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Carrageenan in Soy / Almond milk bad for you???
Started
by Lori D.
on February 13, 2010
While seaweed & algae are safe, healthy & natural in their whole food form, (from my understanding), it is the "extracting" or "processing" that transform certain additives from healthy & wholesome to hazardous.
We know monosodium glutamate (MSG) is harmful; it's extracted from rice.
Aspartame should be avoided (NutraSweet); it comes from decayed plant matter.
An artical I read also mentioned that carrageenan is the "magic ingredient used to de-ice frozen airplanes from the tarmacs".
In the end, carrageenan may or may not be that bad for you...maybe it only effects some...maybe it is just a tummy ache. In the end, the debate over it simply reminds me that the surest way to have the safest & healthiest foods is to consume them in their wholest forms & make our own.
There's another option almond milk besides Earth's Own that does not contain carrageenan, Silk True Almond. I live Canada, but I have seen it in groceries stores in Washington State. It contains a thickening agent called Gellan Gum which, what I can tell from my research, is plant based and causes no side effects unless consumed in high concentrations, Here's a link to a basic overview http://www.food-info.net/uk/e/e418.htm
I have a sensitivity to carrageenan and it gives me horrible sharp intestinal cramps (the crap is in a lot of dairy type products and even in Slimfast) and I really think that ingredient is the cause of people thinking they are soy intolerant. It's in almost every non-dairy milk on the shelves! I use Almond Dream becasue it's the only one I have found that doens't have it. I do use other milks that have it as an ingredient in small amounts (like baking) but if I have to drink it (in a smoothie) I have to have Alond Dream or I get full on ill.
This type article linked here is so much crap. There is nothing in the linked text that forms ANY level of proof. As Alicia suggests: read The China Study, learn critical thinking. There is little mention of any control groups that lead to conclusions related to carrageenan. If it was tested in vegans and was double-blinded, perhaps then, but evidence from studies like The Nurses Study have shown us how skewed things are!
It was degraded, that is, chemically changed carrageenan that has caused ulcers and cancers in guinea pigs and rabbits in animal studies. Only undegraded carrageenan is allowed to be used in human foods, and I have found no studies this type would cause ulcers and cancers in human. Some scietists believe undegraded carrageena may become partly degraded during digestion process, though.
Abdominal cramps do not necessay mean you are geting ulcers; some people can't tolerate carrageenan or are allergic to it.
Here's a list of foods with carrageenan that may trigger allergy
i only know carrageenan is really a good food thickener. Are you sure milk with carrageenan is bad for our body. Here has a website: http://www.foodchem.com/Thickeners/Carrageenan . This site is not say carrageenan in milk is bad.
I have just been diagnosed with a milk and egg white allergy. I switched to Almond milk, and experienced many gastrointestinal and skin issues. After blood tests, it was discovered I have a Carrageenan allergy as well. In the past two weeks I have been avoiding the additive, I have greatly improved. I have the classic symptoms of Carrageenan allergy - gastrointestinal issues and dyshydrotic eczema on the soles of my feet. Basically, from what I have read, for the most part, carrageenan is not bad for most people, as it is a natural plant product. But there are some people whose stomach acid break down carrageenen more than it needs, and therefore causes issues.
Maybe I'm clueless, but thought carreegan was moss? And cantalopes make me sick, but haven't met anyone else that way so far. Not freaking out about plants being in my soy milk, lol
Yes, carrageenan is a moss. A sea moss.
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