Is Carrageenan giving you diarrhea, bloating, gas and just aggravating your IBS or SIBO symptoms? Carrageenan is known to cause intestinal inflammation and other digestive issues. 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.
Side Effects of Carrageenan and Other Gum Resins/Additives
Products with carrageenan may be labeled as “natural,” but limited studies show that carrageenan may promote or cause:
- inflammation
- bloating
- irritable bowel syndrome
- glucose intolerance
- colon cancer
- food allergies
Transcript
Hi I’m Dr Hagmeyer and if you are just tuning in, I want to welcome you to my YouTube Channel, If you have IBS or SIBO perhaps you have started following a Low FODMAP diet, or a Gluten Free diet or some other diet such as SCD diet or GAPS diet an even with the best preparation and intention of following the diet you have had increased fullness, gas and bloating, cramping, more diarrhea and more IBS stress.
If that’s you, I want to introduce you to a couple common culprits that I see often enough sabotaging the health of the gut. Today, I want to share with you information on a very important food additives that has been gaining the attention of many doctors who treat IBS and other GI complaints.
Is Gellan Gum Bad For You?
If you are fond of reading the ingredients on your packaged foods, then you may have encountered the term gellan gum. But what is gellan gum and is gellan gum safe? In this article we will answer these questions.
Gellan gum is a food additive discovered in the 1970s from water lilies as a byproduct of a certain bacterial fermentation. But nowadays gellan gum is artificially produced through the same process of bacterial fermentation by fermenting sugar using a specific strain of bacteria called Sphingomonas elodea.
How is Gellan Gum Used in My Food Such as Almond Milk?
Gellan gum is one of food additives used as a thickener or emulsifier. Gellan gum can prevent separation and settling of the contents such as vitamins and minerals in your beverage products. To visualize this effect, imagine making a chocolate milk for your breakfast, when you pour the cocoa powder in your milk, it will sink and clump at the bottom of your glass. Gellan gum will prevent this clumping and you will have a more uniform distribution of your cocoa powder throughout your drink. Examples of other gums that are used as additives are xanthan gum, guar gum, and locust bean gum.
This food additive is a popular replacement for nature based ingredient in vegan products such as plant based milks like almond milk and other plant based dairy products like processed cheese. Other foods such as candies like gummy bears also add gellan gum as a gelling agent because they are resistant to high temperature changes that prevents melting and sticking of gummy bears together.
Gellan Gum Health Benefits
Even though gellan gum is around for a long time, there are only a few studies regarding the health benefits of gellan gum. One of the studies have found that gellan gum helps in relieving constipation by acting as a bulking agent that can result in smoother passage of stool during defecation.
While others using this food additive in their healthy recipes find gellan gum helps with their weight loss, appetite control and lowering their sugar and cholesterol levels.
Gellan Gum Side Effects
Compared to other gums and gelling agents, gellan gum is a relatively safe food additive. Gellan gum is approved by the FDA and EFSA as a safe nature based ingredient to be added into our foods.
But some researches have shown that consuming gellan gum produced minor side effects. The possible side effects include:
-
Slow digestion
-
Abdominal bloating
-
Excessive gas/Flatulence
-
Loose stools/diarrhea
It is important to take note that these is not completely backed up by science and this harmful effects are only produced when gellan gum is taken in high doses.
Gellan Gum vs Carrageenan, Xanthan gum, Guar gum, and Other Gum/Gelling Agents
Compared to other gelling agents, gellan gum is relatively safe. Aside from that, gellan gum has good storage stability, moisture retention, sheen, spread-ability, texture and flavor release without affecting the product’s taste and natural color.
Food Additives Like Carrageenan Are Not Belly Friendly
And so today, I thought it would be a good idea to spend some time introducing you to resins and gums, what they are, where you find them and why they not belly friendly. Gums are mostly comprised of indigestible polysaccharides (these are long chains of sugars- starch, glycogen and cellulose are all some examples of polysaccharides. Some are produced from plants and some from bacterial fermentation, Gum additives are everywhere in our food supply and even cosmetics.
Why These Gums and Additives Are Being Used in Food
More and more Health food manufacturers are using gums because they have unique properties that add desirable texture and/or shelf life to processed foods.Typical use is for thickening, stabilizing or emulsifying. For many people following a gluten free diet, these gums can be very problematic. So If you or a loved one is struggling with SIBO or IBS here are
5 Gums and Additives That You Should Be Aware Of And Try To Avoid if you have sibo.
-
Gum Guar– from the ground endosperm of guar beans.
-
Locust Bean Gum (Carob)– a vegetable gum extracted from the seeds of the carob tree, mostly found in the Mediterranean region.
-
Mastic Gum– made of the hardened sap of a tree.
-
Xanthan Gum– This gum can be synthetically made
-
Carrageenan– a sulfated polysaccharide that is extracted from red edible seaweeds.
In a recent study on gum reactivity, 288 subjects were evaluated for food allergy using IgE and IgG immune markers. What they found was that Carrageenan was the worst, followed by mastic gum, locust bean (carob) Xanthum gum, Beta-glucan and finally guar gum. So Guar gum was the least problematic.
