What is This Natural Ingredient You Should Remove From Your Diet?

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Did you know that this unnecessary ingredient could be irritating your gut?

Many food manufacturers are adding “carrageenan” to foods such as chocolate, yogurt, ice cream and soymilk to give the foods a thicker consistency and to make the low-fat versions taste fuller.

What is This Natural Ingredient You Should Remove From Your Diet?
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What are Carrageenans?

Carrageenans are derived from seaweeds or red algae are processed through an alkaline procedure to produce what many consider to be a “natural” food ingredient. If you prepare the same seaweed in an acidic solution, you get what is referred to as poligeenan or “degraded carrageenan”.

It is often added to beverages to keep their ingredients from separating. You will find it in many nutritional milk products, shakes and milk replacements. The ingredient is even added in certain soups, frozen dinners, soups and commercial broth products.

What is the Problem with Carrageenan?

Carrageenan could be causing inflammation, gut irritation, and even cancer. It is not digestible and has no nutritional value.

It is often used because it emulsifies and thickens products. It is often found even in natural and organic products.

Side Effect & Dangers of Carrageenan:

Researchers who insist that carrageenan is dangerous usually quote one of the many studies that supposed link the seaweed food additive to:

– Colorectal cancer
– Fetal toxicity & birth defects
– Large bowel ulceration
– Liver cancer
– Ulcerative colitis
– Glucose intolerance and insulin resistance
– Inflammation
– Immune suppression
– Promoting the growth of abnormal colon glands, which are precursors to polyps

How to Remove Carrageenan from Your Diet:

Study the Label

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Carrageenan must legally appear on a food labels. Always check labels of even organic foods to see if it is an ingredient.

While organic foods ban the use of chemical pesticides, GMOs and toxic synthetic additives, the program does allow carrageenan. The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Organic Standards Board is not set to vote on removing it from organics for 4 more years.

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