Psychologists call it \u201cconditioning.\u201d Pair two items time and time again and it won\u2019t be long before you think they\u2019re one and the same thing. For centuries, \u201cUmami\u201d was a word that meant flavorful and glutamate was an amino acid. Now, because consumers are catching on to the fact that monosodium glutamate can be toxic, Ajinomoto is putting millions of dollars into transforming umami into a synonym for monosodium glutamate. And if they have their way, the brain will have umami receptors instead of glutamate receptors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Back in the old days when cigarette advertising was allowed, Big Tobacco specialized in a type of manipulation called the \u201cassociation principle.\u201d Show smokers engaged in fun, wholesome, pleasurable activities again and again and soon you\u2019ll equate lighting up with romance, outdoor fun, and family milestones. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s that kind of thing that the Glutes are doing to you \u2013 to all of us. Over and over again you see \u201cmonosodium glutamate\u201d and \u201cumami\u201d and \u201ctaste good\u201d in the same paragraph or even the same sentence. And you see celebrity chefs eulogizing the virtues of umami.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
While psychologists call this \u201cconditioning,\u201d interrogation specialists call it \u201cbrainwashing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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