

          TIL. That’s a good point. 20k deaths due to the earthquake but only 1 due to the power plant itself.

    • Crisps@lemmy.worldEnglish
      11·
      1 year ago

      While true when everything works, people don’t want to live near a nuclear power plant because sometimes there are accidents. They are rare, but severe when they happen. Also because nobody wants to live in sight of one, it affects how easy it is to sell land and property.

      • swnt@feddit.deEnglish
        83·
        1 year ago

        The probability of such accidents are waaaay to overestimated by the general population. Take a look at this: https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/death-rates-from-energy-production-per-twh

        it shows the deaths per kWh for various sources of energy. Nuclear power is really as safe as wind and solar. Nuclear power is sooooo safe honestly. But coal? We have global climate change, dirty air, smog, … and radioactive materials in the atmosphere due to the coal 😅 Fun fact: Way more radioactive materials are spewed into the atmosphere due to burning coal than is actually by nuclear power plants.

        The human emotions are waaaay too inaccurate in this situation here

        • Crisps@lemmy.worldEnglish
          9·
          1 year ago

          Not disagreeing. We need more nuclear. Just saying people are scared of a major event than the constant low grade radiation.

        • nickajeglin@lemmy.oneEnglish
          1·
          1 year ago

          I love that chart and I’ve posted it in several discussions about the safety of nuclear. A lot of people have weirdly volatile reactions to it though. It’s really hard for them to believe that nuclear is on par with renewables.

    • Raxiel@lemmy.world
      4·
      1 year ago

      I read somewhere that suggested that background radiation is actually (ever so) slightly lower near a nuclear plant, because all the shielding effectively casts a ‘shadow’ in the background.

  • skillissuer@lemmy.world
    75·
    1 year ago

    as a chemist by trade: all sorts of random chemicals

    also some people believe that microwaves are harmful and 5g towers will turn all your frogs gay or something like that. gee i wish they were consistent in their beliefs, if they were i’d never find them on internet

  • OceanSoap@lemmy.ml
    752·
    1 year ago

    Staying in hostels when traveling overseas. The amount of people who tell me I’m crazy and going to get murdered if I stay in a hostel is ridiculous.

    Hostels are great, and not any more dangerous than hotels are, you just have to look at reviews and go for the type you want. You can also rent private rooms at a lot of them. I always stay at one’s with a kitchen so I can save a bunch on food, too.

  • Lolors17@feddit.deEnglish
    661·
    1 year ago

    The Tor Browser, it’s just a normal Browser with some functionality to improve privacy.

    • trifictional@lemmy.world
      222·
      1 year ago

      This whole Japan nuclear wastewater thing going around the news has me shaking my head.

      The word nuclear in general just scares people.

      • A7thStone@lemmy.world
        4·
        1 year ago

        Well we’ve had decades of fossil fuel company scare propaganda to make sure everyone is scared of nuclear power.

      • Reliant1087@lemmy.world
        21·
        1 year ago

        Most of it is fear mongering but you know bioaccumulation is a thing right? Water is a nice shield against radiation reaching you but if radioactive nucleai are in the water, it’s going to accumulate in animals that grow in that water and cause heavy metal poisoning, like Mercury.

  • spauldo@lemmy.ml
    611·
    1 year ago

    Jet fuel.

    People seem to have the impression that it’s some extremely explosive stuff that has to be handled with the upmost care, but it’s just highly refined kerosene. It can be used as a replacement for Diesel fuel in many cases - in fact, U.S. military vehicles can run off either. We put it Toyota Hylux pickups up in northern Greenland because it doesn’t gel up like Diesel fuel.

      • Kale@lemmy.zip
        6·
        1 year ago

        Friend of a friend sued an antibiotic manufacturer. I think it was Cipro? He started a course for something then a few days in snapped and stabbed someone several times. His claim was that the Cipro caused him to become violent. I don’t think my friend is friends with them anymore.

      • los_chill@programming.dev
        6·
        1 year ago

        I think part of the nuance may be that people who already have violent tendencies might gravitate towards more violent video games. In that regard it may be an indicator of existing violent urges but the game being the cause of violent behavior in otherwise non-violent tending people seems not to have any hard evidence.

      • lasagna@programming.dev
        71·
        1 year ago

        It’s very easy to correlate a lot of things. Particularly if weak correlation is sufficient. For example, what do you think we’d get if we tried to correlate murderers with cheese consumption?

