Good Lifestyle

It's stricty, it's salty, and it can be a little smelly, that's why so many people are disabled by eating algae. But funny things are, many of us unawarely awaken things in a regular way - in the form of a carrageenan.

After being extracted from the ocean, dried and ground in a fine powder, it becomes what we know like Carragensan. And unlike the rich in fresh iodine, uber-good healthCosts The algae, the carrageenan has a different chemical structure, which means that the body reacts there differently. The ingredient has existed for centuries and has been discovered for the first time as a thickener food along the Irish coast. There, the inhabitants correlated it and use the extracted material to transform their milk into thick pudding. Since then, the food industry has discovered several uses for the additive. Carraghenan can now be found in a range of products, includingSoupeFormula for infant, meat of charcuterie and various drinks. "Very often, I use Carraghenan in drinks," says Lisa Pika, a food technologist with Mattson, a company that helps food manufacturers to settle their revenue. "It helps keep the product [s] thick and creamy and [guard] to become unattractive to the customer."

Although food manufacturers are based on carrageenan as a stabilizing and thickening agent since the 1970s, the reactions against the practice have not been committed to developing in recent years - mainly because no one may seem like to agree if it is prudent to consume. While Food and Drug Administration, the European Commission and the World Health Organization give the additive green light, some scientists and activist groups.

A handful of studies found that carrageenan can cause intestinal inflammation and gastrointestinal cancer in laboratory animals, and some researchers speculate that the additive can play a role in the development of ulcerative colitis andDiabetes. Despite the fact that no human study could reproduce these conclusions (including a large buzz overto study Recently funded by the food industry), the National Commission of Organic Standards voted 10 to 3 to remove the controversial additive from the list of ingredients approved in organic foods. But that does not mean that the ingredient will be definitively issued from the organic or conventional tariff. The United States Department of Agriculture will be taken into account a final decision (which supported the use of CARGEENAN in the past) in November 2018.to do It happens to adopt the recommendation, the prohibition would take about two years to enter into force.

If you like you like, there is no solid evidence on each side of the argument, you are absolutely correct. This is why it can be so difficult to decide if necessary to avoid the additive. And really, it comes back to the personal choice.

"People who have a sensitive stomach or a hump tract can be more sensitive to Carrageenan", warns Alissa Rumsey, MS, R & D, CSCS, spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. However, it notes that the Carrageenan is mainly in treated and packaged foods - things that should only be a small part of our diet. "If you are mainly eating whole foods, real foods, with small amounts of processed or packaged foods, Carraghenan should not be a problem," says Rumsey. Do you want to be mistaken on the side of caution? Here's how NIX CARGEENAN of your diet:

Scan labels

If the carragene is used in a food product, it must legally appear on a food label, which is an excellent news! This means that everything you need is a quick analysis of the label to find out if something you are interested in the purchase contains the ingredient.

Check the list

If the idea of ​​reading a million and a label at the grocery store turns your head, we get it totally. Instead, consult the Institute of Cornucopiapurchase guide, which identifies organic foods without quarryenan. In this way, you can decide what you want to buybefore You head to the store.

Consider what else can irritate your stomach

Often, we do not just eat foods containing solo carrage, so it can be difficult to say if they are to blame for belly problems. If you notice an irritation of the stomach after eating a meal containing the additive, you may also want to determine what else is on your plate. "If it's easy for you to avoid the Carrageenan, it's fantastic," says Miriam Jacobson, MS, RD, CDN. "But there are so many foods that are known to be inflammatory and corrosive digestion such as gluten and sugar that I generally recommend that my clients first consider the effects of these things first." If, after having remembered on the soft and carcy stuff, you always find that your stomach is angry with meals containing a little carrageenan, you will know that it is the culprit - and it's time for the Nix of your diet.