Emulsifiers

[peach1]

Hello Jeff,

I have searched for the answer to this question but haven’t had any luck. Do emulsifiers such as soy lecithin and gums such as gellan gums or guar gum have the potential to disrupt gut biota? I generally avoid processed food, but these ingredients are in unsweetened almond milk and unsweetened soy milk. I don’t use these a lot but non dairy milk is included in many McDougall recipes. Is there a problem with emulsifiers and should they all be avoided, or are small amounts safe?

Thanks
peach1

[Daydream]

Peach1, The brand Westsoy, which is now called "West Life", has only organic soybeans and water in their unsweetened soy milk:

https://www.vitacost.com/westsoy-organi ... ed-soymilk

I have bought it at various markets, including Whole Foods Market. Just make sure you get the unsweetened version.

[peach1]

Thank you for the recommendation for West Soy unsweetened soy milk. I use that when making soy yogurt.

In general, though, should all emulsifiers and gums be avoided due to their potential negative effect on the gut microbiome?

[Daydream]

Peach1, there is another company that sells various plant milks that do not have emulsifiers and gums. The company is called Joi
So if you use their plant milks, you don't ever have to consume emulsifiers/gums. Here is a link to their website:

https://addjoi.com/collections#data-plant-bases

To answer your question "should all emulsifiers and gums be avoided due to their potential negative effect on the gut microbiome?", I personally don't consume them. I think it depends on how often you consume them. If it's every once in awhile, I wouldn't worry about it. Since there are plant milks available that don't have emulsifiers/gums, I'd choose those if you have concerns.

[peach1]

Thank you so much for your response. I haven’t tried Joi milks yet. I’ll look into it. I’m still hoping Jeff chimes in because he’s so good at distilling any decent studies on an issue into something we can all understand. There’s been a lot of chatter recently regarding these emulsifiers and gums and I wonder what the literature really says and how much of it is hype. I wonder if we need to “triage our efforts” and really we don’t need to worry about them because there’s much more important things to avoid. My kids really enjoy different plant milks that have emulsifiers and gums, so that’s another reason I’m asking.

Thanks again