Warning: I’m on my soapbox today.
(I’ll put up a happy picture to lighten the “mood”!)
There are so many additives in everything these days!!
I try so hard to eat very “clean” meaning foods with very little ingredients.
Not because I want to jump on some “clean eating” bandwagon and feel superior to those who don’t eat “clean”, but because I have terrible stomach issues.
I thought I was doing great when I started having more issues. I noticed it more and more after I would have my hemp and almond milks. It wasn’t until Angela posted about carrageenan that I made the connection.
I never read the label on my almond of hemp milks. I just assumed they were healthy and good for me. I mean.. they are organic after all. Turns out, they have carrageenan in them.
So what is carrageenan? It is an additive made from red seaweed. It is used in a thickener in ice cream, yogurt, cheese, non- dairy milks, and other processed foods.
As I started looking into it more, Dr. Weil sited Joanne K. Tobacman, MD in his article. Dr. Tobacman has published 18 peer-reviewed studies about carrageenan and the effects on humans. Her conclusion: it is harmful to human health.
Why? Dr. Tobacman says that is has been shown in thousands of experiments to cause inflammation in the body. Inflammation is linked to over 100 diseases including inflammatory bowel disease, rheumatoid arthritis, heart disease, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases, and cancer!
Dr. Weil says that he would recommend that anyone with inflammatory bowel disease to avoid carageenan.
How do you find replacements to your products that don’t have carrageenan? You can go to the Cornucopia shopping guide for a listing of organic foods without carrageenan.
If you are big nerd like me, here is the link to Dr. Tobacman’s testimony to the Organic Standards Board regarding carrageenan.
Also, here is an amazing post by Ray Peat on carrageenan. It is worth a read.
Please read up on carrageenan and make your own informed decision. I certainly don’t want to be the one to indoctrinate anyone!
For me, I’m going to try to steer clear of things with carrageenan due to my stomach issues and my medial history of inflammation.
I hate that we have to read every single label on things and have to guess what all the additives are. I’m going back to getting the products with no labels, or ones that have 1-2 ingredients. My poor belly needs it. Not to mention it still is upset from all the antibiotics I had to take from being sick!
If you made it all the way through this post, kudos to you! :) Sorry I get heated about these things. I certainly don’t want anyone telling me what I can and can’t eat. However, I do want all the facts as to what is in my food. Agree??
Tomorrow I’ll be in a much better mood. Promise. :)
Do you read your food labels?
Have you ever heard of carrageenan?
Thoughts?
{ 30 comments… read them below or add one }
Wow! I had no idea – it’s so sad that things we think are good and healthy for us end up having something else in them that is bad. What is a person to do?! I’m like you and try to avoid things with additives in them and make as much as I can from scratch but then something like this happens and you wonder….
Sarah
anythingbetween.blogspot.com
I know! Isn’t it so frustrating??
Good morning!
The main reason I get fired up about food is that I think as a society we should be well enough educated by now to make a lot better decisions in processing instead of just focusing on the often the “cheapest” option. When processed food contributes to later illnesses, it is hard to regard it as cheaper.
So far my almond milk brand appears to be my biggest carrageenan culprit, and that is easily changed. As someone who already carries way too much stress I get sick easy enough without putting allergens on top of that.
Have a great day!
Yes! I think we should all be educated as well. It just gets so frustrating! My almond milk was my biggest culprit too, but I switched to silk!
I’ve been reading labels for as long as I can remember because of my allergies, but I had no idea that carrageenan was harmful. I really hate that we can’t trust food companies to keep our food healthy, but I guess that just means that we have to start putting more time and effort into looking into things on our own. Thanks for all the links, Brittany!
You are so welcome girl! I have so many allergies too, so I’m there with ya!
Very great post Brittany!! Especially because lots of people have yet to speak out about this! I had to switch almond milks because of stomach pain and made that connection after I saw a list of foods that contained carrageenan. I definitely do have to read labels (more with stuff with added spice) since I do have an allergy, it’s just crazy with all the stuff added to our foods these days…just not good. I try to avoid buying processed foods when I can, which should me more of a reason for me to actually make my own almond milk! Thanks for the post love!
