This is the first blog post in a new series I’m
calling Think Twice, in which I’ll be writing about food ingredients that may
be doing us more harm than good. I hope that this will give you the tools to
help make better-informed choices. Let me know if there are any ingredients
you’d like me to write about!
I’ve always been a
do-it-yourself type of girl. Once, I showed up to a dance class only to find it
cancelled due to the absence of a teacher. In my small town of Klamath Falls,
there weren’t many places to take dance classes. So I decided to start my own
dance school. And I was pretty successful at it, too. Twenty-five years later,
my dance school is still a vital force in the community (though I did
eventually sell it to my partner to focus on my other pursuits).
This hands-on attitude
permeates every area of my life - I grow much of the produce my family
eats, my sewing machine is always at the ready to make or repair clothes for my
children, and hey, I even have my own company to harvest
and bottle the fresh blue-green algae that we enjoy every day. Until recently,
I also used to make my own nut milk. But, between running my company,
relocating to a new state and keeping up with the ever more hectic schedules of
three growing children, I decided that, once in a while, when travelling, or
running very short on time, I could just go ahead and buy it pre-made from the
store.
And now, I’m realizing that
that may have been a bad choice. You see, I’ve started reading about carrageenan,
which is added to many processed foods. I took a quick look at the ingredient
list on my favorite brand of almond milk, and wouldn’t you know it? There it
is.
What’s so bad about carrageenan?
As it turns out, a lot.
