Health Benefits of Carrageenan

health studies on carrageenan

If you are conscious of what you eat, you might have tried reading through labels of the food items you eat. If you, by any chance have happened to research on various diets, yiu might have questions like what’s carrageenan and what are its benefits. Ideally, carrageenan is a product that is extracted from seaweed and is used to thicken different foods. As an additive, it makes low-fat products taste as good as the full-fat version.

yogurt with carrageenan

From a nutritional point of view, carrageenan is relatively neutral as it is mostly composed of fibers. As such, it only enhances the taste of your food without having adverse effects on your health. There are some lesser-known health benefits associated with carrageenan. Here are some health benefits of carrageenan.

Improved Gut Health

Research findings confirm that eating foods with carrageenan can be beneficial to your health. Ideally, this product is believed to positively influence the development of benefited microbial elements in the gut, which often leads to enhanced gut health and improved immune response. Also, separate studies also confirm that carrageenan also protects the intestinal linings from being corroded by alcohol.

Antioxidant Support

Some studies also confirm that carrageenan also exhibits antioxidant properties. This implies that this product helps in neutralizing free radicals, which pose severe effects on the body if they are left to accumulate. Free radicals are often associated with numerous conditions like cancer, Parkinson’s disease, diabetes, and even poor eye health. As such, the antioxidant properties of carrageenan are very significant in improving your quality of life.

Reduced Cholesterol

Accumulation of bad cholesterol inside our bodies has been shown to cause all manner of lifestyle ailments like stroke, heart attack, and diabetes among others. Different studies confirm that adding carrageenan on a diet is more effective in the reduction of cholesterol than what you would have gained from normal dietary fibers.

Fights Common Cold

Almost everyone experiences a common cold at some point in their lives. As much as we are made to believe that there is no possible way to avoid this, recent studies confirm that carrageen can offer the much-needed solution. Carrageenan gel adheres to common-cold causing viruses, thus limiting their ability to propagate.


A lot has been said about the use of carrageenan – both positive and negative. However, as researchers work on this seaweed extract, they have been quick to counter some baseless facts about this product and, at the same time, accumulate a whole list of health benefits.…