Bottom Line on Carrageenan

[Guest guest]

http://www.nutritionnewsfocus.com/archive/a3/78.html

 

 

Carrageenan

 

 

Carra-what? Carrageenan is a gum used as a food thickener that is derived

from seaweed. It finds its way into pudding, ice cream, yogurt, condensed

milk, and some soy milk products. It is there to improve the texture.

Carrageenan is a large molecule, which makes it indigestible, and

qualifies it to be classed as dietary fiber.

 

One type, called degraded carrageenan, is smaller in size than the parent

compound and has been used experimentally to induce inflammation of the

colon and to enhance the formation of colon cancer in rats. Small amounts

of carrageenan we eat are of the size considered degraded. Some

researchers believe this is a health threat, while others do not believe

the amount we are exposed to is of importance. A review of 45 animal

studies was published in the October 2001 issue of Environmental Health

Perspectives, but there are no studies on people because we are exposed to

so little.

 

HERE'S WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: Here is another example of " What should I do

when the experts can't agree? " Unfortunately, no one has the answer yet.

Virtually all the bad news comes from rat studies, and one experiment

suggests the bacteria that live in the rat intestine may contribute to the

effects while bacteria from humans do not result in the same problems. We

can't tell you to avoid the stuff, but we also cannot assure you it is

completely safe.

 

12.3.01

 

 

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[Guest guest]

thanks for all the info on carrageenan, gene.

 

i never know what to believe when it comes to things

like this. seems to me that in this case, dr.

tobacman did her studies with DEGRADED carrageenan and

that's not the form used in foods. i may be

wrong....all that scientific mumbo-jumbo made my eyes

cross. and reading about the animal testing was

disturbing. ugggh! i can't believe scientists still

do animal studies. but i won't go off about that.

i'm not too worried about carrageenan and will still

use products that contain it....not that we use many

that do.

 

susie

 

--- The Stewarts <stews9 wrote:

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