Thanks girl! I wonder if all these additives aren’t causing some of our food allergies??
whoa i had no idea but man will I be checking my labels.
I always read food labels, but more and more I’m purchasing items without them, or with just one or two ingredients. I am usually aware that there might be 1,000 names for the same thing, or that there are ingredients used as stabilizers, etc. I think the biggest shock recently has been the faux Greek yogurts, which aren’t actually strained, just have added whey concentrate or something else pumped in to up the protein. This is why I was able to eat Chobani, but not some other brands.
I want to rush home and check my labels now!
I hate when companies try to trick us like that! Thank goodness for Chobani.. right??
I was just telling a client about carrageenan yesterday! It really is scary how many additives are put into our foods without a second thought. Even foods we deem as “healthier” still need to be double checked and questioned. It certainly is frustrating. I would try making the switch to coconut milk.
I love coconut milk, but only in certain things. I prefer the canned to the drinking coconut milk for some reason. Is there a brand you like?
ugh, don’t even get me started on carrageeenan. Did you hear about stoneyfield though? they are taking it out of their yogurts!
Good for them!! Maybe if we all keep pushing it everyone will follow!
I’ve never even heard of that! Will definitely be on the lookout now. It is such a shame!!
Its very frustrating that we even HAVE to read labels. I know its our responsibility as consumers…but when are brands going to start taking some responsibility (rhetorical question because they don’t HAVE to)? I avoid most milks and when I want a bowl of cereal I just go with the basic cow milk…but not too often.
I hope your tummy feels better soon!
I know it! I wish that companies were held to higher standards but then again, I don’t want someone telling me what I can and can’t either… big slippery slope! Ya know??
i love angela’s post too…isn’t it so irritating when we try to make such good food choices and the food industry still puts such crud in our food. UGH. it makes me so mad. I am glad you are on that soapbox…we need to get the information out there for others!
now i digress and smile too. lol thanks for all the other additional information love it.
Thanks girl!! Just think though… We get to choose not to use those companies that put crap in our food! Right??
yikes! I need to start getting better at reading labels. I have always been anal about the macros and nutrient values, but sometimes I let the other things slide. Wow, EVERYTHING seems to be laden with chemicals these days!
Girl, I have to admit it makes me sad that so many foods make you sick. I know that has to be frustrating but I also get it because I’m right there with you (not quite to the same degree but still there with you). Our bodies are so picky and REAL foods really play a huge role in the way our bodies feel.
I’ve read about this recently and although I’m not going to stress about it, I did do a bit of research and found that Silk Unsweetened Almond milk doesn’t have this. Hope that helps!
Thanks girl!! That is what I have been buying!
SO MUCH FOR THE MYTHS
CONSIDER THE FACTS ON CARRAGEENAN FOR A CHANGE
Q. What is Carrageenan??
A. Carrageenan is a naturally-occurring seaweed extract. It is widely used in foods and non-foods to improve texture and stability. Common uses include meat and poultry, dairy products, canned pet food, cosmetics and toothpaste.
Q. Why the controversy?
A. Self-appointed consumer watchdogs have produced numerous web pages filled with words condemning carrageenan as an unsafe food additive for human consumption. However, in 70+ years of carrageenan being used in processed foods, not a single substantiated claim of an acute or chronic disease has been reported as arising from carrageenan consumption. On a more science-based footing, food regulatory agencies in the US, the EU, and in the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization/World Health Organization (FAO/WHO) repeatedly review and continue to approve carrageenan as a safe food additive.
Q. What has led up to this misrepresentation of the safety of an important food stabilizer, gelling agent and thickener?
A. It clearly has to be attributed to the research of Dr. Joanne Tobacman, an Associate Prof at the University of Illinois in Chicago. She and a group of molecular biologists have accused carrageenan of being a potential inflammatory agent as a conclusion from laboratory experiments with cells of the digestive tract. It requires a lot of unproven assumptions to even suggest that consumption of carrageenan in the human diet causes inflammatory diseases of the digestive tract. The objectivity of the Chicago research is also flawed by the fact that Dr Tobacman has tried to have carrageenan declared an unsafe food additive on weak technical arguments that she broadcast widely a decade before the University of Chicago research began.
