MSG liking after low or high protein breakfasts
What it found
In 24 men, a low protein breakfast raised liking for all soup flavours, including MSG, compared with a high protein breakfast.
Men who usually ate more protein liked strong MSG more when their breakfast was low in protein.
What they found
Studies in people
Liking after low protein
Liking for all the soup flavours was higher after the low protein breakfast than after the high protein breakfast. This was measured in men, not in animals.
Salt and sweetener
Strong salty soup and weak sweet soup were liked less on both protein test days than the plain soup. This was measured in men.
Strong MSG most pleasant
Strong MSG soup was rated as the most pleasant of all the flavours tested. This was measured in men.
Habitual protein alone
How much protein the men usually ate was not linked to how much they liked MSG on its own. This was measured in men.
High protein eaters in deficit
Men who usually ate more protein rated strong MSG as more pleasant when they were low on protein, and less pleasant after a high protein breakfast. This was measured in men.
Familiarity and liking
How familiar a taste was predicted liking for MSG, salt and sweetener on the baseline and high protein days, but not on the low protein day. This was measured in men.
What the authors conclude
“Overall, these findings suggest that liking for high MSG concentrations may be moderated by nutritional need in high protein consumers.”
Also in their conclusions
- They say that acute protein deprivation increased liking for all flavours and increased desire for savoury foods, but not specifically for umami flavours.
- They conclude that people who generally eat more protein show increased liking for a strong concentration of MSG when in acute protein deficit but lower liking after a high protein load.
- They call for future research to explore the role of acute protein deprivation and general protein intake on food choice and consumption.
How it was done
The authors wanted to know whether the body's need for protein changes how much people like the taste of MSG, because MSG has been suggested as a signal for protein in food.
24 healthy-weight men ate a normal breakfast, a low protein breakfast or a high protein breakfast on three separate days. At lunch they tasted soups with weak or strong MSG, salt or sweetener, or no added flavour, and rated how pleasant each was. They also filled in a questionnaire about how much protein they usually ate.
What it can’t tell you
- The men were not fed to fullness, so it is not clear whether the higher liking would lead them to eat more MSG-containing foods.
- The high protein breakfast also had more fat than the low protein breakfast, so the effects might partly be due to fat rather than protein.
- The protein questionnaire may have missed some foods or been under-reported, so the results should be treated with caution.
Who paid
- Authors work at
- University of Liverpool, UK; University of Sussex, UK
The paper
- Title
- Does acute or habitual protein deprivation influence liking for monosodium glutamate?
- Type
- Study
- Evidence
- Studies in people
- Summarised from
- Full text
- Cite
- Masic U, Yeomans MR (2017). Does acute or habitual protein deprivation influence liking for monosodium glutamate?. Physiology & behavior. doi:10.1016/j.physbeh.2017.01.007Free full textPubMed 28077281DOI
Summary written 26 Sep 2026. Check it against the paper before it changes what you eat. How we summarise papers · Report an error