Increasing Vegetable Intake Using Monosodium Glutamate: A Reduced-Effort Intervention

Food Intake Study: This will be a 4-week randomized controlled intervention study with a vegetable intake questionnaire, daily food intake, and seasoning usage measurement to test the acceptability of different seasoning ingredients and vegetable intake in healthy adults. Participants will be randomly assigned to one of three groups (a) vegetables prepared with 50% NaCl and 50% MSG (50/50MSG Mix); (b) vegetables prepared with 70% NaCl and 30% MSG (70/30 MSG Mix); (c) vegetables prepared with NaCl (table salt).

Sensory Evaluation Study: A sensory evaluation utilizing all seasoning methods from the intervention will be conducted at a Texas Tech University culinary education lab. In a Texas Tech University culinary education lab, 2-4 vegetables will be cooked and seasoned with either 50/50MSG Mix, 70/30 MSG Mix, or NaCl for taste testing. Then, using a standardized form, participants will rate their acceptability and preference of each vegetable, including sensory characteristics such as appearance, color, odor, texture, and flavor.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Sodium Excess; Healthy Nutrition; Culinary Medicine
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: Salt replacement seasoning (50% salt and 50% MSG) mix; Behavioral: Salt replacement seasoning (70% salt and 30% MSG) mix; Behavioral: NaCl (sodium chloride/table salt)

Detailed Description

Food Intake Study: This will be a 4-week randomized controlled intervention study with a vegetable intake questionnaire, daily food intake, and seasoning usage measurement to test the acceptability of different seasoning ingredients and vegetable intake in healthy adults. Participants will be randomly assigned to one of three groups (a) vegetables prepared with 50% NaCl and 50% MSG (50/50MSG Mix); (b) vegetables prepared with 70% NaCl and 30% MSG (70/30 MSG Mix); (c) vegetables prepared with NaCl (table salt). Before the intervention, each group will be asked to keep a daily food intake record for one week to determine baseline vegetable intake. Each group will receive a culinary medicine program electronically, including recipe demonstrations, cooking skills, and nutrition education videos to provide instruction for vegetable consumption according to the Dietary Guidelines for Americans. According to each treatment group, a bottle of seasoning ingredients will be provided to use on vegetables. Prior to the intervention, participants will be 1) instructed on how to track daily food intake data using the MyFitnessPal® app, 2) track food intake for seven days, and 3) complete a questionnaire regarding vegetable intake pre-intervention. According to the group assignment, each treatment group will also receive a bottle of a seasoning blend that includes either 50/50MSG Mix, 70/30 MSG Mix, or NaCl to use on vegetables prepared at home. According to the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, culinary medicine education (recipe demonstrations, cooking skills, and education videos for vegetable consumption) will be delivered electronically at baseline and once per week for four weeks to each participant. For four weeks, participants will track all meals daily, including vegetables prepared with designated seasoning at home. Remote follow-ups and dietary intake will be conducted weekly. After the intervention, the participants will 1) complete the same vegetable intake questionnaire for the four weeks of the intervention and 2) return the bottle of seasoning blend provided. Usage of seasoning for four weeks will be recorded. Data analyses will evaluate the changes in outcomes within and between groups. Participants will also be informed of the sensory evaluation study to be included among other participants of that study. MSG_Diet Food Questionaries (Updated).docx MyFitness Pal instructions.docx

Sensory Evaluation Study: A sensory evaluation utilizing all seasoning methods from the intervention will be conducted at a Texas Tech University culinary education lab. In a Texas Tech University culinary education lab, 2-4 vegetables will be cooked and seasoned with either 50/50MSG Mix, 70/30 MSG Mix, or NaCl for taste testing. Then, using a standardized form, participants will rate their acceptability and preference of each vegetable, including sensory characteristics such as appearance, color, odor, texture, and flavor.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 148
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • Texas
    • Lubbock, Texas, United States, 79410
      • Nutrition and Metabolic Health Initiative

