Study helps explain how xanthan gum is processed in the gut

labblog.uofmhealth.org

15 points·gmays··4 comments

I make a lot of homemade ice cream using my own cows’ milk. Adding a small amount of xanthan gum helps produce a smoother texture that mimics what you might find in store-bought ice cream. I now find myself wondering whether I should continue to use this ingredient, but the article does not appear to provide clear guidance. Okay, it changes my gut micro biome, but is that a good or a bad thing?

The only way to find out is to empirically experiment yourself: Eat/don't a specific thing for some period of time and observe how your being is affected.

The most basic side-effect is that your gut craves what you eat. So if you stop eating it you'll exhibit addiction-like symptoms of really wanting to eat it again. For this reason to get a clear picture you should perform dietary experiments over a long enough period, like a month.

I've done many of these, including eating nothing but banana for a month. Highly enlightening.

How did the banana experiment go?

I would expect it to be bad, but the fact that you didn't go into details has me curious.

Ate 3½ bananas per day on average and was quite hungry for variety afterwards :p

Following the experiment I've adopted to filling nondescript feelings of "eat something" with banana. It's decently nutritious filler and convenient snack, but doesn't make for a meal foundation.

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