Carageenan studies page (1 Viewer)

[therium]

I've been reading more on carageenan and how it's toxic to the body, so I made a page with information about it, including studies. Carageenan causes inflammation of the gastrointestinal tract, GI tumors, and is toxic to kidneys. Given through an IV it killed 67% of dogs. The problem appears to be the degraded carageenan is more toxic, but undegraded carageenan, if used in food, can be turned into undegraded carageenan by stomach acids.

Because carageenan has been known to cause GI inflammation since at least 1982 (IARC) it is given to rats and then anti-inflammatories are tested on these rats. Studies specifically use carageenan to cause inflammation to test anti-inflammatories.

See my page here: https://newearth.miraheze.org/wiki/Carageenan

If you are having stomach problems, stomach pain, like me, it might be caused by carageenan. Each study has links to even more studies and many of the studies are free, or at least the abstracts are free. Most studies have a "Results" section and that's the most important part. For each study listed on that page I tried to include the most important bullet points. At the top of the page I'm making a summary of all studies I find.

 

[Linda]

It is found in wet pet food, too.

 

[Lila]

I hadn't known of this as a significant toxin. I do know it's in a lot of foods; typically way down the ingredients list. Some of these are 'health foods'.
Thank you for sharing your careful research, once again.

I note that it is used as a medicine in some places, and that it is toxic if altered in some ways. This seems true of so many things found in nature; beneficial or even medicinal under some circumstances toxic under other circumstances.
We seem to not recognized, as a society, that changes that we make by processing food in various ways can alter it so drastically.
Also, the article talks about some individuals being more susceptible.
Lastly, I notice that it mentions that carageenan can both change the gut bacteria and be changed by the gut bacteria we have.

1. Processes such as heating, acid treatment, mechanical effects, and bacterial digestion can all lead to the production of degraded, lower molecular weight forms of CGN
2. Carrageenases increase IL-8 response
3. The propensity for development of intestinal inflammation from exposure to carrageenan may be related to the colonic sub-population of specific organisms that produce these enzymes. Differences in the colonic microflora may contribute to development of inflammatory bowel disease, colonic polyps, or colonic neoplasms, making some individuals more or less susceptible to harmful sequelae from exposure to dietary CGN. (Carageenan causes inflammation and can affect gut bacteria in a bad way, thus leading to other health problems.)