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 14 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• 18 years old and above

Exclusion Criteria:

• Allergy or aversion to MSG (monosodium glutamate) or potassium chloride
• Those that do not have a smart phone with the ability to download an app.
• Those who do not have a full kitchen and the willingness and ability to prepare vegetables according to a recipes.
• Those with an allergy, aversion, or dislike to vegetables that would make them not consume any vegetables during the study

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Treatment
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: Single

Number of Arms

3

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: 50% NaCl and 50% MSG Seasoning Mix; Participants received cooking demonstrations and nutrition education, and were asked to use the seasoning provided (50% NaCl and 50% MSG Seasoning Mix) on vegetables and foods prepared. Then they recorded their food intake to compare vegetable intake to other groups.	Behavioral: Salt replacement seasoning (50% salt and 50% MSG) mix; Individuals in this group were provided a seasoning that replaced 50 % regular salt with a reduced-sodium MSG substitute. This study assessed the vegetable intake using the intervention of 50/50 MSG Mix to be added to vegetables in diet.
Experimental: 70% NaCl and 30% MSG Seasoning Mix; Participants received cooking demonstrations and nutrition education, and were asked to use the seasoning provided (70% NaCl and 30% MSG Seasoning Mix) on vegetables and foods prepared. Then they recorded their food intake to compare vegetable intake to other groups.	Behavioral: Salt replacement seasoning (70% salt and 30% MSG) mix; Individuals in this group were provided a seasoning that replaced 30 % regular salt with a reduced-sodium MSG substitute. This study assessed the vegetable intake using the intervention of 70/30 MSG Mix to be added to vegetables in diet.
Experimental: NaCl seasoning; Active Control Participants received cooking demonstrations and nutrition education, and were asked to use table salt on vegetables and foods prepared. Then they recorded their food intake to compare vegetable intake to other groups.	Behavioral: NaCl (sodium chloride/table salt); Individuals in this group were asked to use normal seasoning of regular salt. This study assessed the vegetable intake using table salt to be added to vegetables in diet.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Vegetable Intake	To assess the consumption of vegetables by the participant measured by data from self-recorded diet as entered in smart phone application (My Fitness Pal©).	5 weeks

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Vegetable Palatability	Preference Test Preference Test Scale; Scale Title: Likert Scale for Vegetable Preference; Minimum Value: 1 (indicating "dislike extremely"); Maximum Value: 9 (indicating "like extremely"); Higher Scores Indicate: A better outcome, meaning higher scores reflect a greater preference for the vegetables seasoned with the various NaCl/MSG mixtures.	day one (15 minutes)
Vegetable Palatability	Triangle Sensory Evaluation Test Triangle Test Scale; Scale Title: Confidence Scale for Triangle Test; Minimum Value: 1 (indicating "not confident"); Maximum Value: 5 (indicating "completely confident"); Higher Scores Indicate: A better outcome in terms of confidence level in identifying the odd sample out. Higher scores reflect greater confidence in distinguishing between the NaCl/MSG mixtures and pure NaCl.	day one (15 minutes)
Seasoning Usage	Determine which group used the most seasoning Each group will be provided a bottle of seasoning. It will be weighed prior to them taking the seasoning. The participants will be asked to bring the remaining seasoning back to weight to determine the amount of seasoning usage during the 4 week study. Usage of seasoning for four weeks will be recorded.	5 weeks

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Texas Tech University
• Collaborators: American Society for Nutrition
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Shannon Galyean, PhD, Texas Tech University

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): February 10, 2023
• Primary Completion (Actual): November 15, 2023
• Study Completion (Actual): November 15, 2023

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: October 19, 2022
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: October 21, 2022
• First Posted (Actual): October 24, 2022

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): August 1, 2024
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: July 30, 2024
• Last Verified: July 1, 2024

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Metabolic Diseases; Water-Electrolyte Imbalance; Hypernatremia
• Other Study ID Numbers: 2022-396

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: NO

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No