Fw: NOTMILK - - DEMEANING CARRAGEENAN

[Guest guest]

Do you read labels? Check for carrageenan, and if you care about your long

term health, avoid it.

Patty

----- Original Message -----

From: " notmilk2002 " <notmilk@...>

<notmilk >

Sent: Sunday, April 07, 2002 2:18 AM

Subject: NOTMILK - - DEMEANING CARRAGEENAN

> I first reported about carrageenan on March 26th, 2002,

> and in that column explained that I completely reject

> animal research. I wrote:

>

> " In order to get more information, I spoke on

> the phone today (3/25/2002) with one of America's

> carrageenan experts, Joanne Tobacman.

>

> Dr. Tobacman teaches clinical internal medicine

> at the University of Iowa College of Medicine.

> I explained to Dr. Tobacman that I rejected animal

> studies and requested evidence that carrageenan

> might be dangerous to humans. "

>

> Despite that, one individual veg-sore has been

> posting on veggie chat groups and on his website

> that I have been citing " rat, squirrel, monkey,

> and dog studies. " Such a liar! Those who know this

> man also know that he maintains a relationship

> with SILK, sharing a friendship with its founder,

> Steve Demos. Veg-sores who tell lies continue

> to betray children who eat carrageenan. Here

> are the facts about this extremely dangerous

> food addditive.

>

> IS CARRAGEENAN REALLY NATURAL?

>

> Carrageenan 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 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 cyanide? You will if you eat the

> black dots on the " eyes " of potatoes.

>

> Carrageenan is a gel. It coats the insides of your stomach,

> like vaseline 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 product.

>

> 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.

>

> 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 other 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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