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The melt-proof ice cream additive damaging your gut
In my humble opinion, ice cream is the world’s finest food.
It comes in an endless variety of flavors, it’s full of milk, and there are even varieties for those of us who can’t eat dairy.
But ice cream has serious drawbacks that will leave you scratching your head… or holding your belly after a bowl.
Several years ago, we wrote about one of those ingredients (a compound also found in antifreeze!).
Now, I’m sharing another that may be slowly destroying your gut…
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How polysorbate 80 damages your gut
Dr. Efrat LaMandre is a family nurse practitioner in New York. She holds a PhD in Integrative Medicine.
“There was a time,” Dr. LaMandre says, “when if you left ice cream in the fridge, it would get icy or gritty after a few days.
“So emulsifiers came along with the intent to fix that — to create this unnatural, constant mixing between things that don’t want to mix.”
Emulsifiers are food additives that act as stabilizers, allowing two foods to mix that don’t naturally mix well. Emulsifiers make bread moist and ice cream creamy and almost melt-proof. They also extend product shelf life.
Polysorbate 80 is a widely used emulsifier. Unfortunately, it can be extremely harmful to the gut.
Polysorbate 80 disrupts the natural balance of gut bacteria that make up your microbiome and scrubs away the protective mucus layer of the intestinal lining (not unlike the damage that can occur with antibiotic use).
The result is chronic inflammation and leaky gut. It is also linked to metabolic syndrome and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).
Daryl Gioffre, a Florida gut health specialist, agrees wholeheartedly with Dr. LaMandre. He says that polysorbate 80 is “one of the most toxic and acidic ingredients that you can put inside your body.”
He says that the chemical attacks healthy probiotics while also “feeding the bad guys.”
“You ultimately have to look at your gut like a garden. You want lots of flowers. You don’t want lots of weeds. So the more of this synthetic chemical that goes inside your gut, you’re strengthening those weeds.”
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Where else is polysorbate 8 hiding?
Now that you know about polysorbate 80’s undesirable traits, you’ll want to be on the lookout for it.
Many ice cream shops these days make their own products without using this dangerous chemical.
But there are many other foods at your grocery store — even healthy ones — that could contain polysorbate 80:
- Frozen desserts: ice cream, frozen custard, sorbets, popsicles and non-dairy whipped toppings
- Dairy products: cream cheese spreads, cottage cheese, sour cream, yogurt and flavored milk products
- Condiments and dressings: salad dressings, sauces and mayonnaise
- Baked goods and mixes: cakes, pastries, bread and bread products
- Processed foods: shortening, gelatin desserts, pickles and instant chocolate drink mixes
And this harmful chemical isn’t just found in foods. It is widely used in other products because it keeps them smooth, prevents ingredients from separating, and helps dissolve oil-soluble components into water-based mixtures.
Some examples:
- Pharmaceuticals – many liquid medications, capsules, vaccines (ex., HPV and influenza vaccines), and vitamin supplements use it to help blend ingredients.
- Cosmetics and personal care – it is used in shampoos, conditioners, hair styling products, lotions, bath oils, and skin creams to emulsify and mix ingredients.
- Supplements – liquid iron supplements and some vitamin oils and blends to improve texture and solubility.
The key to avoiding polysorbate 80 is to become a devoted label-reader. Using organic and natural products also minimizes your chances of coming into contact with polysorbate 80.
If you’re careful, you can avoid this damaging chemical and preserve your gut health.
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Sources:
Dangerous additive lurking in dessert could be destroying your gut health, experts say — Fox News
By Joyce Hollman
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