Studies indicate that carboxymethylcellulose, a commonly used food additive, alters the intestinal environments of healthy individuals by disturbing beneficial bacteria populations and nutritional levels. These findings demonstrate a need for further studies on its long-term impacts on health.
Carboxymethylcellulose, also known as an emulsifier, is an increasingly used food additive used to increase shelf life and enhance texture in processed foods. Although not extensively tested on humans, Carboxymethylcellulose has become more widespread over time in processed food applications.
Carboxymethylcellulose had long been considered safe to ingest due to not being absorbed and eliminated through feces. With increasing awareness of how beneficial bacteria live within our colons can interact with non-absorbed additives and possibly influence this theory, researchers decided to test this belief.
Experiments on mice revealed that carboxymethylcellulose and some other emulsifiers altered gut bacteria to worsen chronic inflammatory disorders like colon cancer, metabolic syndrome and colitis. Yet these findings had never been studied further to ascertain how applicable they are to humans.
Researchers conducted a randomized, controlled study involving healthy adults who either consumed an additive-free diet or one with carboxymethylcellulose added.
As the diseases caused by carboxymethylcellulose only take years to manifest in people, this research focused on intestinal metabolites and bacteria. Results demonstrated that consumption of carboxymethylcellulose altered the colon’s makeup of bacteria by decreasing specific species; furthermore, fecal samples taken from those receiving treatment exhibited a serious decline in beneficial metabolites which usually contribute to maintaining a healthy colon.
Colonoscopies were performed at both ends of the two-week study on each participant, revealing gut bacteria entering into mucus as a feature of type 2 diabetes and inflammatory bowel diseases.
Though consumption of carboxymethylcellulose did not directly lead to any disease in this study, animal research indicates its long-term consumption may exacerbate chronic inflammatory diseases.
