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posted by janrinok on Wednesday December 01 2021, @10:04PM   Printer-friendly
from the you-are-what-you-eat dept.

Ubiquitous food additive alters human microbiota and intestinal environment:

Carboxymethylcellulose (CMC) is a synthetic member of a widely used class of food additives, termed emulsifiers, which are added to many processed foods to enhance texture and promote shelf life. CMC has not been extensively tested in humans but has been increasingly used in processed foods since the 1960s. It had long been assumed that CMC was safe to ingest because it is eliminated in the feces without being absorbed. However, increasing appreciation of the health benefits provided by bacteria that normally live in the colon, and thus would interact with non-absorbed additives, has led scientists to challenge this assumption. Experiments in mice found that CMC, and some other emulsifiers, altered gut bacteria resulting in more severe disease in a range of chronic inflammatory conditions, including colitis, metabolic syndrome and colon cancer. However, the extent to which such results are applicable to humans had not been previously investigated.

The team performed a randomized controlled-feeding study in healthy volunteers. Participants, housed at the study site, consumed an additive-free diet or an identical diet supplemented with carboxymethylcellulose (CMC). Because the diseases CMC promotes in mice take years to arise in humans, the researchers focused here on intestinal bacteria and metabolites. They found that CMC consumption changed the make-up of bacteria populating the colon, reducing select species. Furthermore, fecal samples from CMC-treated participants displayed a stark depletion of beneficial metabolites that are thought to normally maintain a healthy colon.

Lastly, the researchers performed colonoscopies on subjects at the beginning and end of the study and noticed that a subset of subjects consuming CMC displayed gut bacteria encroaching into the mucus, which has previously been observed to be a feature of inflammatory bowel diseases and type 2 diabetes. Thus, while CMC consumption did not result in any disease per se in this two week study, collectively the results support the conclusions of animal studies that long-term consumption of this additive might promote chronic inflammatory diseases. Therefore, further studies of this additive are warranted.

Journal Reference:
Benoit Chassaing, et. al. Randomized controlled-feeding study of dietary emulsifier carboxymethylcellulose reveals detrimental impacts on the gut microbiota and metabolome. Gastroenterology, 2021; (DOI: 10.1053/j.gastro.2021.11.006)


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  • (Score: 5, Informative) by ElizabethGreene on Thursday December 02 2021, @01:01AM (6 children)

    by ElizabethGreene (6748) Subscriber Badge on Thursday December 02 2021, @01:01AM (#1201326) Journal

    I have no idea what a pineapple plant looks like

    Look at the leaves at the top of the pineapple. Pinapples are a bromeliad with leaves in a bush that looks like that. When it's time to fruit it throws up a thick stem and a pineapple grows on top.

    You can grow one from the leaves on top of a pineapple. Cut the fruit off leaving a good clump of base on the leaves. Pull off all but three or four leaves and put it in water. Change the water once a week or two until you have roots. At that point you can transplant it to dirt or a [hydro|aqua]ponics system. They are not cold tolerant and want a lot of light.

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  • (Score: 4, Interesting) by istartedi on Thursday December 02 2021, @01:29AM (5 children)

    by istartedi (123) on Thursday December 02 2021, @01:29AM (#1201333) Journal

    On some forums, this inevitably leads people to wonder where new pineapples come from if you have to cut the top off one to grow the plant. The answer that should be obvious (but isn't to some people) is that the hard little black things in the fruit are seeds. You can make many new pineapple plants from one pineapple by using those seeds. They are indeed not very tolerant of cold. The British came up with an interesting way to solve this problem back when ships were too slow to get them fresh pineapple.

    They grew them on top of a pile of composting horse manure. As the manure broke down, it not only fertilized but heated the pineapple plants, allowing them to grow a tropical fruit in a temperate climate.

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    • (Score: 2) by ElizabethGreene on Thursday December 02 2021, @03:08PM (2 children)

      by ElizabethGreene (6748) Subscriber Badge on Thursday December 02 2021, @03:08PM (#1201513) Journal

      The manure compost heating is interesting. I read of something similar in a very old book on managing a Victorian estate farm but could never picture it. Very clever.

      On the topic, is there a way to neutralize whatever component of pineapple juice that causes mouth sores? I enjoy the flavor but eating it hurts more than Captain Crunch.

      • (Score: 3, Interesting) by istartedi on Thursday December 02 2021, @11:31PM (1 child)

        by istartedi (123) on Thursday December 02 2021, @11:31PM (#1201680) Journal

        Most likely that's due to bromelain! I guess some people are more sensitive than others. Of course this leads to the question of whether or not it would still taste the same in other ways, but this site [sciencemeetsfood.org] has some suggestions. If you're willing to eat them as something other than raw fruit, it seems like you might find something you like that doesn't sting.

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        • (Score: 3, Informative) by hendrikboom on Thursday December 02 2021, @11:41PM

          by hendrikboom (1125) Subscriber Badge on Thursday December 02 2021, @11:41PM (#1201683) Homepage Journal

          Pineapples also contain a chemical that interacts with the drug atorvastatin resulting in a loss of muscle mass.

    • (Score: 2) by hendrikboom on Thursday December 02 2021, @11:31PM (1 child)

      by hendrikboom (1125) Subscriber Badge on Thursday December 02 2021, @11:31PM (#1201681) Homepage Journal

      don't they also grow mushrooms in manure? I wonder if the heating is relevant.

      • (Score: 2) by ElizabethGreene on Friday December 03 2021, @04:57AM

        by ElizabethGreene (6748) Subscriber Badge on Friday December 03 2021, @04:57AM (#1201740) Journal

        Yes, the White button mushrooms that are ubiquitous here in the US, have traditionally been grown on composted horse manure. In modern times it is sometimes still used, but you're more likely to find poultry manure instead. It's hot composted before the mycelium colonizes it so the risk of cross contamination is low.

        If that bothers you then consider oyster or Shitake mushrooms instead. They grow on wood (both) or grain (oyster).