Lack of tolerance to MSG?
My eating habits are pretty good - I rarely eat anything that’s preprocessed, our fridges contain no frozen dinners, and we make almost everything from scratch. However, the one constant in the pantry is a box of shin ramyun - the Korean equivalent of McDonalds, a spicy, kimchi-flavoured instant ramen that is what we eat when we can’t be bothered cooking but want something filling with a piping hot broth.
I have this no more than once every 2-3 months at most (and almost no other junk food - we make our own pizzas, burgers and chicken for when we want something unhealthy), and it’s been even longer since my last indulgence. That is, till yesterday evening when I came home exhausted and could barely boil the water for the noodles.
Have been regretting the decision ever since - woke up in the middle of the night in absolute gut-wrenching agony and passing nothing but liquid (WAYYYY too much information, but deal with it), and have been in the same state all day.
Could it be? Is my body no longer accepting of this one indulgence? I guess I should be happy that it’s not kimchi - the day my body no longer accepts kimchi is the day my life is over!
And no, I’m not kidding! I’ve been eating kimchi since before I could walk and am thoroughly addicted to the stuff.
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Comments
Ellie As for your kimchi, since it’s a product that needs to be kept at a constant temperature, it’s generally not shipped from different countries so I can’t recommend a brand, but if it was excessively ‘zingy’ then it’s probably overripened. By no means does that mean you can’t eat it (I actually prefer kimchi which has slightly overripened, it’s better for making fried rice and soup), it just means that it’s REALLY pickled 
Perfectly ripened kimchi should have a healthy amount of crunch, fresh zinginess and a little sweetness too
Lula Thanks bella!
I’ll give it another go now I know the zinginess won’t kill me….
Lu
PS - Is it bad that, in spite of the reactions I’ve had similar to you, I can’t give up the instant Tom Yum? 
I know - I am weak!!
Ellie 
And I know the feeling, I got a craving for ramen the other day…but managed to stay away and steer myself to a piece of toast instead! Definitely not as tasty, but there are no nasty after effects 
Hiya!
I have a serious addiction to Tom Yum and have pretty much the same standby - instant tom yum noodles as my cbf’d lazy meal. I have just started having the same reaction too, even though (in my memory) I never did before! How bizarre. It’s like they suddenly upped the crazy ingredient that causes that?
I know I’m on the wrong forum here, but whilst we’re speaking of Kimchi, I was wondering if you know of a particular brand I could buy that is at least half-decent. I want to experiment with it, and my local asian grocer has shelves of the stuff, but the one I bought tasted… I dunno, like it had citric acid through it - is it meant to be that zingy? (Bear in mind I can do ‘zingy’ - I have a constant urge to drink vinegar!)
Anyway, I know you make the stuff, but is there any shelf brand you would consider recommending to a ‘beginner’ ?
Thank you