NOTMILK - STOMACH ACHES CAUSED BY CARRAGEENAN

[Guest guest]

Thought this was of interest, since so many of our

kids seem to have tummy aches and problems with cream.

This would suggest that it's not the dairy, but the

carrageenan, which is in pretty much all of them (even

the organics).--D

--- WillissL@... wrote:

> From: WillissL@...

> Date: Sat, 7 Sep 2002 00:59:17 EDT

> Subject: Fwd: Fw: NOTMILK - STOMACH ACHES CAUSED BY

> CARRAGEENAN

> To: Williss

>

> Dear Friends:

>

> This is of interest to soymilk users.

>

> Willis

>

> ATTACHMENT part 2 message/rfc822

>

> To: " casseopia9 " ,

> " Jackie Padgette-Braid "

> ,

> " Judy & Ric Ibanez "

> ,

> " Karyn " , " Kathy "

> ,

> " e " ,

> " Myers " ,

> " Harlan Bergo " ,

> " Scarbough " ,

> " Willis " ,

> " Yvette " ,

> " Yvette "

> Subject: Fw: NOTMILK - STOMACH ACHES CAUSED BY

> CARRAGEENAN

> Date: Fri, 6 Sep 2002 23:26:22 -0500

>

> Just thought you'd be interested.

>

> Kris

>

> NOTMILK - STOMACH ACHES CAUSED BY

> CARRAGEENAN

>

> STOMACH ACHES CAUSED BY CARRAGEENAN

>

> Some folks can eat just about anything. Some people

> might

> have no problem producing a tall glass of homemade

> soymilk,

> then converting it to chocolate milk by adding the

> following ingredients: Three teaspoons of sugar. One

>

> teaspoon of chocolate powder. Two tablespoons of

> Vaseline

> petroleum jelly. The Vaseline might produce gastric

> distress, and the soymilk drinkers would erroneously

>

> conclude that they are " allergic " to soy. Some

> people

> do not experience gastric discomfort caused by the

> Vaseline-like food additive, carrageenan. Many

> people do.

>

> Carrageenan is a commonly used food additive that is

>

> extracted from red seaweed by using powerful alkali

> solvents. These solvents would remove the tissues

> and skin from your hands as readily as would any

> acid.

>

> Carrageenan is a thickening agent. It's the

> vegetarian

> equivalent of casein, the same protein that is

> isolated

> from milk and used to thicken foods. Casein is also

> used to produce paints, and is the glue used to hold

> a label to a bottle of beer. Carrageenan is the

> magic

> ingredient used to de-ice frozen airplanes sitting

> on

> tarmacs during winter storms.

>

> IS CARRAGEENAN REALLY NATURAL?

>

> Carrageenan is about as wholesome as monosodium

> glutamate

> (MSG), which is extracted from rice, and can equally

> be

> considered natural. Aspartame (NutraPoison) is also

> natural,

> as it is extracted from decayed plant matter that

> has been

> underground for millions of years (oil). So too are

> many

> other substances such as carrageenan that can also

> be

> classified by FDA and USDA as wholesome and natural

> food additives.

>

> Just because something comes from a natural source

> does

> not mean that it is safe. The small black dots in

> the

> eyes of potatoes contain substances that are

> instantly

> fatal if eaten. Got poison? You will if you eat the

> black dots on the " eyes " of potatoes.

>

> Carrageenan is a gel. It coats the insides of a

> stomach,

> like gooey honey or massage oil. Digestive problems

> often

> ensue. Quite often, soy eaters or soymilk drinkers

> react

> negatively to carrageenen, and blame their

> discomforting

> stomachaches on the soy.

>

> High weight molecular carrageenans are considered to

> be safe,

> and were given GRAS status (safe for human

> consumption) by

> the FDA. Low weight carrageenans are considered to

> be

> dangerous. Even SILK admits this.

>

> In order to get more information about carrageenan

> from

> a scientist, I spoke with one of America carrageenan

>

> experts, Joanne Tobacman, M.D. Dr. Tobacman teaches

> clinical internal medicine at the University of Iowa

>

> College of Medicine. I explained to Dr. Tobacman

> that

> I rejected animal studies (we discussed valid

> concerns

> about animal research, and why they never produce

> reliable results for humans). I requested evidence

> of

> human trials that might show carrageenan to be a

> danger for human consumption.

>

> Dr. Tobacman shared studies with me that demonstrate

> that

> digestive enzymes and bacterial action convert high

> weight

> carrageenans to dangerous low molecular weight

> carrageenans

> and poligeenans in the human gut. These carrageenans

> have been linked to various human cancers and

> digestive

> disorders. Again, I remind you that Tobacman's

> evidence

> and conclusions are based upon human tissue samples,

> not animal studies.

>

> I will cite additional information from four

> studies:

>

> 1) Filament Disassembly and Loss of Mammary

> Myoepithelial

> Cells after Exposure to Carrageenan, Joanne

> Tobacman,

> Cancer Research, 57, 2823-2826, July 15, 1997

>

> 2) Carrageenan-Induced Inclusions in Mammary

> Mycoepithelial

> Cells, Joanne Tobacman, MD, and Walters,

> BS,

> Cancer Detection and Prevention, 25(6): 520-526

> (2001)

>

> 3) Consumption of Carrageenan and Other

> Water-soluble

> Polymers Used as Food Additives and Incidence of

> Mammary Carcinoma, J. K. Tobacman, R. B. Wallace, M.

