Food Additive that May be making you Sick

Do you know what carrageenan is?

Did you know that carrageenan can be found among the ingredients of most of the things you eat?

Carrageenan is a food additive, extracted from red seaweed, and is often added to foods that have a creamy texture, such as:

• ice cream
• sour cream
• whipping cream
• soy milk
• canned soup,
• coconut milk
• almond milk
• prepared chicken
• sliced turkey

Carrageenan is added to these products in order to keep them thickened for longer amounts of time, and to thicken up the lower fat versions of these food products.

Carrageenan is one of many natural substances that can make you sick

Carrageenan sounds like it could be something natural and healthy, but could be more easily compared to rhubarb leaves; tobacco and poison ivy, when it comes to the effects that it can have upon the human body. Carrageenan has repeatedly shown (in animals), to cause gastrointestinal inflammation, and high rates of intestinal lesions, ulcerations, and malignant tumors. While in the human body, studies have shown that carrageenan in food side effects can lead and trigger an immune reaction leading to inflammation in the gastrointestinal system. (1)  Prolonged inflammation can be a precursor to more serious diseases, most alarmingly; cancer.

What can you do to keep Carrageenan out of your diet?

The best thing that you can do to keep carrageenan out of your diet is to read the ingredient list. Make sure to check any item that you may be thinking about purchasing (even organic items), that are even the slightest bit creamy in nature.

sources:  

http://wholegreenlove.com/2013/04/07/carrageenan-a-dangerous-sneaky-commonly-used-food-additive/

http://www.cornucopia.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/Carrageenan-Report1.pdf