{"id":20853,"date":"2025-10-28T18:22:46","date_gmt":"2025-10-28T17:22:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ehdin.com\/cellulose-gum-damages-the-gut\/"},"modified":"2025-10-28T18:22:46","modified_gmt":"2025-10-28T17:22:46","slug":"cellulose-gum-damages-the-gut","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ehdin.com\/en\/cellulose-gum-damages-the-gut\/","title":{"rendered":"Cellulose gum damages the gut"},"content":{"rendered":"

Cellulose gum is a consistency and bulking agent that the food industry puts in a wide variety of foods and drinks nowadays – even though it irritates and damages the gut! Both the intestinal mucosa and the intestinal flora deteriorate and inflammation occurs. This is serious!<\/em><\/strong> Cellulose gum and other similar microcrystalline cellulose are used to induce irritable bowel syndrome in animal studies – so avoid any food that contains this cheap bulk chemical as an additive. <\/em><\/strong> <\/p>\n

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Addendum: <\/strong>This blog received a lot of attention when many people became upset about the use of harmful cellulose gum and the like in the capsules of dietary supplements. Several supplements also contain microcrystalline cellulose as a filler, and companies seem to think it is natural dietary fiber like that found in vegetables. This is not true, because they are semi-synthetic and harmful cellulose compounds produced from tree cellulose or cotton by strong chemical processes. <\/p>\n

None of those listed at the bottom are good for our health. But unfortunately, these cellulose compounds are approved as food additives by the Swedish Food Agency. Worst of all, they are found in many convenience foods (see below). Therefore, it is important to inform food producers – or not to buy their cellulose products. As usual, the Swedish Food Safety Authority has not set an upper limit on how much can be used. Our health matters little, because the interests of their funder the food industry (the filling industry?) come first. That’s why it’s important to avoid foods with cellulose gums and the like (see below). <\/p>\n

But I have to ask you two things: 1. Be patient with the dietary supplement companies needing to realize this and change (preferably have natural gelatin capsules again), and 2. Feel free to write and call them and influence so that we get an improvement – but use a friendly tone please! Understandable to get angry, and the anger gets on us but kindness gives results<\/em>.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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I discovered this when I ate an organic gluten free bread but got bloated in the gut and so swollen around my shins that my ankles disappeared! (see picture). So I absolutely cannot tolerate cellulose gum – but it goes without saying that we humans should not eat cellulose – wood fibers?! \ufe0f<\/p>\n

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My shins swelled so much that my ankles disappeared from cellulose gum
\nin gluten-free bread!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

Cellulose gum is added to many breads to make them stick together well, but unfortunately it is also used a bit everywhere including in beer, wine, pastries, ice cream, biscuits and more and sometimes it is not even exposed (see list below). A cheap bulking agent put in the most unexpected places, like sprayed in tiger prawns to give more weight…. <\/p>\n

Many people also react to this unnatural additive, which is also used in gluten-free bread. One woman told me: “I gained 10 kilos when I switched to a gluten-free diet after<\/em> my celiac diagnosis. Fluid accumulated in my body and my stomach was constantly bloated. Today I only eat naturally gluten-free and try to avoid all gluten-free bread and pasta.<\/em>” <\/p>\n

The emulsifiers carboxymethylcellulose (CMC), often called cellulose gum, and polysorbate 80 (known as Tween 80), keep sauces smooth and prevent frozen sweets from separating into their different components. They fluff up fast-food milkshakes and keep salad dressings creamy – but damage our delicate gut ecosystem. <\/p>\n

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Cellulose gum irritates the gut (IBD)<\/h3>\n

So, cellulose gum is everywhere in modern food – but how harmful is it? When CMC has been fed to rats in volumes that mimic widespread human consumption, it triggers low-grade inflammation, weight gain and obesity<\/strong>. It caused worrying changes in metabolism and altered gut flora. <\/p>\n

Animal studies consistently show that carrageenan and CMC trigger the cellular changes on the intestinal mucosa typical of irritable bowel disease (IBD)<\/strong> – while at the same time changing the gut flora (microbiome).<\/strong><\/p>\n

They disrupt the intestinal epithelial barrier, inhibit proteins that provide protection against microorganisms and stimulate the development of pro-inflammatory cytokines. The latter means that they stimulate the cells of the immune system to produce small biochemical substances that create inflammation, which is really bad. Studies in humans are of course unethical to conduct, but recent studies on changes to human epithelial cells (the intestinal mucosa) and the human microbiome support the results obtained from animal studies. So you create an ‘irritable bowel syndrome’ <\/p>\n

Sadly, it is also used to supplement the ‘vegetarian capsules’ that have now replaced most gelatine capsules. So I open them all, pour the contents into a glass of water and drink it. It tastes like that… but you get used to it too. Time to take back the gelatine capsules because they are neutral for the gut! Tapioca capsules are a vegan alternative. <\/p>\n

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Where is microcrystalline cellulose found?<\/h3>\n

They’re also widely used in medicines, which is crazy considering how harmful they are! It should be on the packaging but not always like wine and beer – and check the E-number list at the bottom. This is another reason to be careful with or avoid industrially processed food. <\/p>\n