What is carrageenan and how it works?

If you have ever bought store-bought coconut or almond milk, you might have noticed a famous known as Carrageenan on a carton. Such hard-to-pronounce additive is a reason you may produce your homemade coconut and almond milk, however, it seems that there’s enough confusion when it comes to such little-known ingredient.What’s carrageenan?According to the definition available on internet carrageenan is a family of linear sulfated polysaccharides which are extracted from red seaweeds that are edible as well. They are extensively used in food industry, for their thickening, gelling and stabilizing properties.

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It’s vital to note that Carrageenan isn’t digestible and has no value if it comes to nutrition. It’s often used as it emulsifies and thickens products and it’s usually found even in organic and also in different “natural” products.It might seem that an ordinary derived from seaweed must be non-menacing. This article explains few of the possible problems:

Though derived from a source that is natural, it seems to be particularly destructive to the thedigestive system, triggering a resistant response same to that the body has when invaded by pathogens such as Salmonella. The result: “It probably causes inflammation, which may lead to ulcerations”. The concern about food-grade carrageenan is not new. Beginning in circa the 1960s, researchers began linking the ingredient to different gastrointestinal disease in lab animals, comprises ulcerative colitis and much more. However degraded carrageenan is also known as poligeenan. When we separate research on ungraded carrageenan and poligeenan, we find that it’s still linked to increased (leaky gut) intestinal permeability, intestinal irritation, and few other problems.

Bottom line: It might not be as bad as few sources portray, but there’s evidence that it may be harmful, particularly if consumed regularly. Numerous individual reports reacting negatively with different symptoms such as skin rashes, digestive troubles, and a lot of other health problems.