Q. What brings poligeenan into a discussion of carrageenan?
A. Poligeenan (“degraded carrageenan” in pre-1988 scientific and regulatory publications) is a possible carcinogen to humans; carrageenan is not. The only relationship between carrageenan and poligeenan is that the former is the starting material to make the latter. Poligeenan is not a component of carrageenan and cannot be produced in the digestive tract from carrageenan-containing foods.
Q. What are the differences between poligeenan and carrageenan?
A. The production process for poligeenan requires treating carrageenan with strong acid at high temp (about that of boiling water) for 6 hours or more. These severe processing conditions convert the long chains of carrageenan to much shorter ones: ten to one hundred times shorter. In scientific terms the molecular weight of poligeenan is 10,000 to 20,000; whereas that of carrageenan is 200,000 to 800,000. Concern has been raised about the amount of material in carrageenan with molecular weight less than 50,000. The actual amount (well under 1%) cannot even be detected accurately with current technology. Certainly it presents no threat to human health.
Q. What is the importance of these molecular weight differences?
A. Poligeenan contains a fraction of material low enough in molecular weight that it can penetrate the walls of the digestive tract and enter the blood stream. The molecular weight of carrageenan is high enough that this penetration is impossible. Animal feeding studies starting in the 1960s have demonstrated that once the low molecular weight fraction of poligeenan enters the blood stream in large enough amounts, pre-cancerous lesions begin to form. These lesions are not observed in animals fed with a food containing carrageenan.
Q. Does carrageenan get absorbed in the digestive track?
A. Carrageenan passes through the digestive system intact, much like food fiber. In fact, carrageenan is a combination of soluble and insoluble nutritional fiber, though its use level in foods is so low as not to be a significant source of fiber in the diet.
Summary
Carrageenan has been proven completely safe for consumption. Poligeenan is not a component of carrageenan.
Closing Remarks
The consumer watchdogs with their blogs and websites would do far more service to consumers by researching their sources and present only what can be substantiated by good science. Unfortunately we are in an era of media frenzy that rewards controversy.
Additional information available:
On June 11th, 2008, Dr. Joanne Tobacman petitioned the FDA to revoke the current regulations permitting use of carrageenan as a food additive.
On June 11th, 2012 the FDA denied her petition, categorically addressing and ultimately dismissing all of her claims; their rebuttal supported by the results of several in-depth, scientific studies.
If you would like to read the full petition and FDA response, they can be accessed at http://www.regulations.gov/#!searchResults;rpp=25;po=0;s=FDA-2008-P-0347
Thanks for all the information, Debbie. It is always good to hear both sides of the story. I have found for me that my body feels better without it. However, I always encourage my readers to make their own informed decision. Again, thanks for your well thought out and very informative response! Take care!
I found this reply by Debbie on many, many blogs and websites posting about carrageenan. Her name is Debbie Young and she works for Ingredient Solutions, Inc, a company selling carrageenan. Just for your information.
I also feel much, much better without the carrageenan in my diet. We grow as much of our own food as we can and avoid eating processed food. It has made such a huge difference in the health and quality of life for my family!
Thanks for your blog! I love it.:)
Thanks so much! Yes, I feel better too with less processed things. It is amazing the difference it makes once you start cutting those things out!
I have never heard of carrageenan [and had to double check that I spelled it correctly
]- thanks for sharing! My tummy has been having major troubles the past 2 weeks so I finally went to the doctor earlier this week and have a procedure scheduled for Monday… Fingers crossed for some answers! In the meantime, I really am going to look more at the labels of the food I eat. You make a great point that even if something is labeled as “natural” or “organic,” it doesn’t necessarily mean it’s a-ok.
I’m so sorry you have been having tummy troubles! I can definitely sympathize. Feel free to e-mail me anytime!