Dr. McDougall's Online Discussion Board

Hi McDougallers. I'm Cindy & have been following a McDougall lifestyle for the past 12 years. I'm 54 y/o female, 5'3", ~105 pounds.
I would like to hear from anyone who has had experience with or who knows about the Bragg Liquid Amino condiment. I use about 1/4 cup per day on my salads, steamed veggies & cooked starches. (It's 310 mg sodium /teaspoon)
My instinct tells me this is a terrible & probably dangerous habit but it's the salty savoriness that I'm after. I even sprinkle Coconut Aminos in with it. I mainly eat whole starch, low-fat plant food. Nothing processed except for these condiments along with tomato paste, sriracha & salsa. I stay away from flour, refined sugar, oil, nuts, seeds & other calorie dense overt fats. This product is my one vice & I can't imagine life without the salty flavor but at thousands of mgs of sodium per day it can't be a good habit that I have. Any thoughts, scientific findings, warnings, advice? Thanks in advance.

Hi Cindy,

I can't answer your questions directly but a light bulb moment flashed on and right away I remembered Jeff Novick's video from almost a decade ago on soy sauce including Bragg's Liquid Aminos.

Label Reading: Soy Sauce Alternative is Worse?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VuCqglrQnw0


Here's another video where Bragg's Liquid Aminos is mentioned in one of Dr. Michael Greger's videos'.

The Side Effects of 3-MCPD in Bragg’s Liquid Aminos

https://nutritionfacts.org/video/the-si ... gIl6fD_BwE

Thanks for the links Taggart. I watched those videos when the first came out & remember them too. Jeff speaks to the clever manufacturer labeling techniques that make it seem like a condiment is perfectly innocuous when it really isn't. Dr. Greger's video doesn't really answer the question he posed in the first place. So, it leaves me still confused as to what this product really is made of & how it affects the body. If it's pure MSG & has an addictive quality like it seems to, then it's harmful. MSG & MfG cause brain & nerve damage which scares me because this Bragg liquid amino's product is touted as a healthy alternative. Plus, the soy may have estrogen like effects. I just don't know...other plant based doctors recommend it in their recipes & allow it in their programs so I am confused. I am not going to allow myself to buy it once I use the rest of what's left in the bottle. That's for sure.

Per the transcript, Greger says that chlorohydrins are found in products made with hydrochloric acid such as Braggs aminos and cheap soy sauce. Naturally brewed soy sauce made by traditional fermentation is made without hydrochloric acid, so perhaps it does not contain chlorhydrins. It tastes better than Braggs or cheap soy sauce.

Salty condiments in general are addictive and often hard to use in moderation. Plain salt may be less addictive, but still addictive.

vegman wrote:Per the transcript, Greger says that chlorohydrins are found in products made with hydrochloric acid such as Braggs aminos and cheap soy sauce. Naturally brewed soy sauce made by traditional fermentation is made without hydrochloric acid, so perhaps it does not contain chlorhydrins. It tastes better than Braggs or cheap soy sauce.

Salty condiments in general are addictive and often hard to use in moderation. Plain salt may be less addictive, but still addictive.

I also listened to YouTube videos about MSG & MfG from Dr. Peter Rogers that made it all sound even worse. I don't want any of the estrogen like effects of it in any way especially since I'm in menopause. I thinks it's best to stay away from all the soy sauce like condiments for me because I can't moderate them. Abstinence will be much more blissful than teasing myself everyday with just a little addictive substance which always leaves me wanting more.

I have experienced feeling flushed, swollen, heart racing, bloating & headache from what I believe is excessive use of this product. It started out with a few drops then quickly turned into 1/4 cup per day. I am going to omit the condiments over 100mg/serving & see what happens.

vegman wrote:Per the transcript, Greger says that chlorohydrins are found in products made with hydrochloric acid such as Braggs aminos and cheap soy sauce. Naturally brewed soy sauce made by traditional fermentation is made without hydrochloric acid, so perhaps it does not contain chlorhydrins. It tastes better than Braggs or cheap soy sauce.

Salty condiments in general are addictive and often hard to use in moderation. Plain salt may be less addictive, but still addictive.

What brands are made traditionally? I just buy what's in the supermarket. I doubt it's traditional.

Michael

cindy_sutherland wrote:I use about 1/4 cup per day ... It's 310 mg sodium /teaspoon...

That's 3,720 mg per day! I believe the toxic upper limit for sodium is around 2,500 mg. JeffN has some great posts about the effects of excess salt consumption.

cindy_sutherland wrote:I can't imagine life without the salty flavor...

Maybe you could just add salt? Not during cooking, but at the table when you sit down to eat?

Cheers,
sirdle

Chumly wrote:

vegman wrote:Per the transcript, Greger says that chlorohydrins are found in products made with hydrochloric acid such as Braggs aminos and cheap soy sauce. Naturally brewed soy sauce made by traditional fermentation is made without hydrochloric acid, so perhaps it does not contain chlorhydrins. It tastes better than Braggs or cheap soy sauce.

Salty condiments in general are addictive and often hard to use in moderation. Plain salt may be less addictive, but still addictive.

What brands are made traditionally? I just buy what's in the supermarket. I doubt it's traditional.

Michael

I don't know what brands are out there these days, or which taste better than others. The naturally brewed ones are probably all certified organic.The last time I bought any, a long time ago, I got Ohsawa brand shoyu (Japanese soy sauce).

For 11 years I have not eaten salt, including salty condiments, except when every so often I've experimented with adding salt back to see how I feel. I invariably feel worse and stop the salt.

During one such experiment maybe 5 years ago I found that Trader Joe's sriracha tasted better than Huy Fong brand, and didn't have some weird additive that Huy Fong did.