I just posted this on my tumblr blog. I searched the forum to see if anyone else made a post about carrageenan and I didn't find anything except about seaweed in general. This is something I just read about today and wanted to warn the rest of you to watch out for it as well.
--
Some plant based milks contain an ingredient called carrageenan. It’s used in the food industry for their gelling, thickening and stabilizing properties. It’s extracted from red edible seaweeds. So, that’s safe right?
No, it’s not. It’s destructive to your digestive system. It will falsely trigger an immune response like your body would when being invaded by pathogens. This causes inflammation in your body. Carrageenan has been linked to gastrointestinal disease in lab animals. This connection was found by researchers in the 1960s.
There are two kinds of carrageenan: degraded and undegraded. Some claim that undegraded carrageenan, the one used in the food industry, is safe but, Dr. Joanne K. Tobacman, M.D., associate professor of clinical medicine at the University of Illinois College of Medicine explains that all forms of carrageenan are capable of causing inflammation.
"Dr. Tobacman also told the board that in the past, drug investigators actually used carrageenan to cause inflammation in tissues in order to test the anti-inflammatory properties of new drugs. And she reported further 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."
Further studies show that carrageenan is linked to increased intestinal permeability (leaky gut), intestinal irritation and colon ulcers. Leaky gut is Dr. Pagano’s theory for the cause of psoriasis! I’ve been eating food I thought was safe for years that’s had carrageenan in it. I’m horrified. I’m going to go through my cupboard and get rid of anything containing it.
Carrageenan is not just found in plant based milks. It’s commonly in infant formula. :( Check your food ingredient labels and get this stuff out of your kitchens. It’s bad news.
If you can’t find any plant based milk without it there is always the option of making it yourself.
Homemade Almond Milk
- 1 cup almonds (soaked overnight)
- 5 cups water
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- Pinch sea salt (optional)
Blend together and strain through a nut milk bag into a large mason jar.
Sources and additional information:
- http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1242073/
- http://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007%2F978-1-4020-9619-8_8
- http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3495619/
- http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0929173252/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0929173252&linkCode=as2&tag=herbkati-20&linkId=6URTY4ISKKUWQ635
Replies