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Carrageenan

Avoid Carrageenan

Carrageenan is a common food additive that is extracted from red seaweed, Chondrus crispus is popularly known as Irish moss. Carrageenan, which has no nutritional value, has been used as a thickener and emulsifier to improve the texture of ice cream, yogurt, cottage cheese, soy milk and other processed foods. Carrageenan added to yogurt, sour cream, ice cream has been associated with an increase in gastro intestinal problems. Carrageenan has even been added to organic foods.

Joanne K. Tobacman, M.D., now associate professor of clinical medicine at the University of Illinois College of Medicine, conducted studies linking un-degraded carrageenan - the type that is widely used in processed foods - with malignancies and other stomach problems.  

Dr. Tobacman said that her research has shown that exposure to even small amounts of carrageenan causes inflammation and that when we consume processed foods containing it, we ingest enough to start an inflammatory process within our bodies. She explained that all forms of carrageenan are capable of causing inflammation. This is bad news. We know that chronic inflammation is the root cause of many serious diseases including heart disease, Alzheimer's, Parkinson's diseases, inflammatory bowel disease and cancer.

And Dr. Jarad Grantham has long held that kidneys from individuals with PKD are inflamed. There is a possibility that this inflammation could be the root of cyst development. I feel that perhaps the link with GERD, the growth of GERD symptoms in the general population, this increase in dyspepsia is somehow linked with the food we eat. Is it possible that this too could be linked to food additives?

Starbuck's has Carrageenan in Many of Its Foods

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Earlier this year, it was revealed that Starbucks was using crushed up bugs to color their Strawberry Frappuccinos. Starbucks also has many foods and desserts that contain harmful carrageenan.

Formal Request Made to FDA to Ban Carrageenan

A formal request has been made to the FDA to ban carrageenan. Last year the FDA rejected a 2008 citizen petition, which presented scientific studies linking carrageenan to gastrointestinal inflammation and disease, including cancer. The petition was filed by Dr. Joanne Tobacman, a physician-researcher at the University of Illinois, Chicago College of Medicine, who has been studying food-grade carrageenan for more than a decade. Black currants inhibits carrageenan induced reactions.

-- select CARRAGEENAN ARTICLES -- CARRAGEENAN Doubts surface about safety CARRAGEENAN Suspected in GI Disease FDA asked to pull from Market CARRAGEENAN is it safe? CARRAGEENAN products withoutCARRAGEENAN Prolongation of carrageenan-induced inflammation in human colonic cells CARRAGEENAN leads to glucose intolerance, insulin resistance CARRAGEENAN Preliminary study anti-inflammatory activity of hexane CARRAGEENAN induced acute inflammation in Mice CARRAGEENAN leads to reduced sulfatase CARRAGEENAN Extra-Lysosomal in Human Colon CARRAGEENAN Specific effects activated following carrageenan CARRAGEENAN Tumor necrosis is increased food additive carrageenan CARRAGEENAN throughout Starbucks CARRAGEENAN a formal request has been made to the FDA to ban carrageenan CARRAGEENAN BLACK CURRANT inhibits carrageenan induced reactions

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We are  sharing our experiences with PKD/PLD Diet, an adjunct diet envisioning it complementing a physician's prescribed medical therapy. Consider testing this with your doctor's prior knowledge, who can  adjust it according to your own uniqueness by adding it to your current  treatment.

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