When taken by mouth: Carrageenan is LIKELY SAFE for most people when taken by mouth in food amounts. There is also a chemically altered form of carrageenan that is available in France to treat peptic ulcers. This form is POSSIBLY UNSAFE because animal studies have shown that it might cause cancer. But this risk hasn’t been shown in humans.
Carrageenan, which has no nutritional value, has been used as a thickener and emulsifier to improve the texture of ice cream, yogurt, cottage cheese, soy milk, and other processed foods. Some animal studies have linked degraded forms of carrageenan (the type not used in food) to ulcerations and cancers
Andrew Weil, M.D. | July 8, 2019. Carrageenan is a common food additive with no nutritional value. It is extracted from a red seaweed, Chondrus crispus, popularly known as Irish moss, and is used as a thickener and emulsifier to improve the texture of ice cream, yogurt, cottage cheese, soy milk, and other processed foods.
Because poligeenan can be produced from carrageenan, many researchers and laypeople have expressed concern that we might be exposed to poligeenan through contamination of the food supply. However, the most recent sources indicate that the poligeenan contamination level of food-grade carrageenan is less than 5%.
How long does carrageenan exposure last?
And she has reported that when laboratory mice are exposed to low concentrations of carrageenan for 18 days, they develop “profound” glucose intolerance and impaired insulin action, both of which can lead to diabetes.
It is extracted from a red seaweed, Chondrus crispus, popularly known as Irish moss, and is used as a thickener and emulsifier to improve the texture of ice cream, yogurt, cottage cheese, soy milk, and other processed foods.
More worrisome, undegraded carrageenan – the type that is widely used in foods – has now also been associated with malignancies and stomach problems. And it appears that acid digestion, heating, bacterial action and mechanical processing can all accelerate degradation of food-grade carrageenan.
Despite such findings, carrageenan is still approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration as an additive and remains in wide use in many food products. The European Union has banned it in infant formula, but no such step has been taken in the U.S.
Joanne K. Tobacman, MD, who has published multiple peer-reviewed studies on the biological effects of carrageenan, believes that all forms of it are harmful. She has found that exposure to it, in the amounts contained in processed foods, causes inflammation in the body.
A study by researchers in Canada and at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health published in 2017 found that consuming carrageenan can lead to ulcers and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).
What is carrageenan used for?
Carrageenan is an additive used to thicken, emulsify, and preserve foods and drinks. It’s a natural ingredient that comes from red seaweed (also called Irish moss). You’ll often find this ingredient in nut milks, meat products, and yogurt.
If you’re worried about the side effects of carrageenan, take it out of your diet and see if there’s any improvement in how you’re feeling. It’s legally required to be listed under a product’s ingredients, so it should be easy to start to figure out what foods to eliminate .
Trusted Source. also suggests that there may be no substantial difference between “food-grade” (undegraded) and degraded carrageenan. Degraded carrageenan is a carcinogenic (cancer-causing) version that isn’t approved. It’s even used to induce inflammation in animal studies.
Some evidence suggests that carrageenan triggers inflammation, gastrointestinal ulcerations , and that it damages your digestive system. People have been petitioning for products with carrageenan to be labeled with a warning or removed entirely.
Dangers and side effects of carrageenan. Products with carrageenan may be labeled as “natural,” but limited studies show that carrage enan may promote or cause: Increased inflammation can lead to a greater likelihood of other diseases, such as:
Just remember that carrageenan-free milks may separate. This is natural. All you have to do is shake well before pouring. To see which brands are carrageenan-free, take a look at Cornucopia’s shopping guide. Carrageenan is also found in pet foods, especially canned ones.
Finding replacements for vegetarian or vegan foods without carrageenan is possible.
What are the side effects of carrageenan?
If they can, the possible side effects of consuming carrageenan include: inflammation. bloating.
Dairy: whipping cream, chocolate milk, ice cream, sour cream, cottage cheese, and children’s squeezable yogurt products. Dairy alternatives: soy milk, almond milk, hemp milk, coconut milk, and soy puddings and other desserts.
Poligeenan is made by mixing the same seaweed extract with acid. It is a powerful inflammatory agent used in laboratories. Studies in animals indicate that some food-grade carrageenan can degrade, becoming poligeenan, when it is exposed to stomach acid.
Different forms of carrageenan have different uses and potential risks. Food-grade carrageenan is extracted from red seaweed and processed with alkaline substances. When carrageenan is processed with acid, it creates a substance called degraded carrageenan, or poligeenan, …
When carrageenan is process ed with acid, it creates a substance called degraded carrageenan, or poli geenan, which carries significant health warnings. Poligeenan is an inflammatory substance. Researchers often use it to test new anti-inflammatory drugs in the laboratory. Poligeenan is not approved as a food additive.
Some scientists believe that carrageenan can cause inflammation, digestive problems, such as bloating and irritable bowel disease (IBD), and even colon cancer. However, the validity of these claims is hotly debated because the only supporting evidence comes from studies in cells and animals. In this article, we take a closer look at …
Conclusion. Carrageenan is a common food additive extracted from red seaweed. Manufacturers often use it as a thickening agent. The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) have approved the additive for use, but concerns about its safety remain. Some scientists believe that carrageenan can cause inflammation, digestive problems, …
What Is Carrageenan?
Derived from red algae or seaweeds since the 1930s, carrageenan is processed through an alkaline procedure to produce what many consider to be a “natural” food ingredient. Interestingly, if you prepare the same seaweed in an acidic solution, you get what is referred to as “degraded carrageenan” or poligeenan.
Not all foods with carrageenan will have the additive listed on the ingredient label because it’s being used as a “processing aid.”. There are other places where it is used but often not listed, including in beers (as a clarifying agent), pet foods and even conventional nutritional supplements.
Widely know for its inflammatory properties, poligeenan is commonly used in drug trials to literally induce inflammation and other diseases in lab animals. This has raised some serious eyebrows because the difference between a disease-producing carrageenan and its “natural” food counterpart is literally just a few pH points.
The controversy lies in the fact that there are no human studies proving that undegraded carrageenan dangers are a serious threat. Until we know for sure, do we continue to consume foods containing the seaweed additive, or do we opt for carrageenan-free foods and beverages instead?
Independent experts like Joanne Tobacman, M.D., associate professor of clinical medicine at the University of Illinois at Chicago, insist that carrageenan exposure clearly causes inflammation.
At first glance, it may seem like carrageenan is safe. It’s derived from red seaweed and found in many “health” foods.
Although it’s so common in packaged foods and you are probably consuming it, in one form or another, throughout the week , carrageenan has a long and controversial reputation as an emulsifier that damages the digestive system.
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