According to Research The Worse Gum
In a recent study on gum reactivity, 288 subjects were evaluated for food allergy using IgE and IgG immune markers. What they found was that Carrageenan was the worst, followed by mastic gum, locust bean (carob) Xanthum gum, Beta-glucan and finally guar gum. So Guar gum was the least problematic.
As you can see even Scientific American has acknowledged how these gums an additives can be downright nasty to our GI tract causing things like Colitis, IBS, RA, and even colon cancer.
All gum additives appear to exert a possibly powerful influence on the makeup of our gut bacteria.
Because 50% of grocery packed products likely contain gum’s and resins I want to encourage you and your loved ones to start reading those labels .
Few Reminders Or Closing Points That I Want You To Remember.
#1 If you have been following a low FODMAP diet and avoiding those foods that are in the red or Yellow region and your still struggling- it’s not your fault, you might be experiencing a food sensitivity reaction or some other problem that is causing your progress to be slowed down. Contact us if you feel you would benefit from a Functional Medicine approach.
#2- You need to read labels- Just because someone says they were able to eat this food- doesn’t necessarily mean that you can eat it- remember one man’s foods is another mans poison.
#3- While I NEVER recommend these gums (Carrageenan especially) for people who have any kind of GI problems, for those people who are otherwise healthy, they may be ok- we will have to wait and see what the research shows.
#4 I do recommend that if you have IBS or SIBO that you get food sensitivity testing done to see if your immune system is reacting to them. There is more and more research that is looking at these foods and how they may be linked to various autoimmune disease.
Here is some testing of a patient that I worked with a few years ago who I helped. She was diagnosed with SIBO but even after treatment she never got well. We ran a few different kinds of tests on her and one in particular related to today’s video was a food sensitivity test. You can see below she was sensitive to 3 different kinds of gums.
#5 Gum reactivity can be a serious problem for those people who have Celiac disease, Non Celiac Gluten Sensitivity, or Inflammatory Bowel disease like Crohn’s, Ulcerative Colitis. Again as I mentioned earlier many gluten free foods are using these large gum molecules to provide elasticity to the food item.
So there you go, I hope you liked today’s video! If you liked it don’t forget to subscribe and leave a comment below.
Share this information with your friends, Tweet it, face book it- lets get the word out that these pose problems for those of us who suffer or have suffered with IBS.
I know that for some of you the information we discussed is going to cause more frustration- knowing that you once again you need to avoid or cut out a certain foods. Keep in mind that when you are dealing with GUT issues there are many things that are at the ROOT cause, the diagnosis is just the tip of the iceberg. The more of those things you identify the easier the easier it will be for you to get on the right track!
Our Personal SIBO Recovery Program is a great place to start
The Personal Program IBS/SIBO/SIFO Recovery Program is a Natural Treatment for IBS and other GI related problems.
Our office implements Advanced Functional lab Testing, Natural Medicine/supplements as well as nutritional counseling tailored specifically to you.
- To See If a Free 15 minute consult is right for you start here
- Still have questions? contact us
- Ready To get started? Purchase Testing and consult here
- Not Sure Where to Start? Have a more complex GI problem you need help with? Have seen several other doctors and still suffering? Consider purchasing an in depth Case Review.
We’re here to listen and help you through this frustrating and confusing time.
Be Sure To Download My Free Guide Here
People Who Viewed and Watched Today Video Also Watched
- 10 warning signs you have SIBO & When To Get Tested
- Breath Kind Of testing for SIBO
- Eradicate SIBO by incorporating Biofilm Disruptors
- SIBO and Prokinetics- The Missing Piece In Treating SIBO
- Why SIBO Treatments Fail Most Of The Time-Part I
- Part 2 Why SIBO Treatments Fail Most Of The Time-Part II
- 4 Common Mistakes Made On Low FODMAP and SIBO Diet
- Feeling Worse After Taking Probiotics ? Learn Why
- Best Probiotics To take When You Have SIBO and When To Introduce Them
- How Food Poisoning Triggers Autoimmune IBS-D
- What You Need To Know Before Getting Tested For SIBO
- 5 Food Additives You Should Avoid, If You Have SIBO
- Ileocecal Valve Release- Self Massage-How, When And Where To Massage Your Ileocecal Valve
- Why The Ileocecal Valve Holds The Key to IBS and SIBO- What It Is and Why It’s Important
- Vicious cycle of Nutritional Deficiencies Associated With Low FODMAP and SIBO Diet
- SIBO/IBS And The Connection To Thyroid Disease
- Why Antibiotics May Not Be The Best Approach for SIBO
- Medications That Cause IBS, SIBO and Leaky Gut
- Studies Now Connect Fibromyalgia and Chronic Pain to Bacterial Overgrowth (SIBO)
Our Personal SIBO Recovery Program is a great place to start
The Personal Program IBS/SIBO/SIFO Recovery Program is a Natural Treatment for IBS and other GI related problems.
Our office implements Advanced Functional lab Testing, Natural Medicine/supplements as well as nutritional counseling tailored specifically to you.
- To See If a Free 15 minute consult is right for you start here
- Still have questions? contact us
- Ready To get started? Purchase Testing and consult here
- Not Sure Where to Start? Have a more complex GI problem you need help with? Have seen several other doctors and still suffering? Consider purchasing an in depth Case Review.
We’re here to listen and help you through this frustrating and confusing time.