        I would suggest using the word evidence very carefully. Particularly in a scientific context.

      • gornius@lemmy.world
        3·
        1 year ago

        Except age rating is a joke - especially 18+. I get that many games are violent, contain sex scenes, drugs etc., but in my eyes 18 is a barrier when you become responsible for your actions, which would imply playing 18+ games is dangerous like alcohol and cigarettes, while it’s just a PEGI’s way of saying “Somebody said fuck several times”.

        Like Witcher 3 obviously fits into 18+, but not because it’s should be 18+, but we got used to these games being 18+. At the age of 14 in school I was required to read Sapkowski’s novels, but god forbid you play Witcher 3.

        • CoderKat@lemm.ee
          1·
          1 year ago

          No informed person I know takes the numbers seriously for ESRB. They often do look at the rating, but they don’t consider the “17 and up” rating to actually mean 17 and up.

          Even my own parents who honestly could barely understand video games still understood that the ratings were heavily inflated. I mean, I remember being I think 13 and my dad being like “you’re finally old enough to watch an R rated movie with me if you’d like”. Video games were similar. For my family, once I was about 13 or so, I was considered old enough for M (17+) rated games.

    • Euronomus@lemmy.world
      52·
      1 year ago

      More violent? No. But there are mountains of evidence that video game addiction is detrimental to people’s mental and physical health.

      Nothing wrong with spending some spare time gaming, but when it becomes something you arrange your life around it’s not healthy.

      • kryptonicus@lemmy.world
        498·
        1 year ago

        There have been three accidents related to nuclear power generation, Three Mile Island, Chernobyl and Fukashima. There were a total of 33 deaths attributed to those three incidents (32 from Chernobyl and 1 from Fukashima.)

        There are 58 deaths per terawatt-hour attributed to coal alone, mostly due to air pollution.

        I’d say that nuclear power is very close to completely harmless in comparison. Certainly in contrast to its perception among the general public.

        • what@lemmy.world
          101·
          1 year ago

          It’s like saying airplanes are completely harmless. Compared to cars sure, you are much less likely to die in one, but it isn’t a nill chance.

          • CoderKat@lemm.ee
            2·
            1 year ago

            You’re right, but it’s all relative and almost anything could kill you. Eg, vaccines are also a fantastic answer to the title question. They undeniably save lives and are extremely safe. But they can still kill you in very, very, very rare cases. I’m not sure any answer to this thread could have a nil chance. Even the video games answer, there’s been people who got so addicted to video games that they played them till they dropped dead (but that’s obviously an utter insane extreme and obviously video games are very, very safe).

    • kool_newt@beehaw.org
      3·
      1 year ago

      It’s just the radioactive waste we don’t know what to do with and becoming a military or terrorist target parts that are dangerous.

      • NattyNatty2x4@beehaw.org
        2·
        1 year ago

        No, we’ve known what to do with the waste for decades. Put it in cans, fill the can with cement, coat the can in cement, put the cans in a facility that is protected from geological events like earthquakes, and periodically check the cans/facility. In the US for example, The Yucca Mountain Nuclear Waste Repository was being made before political pressure shut it down.

        The waste issue is and always will be one of political pressure and ignorance by the masses, not an actual logistical issue

        • kool_newt@beehaw.orgEnglish
          1·
          1 year ago

          • Political pressure comes in part from people like me who live around here and where they’d look for other sites. I don’t want trucks full of nuclear waste constantly being trucked through my area (and your area!), I don’t want to be viewed as a bomb target by enemies. I don’t want trucks of nuclear waste around the country being viewed as dirty bomb targets.

          • Even without the political pressure, how is nuclear power clean when massive massive holes in the ground have to be created and maintained with huge trucks and cranes using fossil fuels so we have a place to store waste that will be dangerous for tens of thousands of years? Yucca Mountain has taken decades to approve and build, any other sites will likely also. Spent nuclear fuel having to be trucked across the country using fossil fuels and tires, at best can be converted to battery power.

          • Nuclear plants take a decade or more to build, we don’t have that kind of time when it comes to climate change.

          • Nuclear power makes nuclear disarmament that much less likely

          • All of this is also assuming our current civilization continues for tens of thousands of years unbroken. If for some reason 500 years from now civilization broke down or was taken over and the average person couldn’t read English anymore, how would we transmit the idea of everlasting danger in a geographic region to those who may see things very differently?