Guar gum & carrageenan...do you guys

I'm not sure, so I'll be interested to find out. One thing I noticed yesterday that I thought was hilarious is how the writeup on Canine Caviar's canned food compares to the ingredients:

These all protein diets contain No gums, No grains, No fillers, No Added Sugar or Salt and No Artificial Colors or Preservatives.

I don't really worry about the gums you mentioned because I eat a fair amount of them myself lol.  if they're high up on the list I might worry, but any time I've seen them they are at the end, just like in the food I eat.

I looked up what guar gum is (cuz I  had no idea)...it's endosperm!! wheee!

Really tho...it's bean paste/powder...so erm...I don't eat hummus but I hear it's good!

The other is seaweed...which many folks in Japan like on their sushi...I don't eat sushi either LOL. But again...I hear it's good!

At least it's something grown in the ground or ocean by Nature. More than one could say for some of the stuff out there being put into foods.

They are both perfectly safe and healthy.  

Sweet...ok..my sister was asking me...I don't feed canned foods so I wasn't sure.

 " Both are perfectly safe and healthy"

  WRONG.  Don't know where you got that misinformation.

http://www.sussexmall.com/carrageenan.htm

"A recent publication[14] indicates that carrageenan induces inflammation in human intestinal epithelial cells in tissue culture through a Bcl10-mediated pathway that leads to activation of NFkappaB and IL-8. Carrageenan may be immunogenic due to its unusual alpha-1,3-galactosidic link that is part of its disaccharide unit structure. Consumption of carrageenan may have a role in intestinal inflammation and possibly inflammatory bowel disease, "

"Although the International Agency for Research on Cancer in 1982 identified sufficient evidence for the carcinogenicity of degraded carrageenan in animals to regard it as posing a carcinogenic risk to humans, carrageenan is still used widely as a thickener, stabilizer, and texturizer in a variety of processed foods prevalent in the Western diet. " 

"In addition, I reviewed from established sources mechanisms for production of degraded carrageenan from undegraded or native carrageenan and data with regard to carrageenan intake. Review of these data demonstrated that exposure to undegraded as well as to degraded carrageenan was associated with the occurrence of intestinal ulcerations and neoplasms. " 

 http://biorganic.ifrance.com/biorganic/additives.htm

 Now for Guar Gum :

" Health Risks of Stomach fillers
The FDA states that some bulking agents (eg. guar gum) used in
dietary supplements to swell the stomach and increase "fullness", can
be harmful. In certain cases they can cause obstructions in the
intestines, stomach, or esophagus. The FDA has taken legal action
against several promoters of diet supplements containing guar gum."

" http://www.geocities.com/menobeyond/herb.html
Anthranoid-containing plants (including senna [Cassia senna] and
cascara [Rhamnus purshiana]) and soluble fibres (including guar gum
and psyllium) can decrease the absorption of drugs.

~~~my note: If guar gum can cause blockage of drug absorption, it
would make sense that it could also prevent nutrient absorption. "

 Guar gum  is a swelling agent and can be just as dangerous as gluten is to people w/Celiac disease,

 In the first example, all the information was on ungraded or degraded carageenan. That's like saying fish oil is unsafe because denatured/oxidized oil is shown to be a carcinogen (which it is).

In the second, there are many food substances that can interfere with certain drug absorption. I'm on some of those drugs - I have to avoid grapefruit. Is grapefruit to be avoided, therefore? working backwards to the first reference, that is a caution against using fiber as a "diet pill" as some people do.

There are products where you eat a bar or take a bunch of pills and they swell up in the stomach and make you feel full. These are made with a combination of various soluble (gums and psyllium) and insoluble fibers (oats, etc). Then you don't eat as much, but they are nutritionally empty. You can cause an obstruction using that much fiber - we aren't adapted to consume and process huge amounts. Dogs and cats aren't either but the amount in a can of food is beneficial, not dangerous.

Ironically, in the second case judicious use of fiber actually INCREASES the absorption of most nutrients. Soluble fiber like guar gum has a vital role in the absorption of minerals in the gut because it promotes the growth of a healthy probiotic population. Insoluble fiber slows down the physical movement of food, allowing more time for water and water soluble vitamins, and fat, to be absorbed properly.

Both of these fall under the category of, too much or the wrong kind of ANYTHING can be bad.