Carageenan - What is that "Safe" Ingredient in Our Food that is "from Seaweed?"

As we have and continue to significantly improve your gut inflammation, I am slowly beginning to turn every stone, every ingredient, what are all of these strangely-named items listed in the ingredients that we eat? I know they are "safe" from an allergen perspective, but what the hell are they, really? I will start with Carageenan, long name, but easily pronounceable.

Often an ingredient in non-dairy alternatives and deli meats and labeled with "made from seaweed" - but why and what is the purpose? After doing some digging, Carageenan does come from a very specific red seaweed and is added to give the taste of "fat", thicken and stabilize - I don't want to get into the depths of the science pool here, but it's unique chemical structure triggers an immune response when ingested, which in turn causes inflammation, bloating, cramping, IBS, colitis,

eczema, leaky gut and seriously the goes on and on, over 100 inflammatory diseases are linked to Carageenan. Over time, inflammation has a damaging effect, in it's most severe form, it rears it's ugly head as cancer.

After a little more digging, this "safe and natural" substance has been used for sometime to induce gut inflammation in lab animals in order to test anti-inflammatory meds. And now food manufactures are adding this to milks, creams, yogurts, soups, cheese, meat, sauces, etc. etc. I see you Whole Foods and you too Trader Joes, you two are some of the worst culprits of this utterly GROSS practice.

The good news is there are alternatives to these foods that include this immune triggerer. A quick scan of the ingredients (start backwards, you're more focused in the beginning of a reading a food label) is very telling. The bad news, this one can be hidden in "natural flavors."  So we will simply do our best and utilize a great food buying guide if we buy processed foods.

Cheeri-OH NO!

Cheerios, that's a staple breakfast cereal you enjoy about twice a week, you love them! And I have always loved them because 1) they are safe for you to eat and 2) they are gluten free.  

The opened and unopened boxes have now been trashed and I WILL NEVER BUY AGAIN!

You may ask, what changed? Why such drastic measures mommy?  Well, listen up.

For about the last year, our team has been working hard to get your gut health and gut inflammation on track in order to curb the autoimmune impacts and prevent any further issues. The effort everyday that is required is pervasive. We have made several changes to the way our whole family lives. The biggest change is that we have become a gluten free house, which I do have to admit, I pride myself in, because I have become a rather savvy gluten-free baker.  Why gluten free though? It seems like this is just a wild trend sweeping the nation the past few years, but this is all for good reason, given that the increase of gluten-intolerance and the use of Round-up (herbicide) are highly correlated.

Well, very simply put, I was under the impression that wheat, malted barley and rye (all contain gluten) were doused in that nasty Round-up herbicide, which has been known to cause systemic issues over time to the body, despite Monsanto (the maker of Round-up) denying this fact.  Going gluten free significantly reduces the levels of this nasty chemical that over time WILL have negative impacts on everyone that consumes it. The science behind this is now more clear than ever.

So what's at stake here? In a new scathing report issued in February 2017, studies show the impacts of low levels of Round-up/glyphosate causing the following:

• Endocrine disruption including disturbances to reproductive development
• Lower IQs
• Obesity
• Autism
• Cancer
• Antibiotic resistance
• Alters the balance of the gut microbiome, which can lead to Celiac, IBS and other autoimmune diseases

The report also lists the biggest offenders, the foods with the highest levels of the toxic chemical, which includes gluten free foods, such as Cheerios, Lucy's and Annies.  Cheerios though by far exceeds all of the other foods in levels of glyphosate.  So all this time, I though gluten free foods would protect us, they too are now laced.  

So what can we do? We are making great progress with your immune health and now this blow. 

The solution is actually simple - go organic. Organic foods are prohibited from being contaminated with herbicides like Round-up and pesticides alike, which will protect us from this incredibly harmful chemical.