Carrageenan

I thought today would be a good day to tackle a random topic instead of sharing a recipe. Sweet pea thought I should talk about something we discovered recently...carrageenan. So what's carrageenan you say? Well don't feel bad if you don't know. Two months ago we didn't know either. But discovering what it is and how it affects my body has really improved my health.

Now before I begin, let me just start off by saying:

I'm not a medical professional.
I'm not saying that my experience will be the same as yours.
I'm not saying that you should do as I do.

What I am saying is that this is what has personally worked for ME. And like anything else that affects you and your loved ones, you should do your own research.

Now that being said, let me tell you what led to this discovery.

I had been having major digestive issues and had no idea why. When I ate certain foods, I would immediately have negative reactions...gas, bloating, sometimes cramping in my stomach, and just overall not feeling well. I am lactose intolerant, so at first I just thought that was the problem. But even after being careful with milk, it was still happening. So I went to the doctor and had tests done and was told that I was perfectly healthy. That maybe it was just Irritable Bowel Syndrome or stress. I still knew that something wasn't right, so I looked into our diet. We started reading ALL LABELS and only eating what I personally cooked. If there was a word on the label we didn't understand, we looked it up until we understood what it meant. And then, we came across carrageenan. After doing some research, we found that in some people it causes MAJOR digestive problems...gas, bloating, stomach cramping, etc. I thought, could this be my answer? Well we said let's eliminate everything with carrageenan and see what happens. First of all, we were shocked to see that this additive is in so many products! Check your pantry and fridge and you'll see for yourself.

Let me tell you...after just 1 day of not having it, I HAD NO SYMPTOMS! Now remember, I had been having these adverse digestive issues every day. We thought, maybe it's just a fluke. So I went 2 days, 3 days, a week....and absolutely no issues! I couldn't believe that it was that simple. As of today I've had no digestive issues for the past 2 months. So for me, carrageenan is not my friend. I don't know if you want to call it an allergy, sensitivity, intolerance, or what...but I do not eat or drink anything containing it any longer.

So if you are having similar issues, do some research for yourself and see what's right for you. It only took my body 1 day to see what was right for me!

I hope this information proves to be helpful to you or to your loved ones. Please pass it along! And leave a comment if you've had a similar experience.


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