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

NCT05591612 | Completed

• 1 other identifier: 2022-396
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 148
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

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.

Conditions

Healthy Nutrition; Culinary Medicine; Sodium Excess

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• 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 Outcomes (3)

• Vegetable Palatability

  day one (15 minutes)

• Vegetable Palatability

  day one (15 minutes)

• Seasoning Usage

  5 weeks

Study Arms (3)

50% NaCl and 50% MSG Seasoning Mix

EXPERIMENTAL

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

70% NaCl and 30% MSG Seasoning Mix

EXPERIMENTAL

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

NaCl seasoning

EXPERIMENTAL

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)

Interventions

Salt replacement seasoning (50% salt and 50% MSG) mix BEHAVIORAL

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.

50% NaCl and 50% MSG Seasoning Mix

Salt replacement seasoning (70% salt and 30% MSG) mix BEHAVIORAL

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.

70% NaCl and 30% MSG Seasoning Mix

NaCl (sodium chloride/table salt) BEHAVIORAL

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.

NaCl seasoning

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 18 Years+
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

• years old and above

You may not qualify if:

• 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

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Texas Tech University: lead
• American Society for Nutrition: collaborator

Study Sites (1)

Nutrition and Metabolic Health Initiative

Lubbock, Texas, 79410, United States

Location

Related Publications (1)

• Maher C, Alcorn M, Childress A, Dawson JA, Galyean S. Increasing Vegetable Intake Using Monosodium Glutamate in a Randomized Controlled Trial: A Culinary Medicine Intervention. Food Sci Nutr. 2025 Jun 17;13(6):e70441. doi: 10.1002/fsn3.70441. eCollection 2025 Jun.

  PMID: 40535918 DERIVED

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Hypernatremia

Interventions

Salts; Sodium Glutamate; Sodium Chloride; Sodium Chloride, Dietary

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Water-Electrolyte Imbalance; Metabolic Diseases; Nutritional and Metabolic Diseases

Intervention Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Inorganic Chemicals; Glutamic Acid; Glutamates; Amino Acids, Acidic; Amino Acids; Amino Acids, Peptides, and Proteins; Amino Acids, Dicarboxylic; Chlorides; Hydrochloric Acid; Chlorine Compounds; Sodium Compounds; Sodium, Dietary

Study Officials

• Shannon Galyean, PhD

  Texas Tech University

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: SINGLE
• Who Masked: PARTICIPANT
• Purpose: TREATMENT
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: SPONSOR

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: October 19, 2022
• First Posted: October 24, 2022
• Study Start: February 10, 2023
• Primary Completion: November 15, 2023
• Study Completion: November 15, 2023
• Last Updated: August 1, 2024

Record last verified: 2024-07

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will not share

Locations

US (1)