> B.

> Zimmerman, Medical Hypothesis (2001), 56(5), 589-598

>

> 4) Structural Studies on Carrageenan Derived

> Oligisaccharides,

> Guangli Yu, Huashi Guan, andra Ioanviciu,

> Sulthan

> Sikkander, Charuwan Thanawiroon, Joanne Tobacman,

> Toshihiko

> Toida, Linhardt, Carbohydrate Research, 337

> (2002),

> 433-440

>

> In her 1997 publication (1), Tobacman studied the

> effect

> of carrageenan on the growth of cultured human

> mammary

> epithelial cells over a two week period. She found

> that

> extremely low doses of carrageenan disrupted the

> internal

> cellular architecture of healthy breast tissue,

> leading

> her to conclude:

>

> " The widely used food additive, carrageenan has

> marked effects on the growth and characteristics

> of human mammary myoepithelial cells in tissue

> cultures at concentrations much less than those

> frequently used in food products to improve

> solubility. "

>

> Tobacman continued her work by exposing low

> concentrations

> of carrageenan for short intervals to human breast

> tissue

> (2), and observed pathological alterations in

> cellular

> membranes and intracellular tissues. Tobacman wrote:

>

> " These changes included prominence of membrane-

> associated vesicles that coalesced to form

> unusual

> petal-like arrays...and development of stacked

> rigid-appearing inclusions in the lysosomes that

> arose from the membranes of the petal-like arrays

> and from smaller, dense spherical bodies that

> formed clumps. "

>

> In reporting a historical perspective, Tobacman

> revealed that carrageenan has been found to

> destroy other human cells in tissue cultures,

> including epithelial intestinal cells and

> prostate cells. She concludes:

>

> " The association between exposure to low

> concentrations of carrageenan in tissue

> culture and destruction of mammary

> myoepithelial cells may be relevant to

> the occurrance of invasive mammary

> malignancy in vivo and provides another

> approach to investigation of mammary

> carcinoma. "

>

> Tobacman's third paper (3) explored the increased

> incidence of mammary carcinoma to the increased

> consumption of stabilizers and additives such as

> guar gum, pectin, xanthan, and carrageenan. While

> no relationship between the either above named

> additives and cancer was observed, carrageenan

> showed a strong positive.

>

> Although high molecular weight carrageenans are

> considered to be safe, Tobacman demonstrates that

> low molecular weight carrageenans are carcinogenic.

> She writes:

>

> " Acid hydrolysis (digestion) leads to shortening

> of the carrageenan polymer to the degraded form,

> poligeenan. It is not unreasonable to speculate

> that normal gastric acid...may act upon ingested

> carrageenan and convert some of which is ingested

> to the lower molecular weight poligeenan during

> the actual process of digestion. Also, some

> intestinal bacteria possess the enzyme

> carrageenase that degrades carrageenan. "

>

> Tobacman's 2002 publication (4) proves her earlier

> hypothesis. She writes:

>

> " Mild-acid hydrolytic depolymerization of

> carrageenan affords poligeenan, a mixture of

> lower molecular weight polysaccharides and

> oligosaccharide products. "

>

> Tobacman is currently preparing and characterizing

> low molecular weight poligeenans (carcinogenic)

> that have been extracted from human digestion

> modalities. Her yet-to-be published data suggest

> that carrageenans are dangerous for human

> consumption.

>

> My advice: Read labels. If there is carrageenan

> in a product, select an alternative.

>

> This morning, I checked my local supermarket

> (ShopRite,

> Emerson, NJ) to see which soymilk manufacturers

> added

> carrageenan to their formulas.

>

> REFRIGERATED SOYMILKS

>

> The largest selling soymilk in America is SILK.

> Do I pick on the industry leader? Damned right I

> do. SILK sets the standard. You deserve to know the

> truth. Just for the record, when SILK changes

> their formula they will become my hero. In my

> opinion, SILK tastes better than any of the

> commercially available soymilks. Unfortunately,

> consumers sacrifice good health for good taste.

> That is not a fair trade, particularly for

> our children.

>

> SILK uses carrageenan. SILK plain, SILK chocolate.

> SunSoy also uses carrageenan. Hershey's real

> chocolate

> is not so real. They use it too. So does Nesquik.

>

> THESE COMPANIES DO NOT USE CARRAGEENAN

>

> VitaSoy does not have carrageenan! they use barley

> flower

> as a thickener. 8th Continent does not use

> carrageenan

> either. Their choice is to use cellulose gel and soy

> lecithin to create a smoother soymilk.

>

> SHELF STABLE

>

> On the shelf (non-refrigerated), I found Rice Dream.

> They do not use carrageenan. They use xantham gum.

> Soy Dream (made by Imagine Foods) does not use it

> either. Their emulsifier is rice syrup. Eden Soy

> does not use it. They use barley extract.

>

> Do a little experiment. Drink a quart of SILK.

> Pay careful attention to your carrageenen-induced

> tummy ache and intestinal discomfort. Many consumers

> unfairly blame that on soy. Now you know the truth.

> Drink a quart of VitaSoy, 8th Continent, Soy Dream,

> or Eden Soy, and you will not get the

> garrageenan-blues.

>

> Why do some manufacturers " get it, " while others

> remain clueless?

>

> Cohen

> http://www.notmilk.com

>

>

>

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