Is agar safe?
#294074 - 12/18/06 02:30 PM
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Ulrika
Reged: 08/20/06
Posts: 581
Loc: Uppsala, Sweden
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After the info I have found searching the board for carrageene, saying that it can cause inflammation and irritation in the GI tract, I am now wondering if the same goes for agar or if that is safe.
(I did see a post where someone claimed that carrageene was closely related to MSG which I didn't understand at all. How are they related?)
If agar isn't safe either then that pretty much means all soy products available in the stores where I shop are bad, which would mean I could no longer make say soy yogurt dressings. (I don't feel like making my own soy yogurt.) 
/Ulrika, IBS-D
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Interesting question. I got interested in the carrageenan especially after I read the comments of Dr. Weil that referred to the a review done by Joanne K. Tobacman from the College of Medicine, University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa, USA titled Review of Harmful Gastrointestinal Effects of Carrageenan in Animal.
I haven't read it in detail but you might find some useful information that may help you answer your question about agar.
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STABLE: ♂, IBS-D 50+ years - Science of IBS
The FODMAP Approach to Managing IBS Symptoms
Evidence-based Dietary Management of Functional GI Symptoms: The FODMAP Approach
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Here is an interesting web site on seaweeds that makes two interesting comments:
Quote:
Carrageenan is a general name for polysaccharides extracted from certain kinds of algae which are built up, in contrast to agar, from D-galactopyranose units only.
Quote:
You may see references in magazines and on the Internet that caution consumers against the consumption of carrageenan due to concerns about the potential for gastrointestinal effects (including malignancies). These cautions were based on the conclusions of a literature review by Dr. Joanne Tobacman and published in Environmental Health Perspectives in October 2001. Recent information has been published by the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA) that should allay your concerns about the consumption of carrageenan.
Overall, the JECFA concluded that there was no concern to the continued consumption of carrageenan and assigned it to the group "Acceptable Daily Intake - not specified". This classification is used when the JECFA has determined that a food additive does not represent a hazard to health. It also allows for the use of the additive at the level necessary to achieve the technical or functional effect in food, also referred to as the level of Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP). The complete report of this review was made publicly available in 2003 and therefore post dates the review by Dr. Tobacman.
Here is a link to the Opinion of the Scientific Committee on Food on Carrageenan report from European Commission Health & Consumer Protection Directorate-General
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STABLE: ♂, IBS-D 50+ years - Science of IBS
The FODMAP Approach to Managing IBS Symptoms
Evidence-based Dietary Management of Functional GI Symptoms: The FODMAP Approach
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That's great! Sometimes I feel like there is someone warning you about pretty much everything there is to eat!  I once read on a web page for example that rapeseed oil was highly toxic and not fit to feed either humans nor animals with. That source also claimed that no insects will eat it either and that that would prove that it's toxic. Hahaha! I grew up in the countryside and we grew rapeseed and I find it was pretty popular among insects. In Sweden there is even a little bug called "rapsbagge". I'm not sure what it's called in English but the translation of the Swedish name is rapeseed bug. 
Anyway, my point is that sometimes I get a bit obsessive about food additives after coming to these boards and that's never good. Of course if you have weird reactions to something then you shouldn't eat it, but it gets unhealthy if it gets to the point where you don't even dare to try new things...
When I did the search on carrageenan on the diet board I found a post that quoted an article I think that to me seemed a bit unbalanced. I find that unfortunately, although I'm sure the intentions are good, people with an alternative view on things often meet the sometimes far too one-dimensional claims of some scientists or health professionals by being completely one-dimensional themselves.
It's hard to know though, because I have checked almost every question I have had with the Swedish national authority for food et.c. and they typically say that there is no need to be worried. But they for example say that MSG is totally fine in the small quantities that are allowed in Sweden in things like broth for example and that you simply can't have reactions to that small amounts. (They claim you must reach an intake of gram size to have a reaction.) Still I know some people here are sensitive to even small amounts of MSG. At least that is the impression I have got. So then I feel it's hard to know whom to listen to when I have more questions.
Anyway, bla bla bla , thanks again Syl for providing good info!
/Ulrika, IBS-D
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I noted in the article referred to by Syl that carrageenan has been used as a laxative. Does anyone know if it has that effect even in the small amounts used in food? (I'm guessing no since I think that would require that they mention that on the label. At least they have to do that with things like sugar alcohol.)
/Ulrika, IBS-D
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Carrageenan is an SF and a such is a bulk-forming laxative like any soluble or insoluble fiber. It is not simulant like senna or an osmotic laxative like magnesium.
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STABLE: ♂, IBS-D 50+ years - Science of IBS
The FODMAP Approach to Managing IBS Symptoms
Evidence-based Dietary Management of Functional GI Symptoms: The FODMAP Approach
FODMAP Chart & Cheatsheet
The Role of Food & Dietary Intervention in IBS
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FYI. I am doing a no carageenan test right now to see if I feel any better without it. I am off all soy products containing it.
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IBS-A for 20 years with terrible bloating and gas. On the diet since April 2004. Remember this from Heather's information pages:
"You absolutely must eat insoluble fiber foods, and as much as safely possible, but within the IBS dietary guidelines. Treat insoluble fiber foods with suitable caution, and you'll be able to enjoy a wide variety of them, in very healthy quantities, without problem." Please eat IF foods!
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