Welcome to TW and Academy, I'm your registered dietitian Lisa Ham and today we're talking about what the F is in your almond milk. So there are some ingredients that are lurking into our favorite non-dairy and gluten-free products. We can technically pronounce them and they don't sound too much like chemicals but we really have no idea if they are good or bad for us. So today I'm breaking down the xantham gum, guar gum and carodinein. Three ingredients that I'm seeing all over store bought almond milks and gluten-free products. Let's start with xantham gum. This is one you're going to find in a lot of the gluten-free products. If you don't know too much about gluten, all you really need to know is that gluten makes things sticky and pliable so without it things get crumbly and fall apart. Xantham gum creates a gel-like texture that makes things stick together without having to rely on gluten. It's made by fermenting bacteria with a sugar. The result is then dried and ground into powder. Should you avoid it? Most of the research suggests that it's safe to consume as long as you don't have an allergy to corn, soy or wheat since it can be derived from the sugars in all of those three things. However, we don't have any long-term studies on this stuff and we're certainly eating more of it now than ever. So be aware of how you feel after it and how many of your favorite everyday foods contain it. Next we've got guar gum. guar gum comes from a food source while Xantham gum does not, so it's a little bit more natural. It comes from the guar being specifically. guar gum is used to thicken so you can expect to find this one in almond milks, ice creams and other non-dairy products. It's actually really high in fiber and it swells once you get into the stomach so you can expect to find this one in a lot of diet products too because it provides that false sense of fullness. Doctors even prescribe this stuff for its laxative effect because it forms a bulky gel that moves things along the GI tract. So you're going to want to be mindful of your consumption of it too for that reason alone. This is probably the best of any of the additives but that doesn't give us the green light to consume it all day every day in everything that we eat. Lastly, we've got the infamous carodine. Carodine is also used to thicken and preserve. It's sort of natural in that it comes from a seaweed and is oftentimes in non-dairy nut milks and yogurts. With this one there's been so much controversy over the last 60 years. There is some evidence that suggests that carodine triggers inflammation and damages the GI tract. But it's important to note that there are two types of this stuff, food grade and non-food grade. The non-food grade is carcinogenic meaning it causes cancer and is used in animal studies to actually induce inflammation. It's also possible that the food grade which is considered safe to consume converts to the non-food grade once it's in our bodies. Organic ingredients is technically FDA approved but in 2016 the National Organic Standard Board removed it from their approved list. That means that if you see a food labeled USDA organic it cannot carry carodine. Since the organic board made those changes it's been a lot easier to find almond milk or any non-dairy milk that don't contain it. But also be on the lookout for this ingredient in packaged meats, prepared soups, supplements and even real dairy. I recommend keeping the use of all of these to a minimum. Take an inventory, start looking at the labels of how many of your everyday products contain these ingredients. See if there's the same product out there that doesn't have it or if you can make your own version. Although guar gum and xantham gum seem to be safer than carodine, there really are no long-term human studies on any of it. So be aware of how many of your everyday foods contain it and try to eat as much real food without a packaging as possible. If you liked this video please subscribe by hitting the red button below and I'll see you on another episode of TWNTV.