Emulsifiers in processed foods could be destroying your gut
By naturopath Margaret Jasinska
Emulsifiers are a type of food additive found in a wide variety of processed foods. Recent research shows they can cause serious harm to your gut. They promote leaky gut and raise the risk of inflammatory bowel disease, obesity and even colon cancer. Check food labels carefully because you’d be shocked to discover the range of foods they are added to.
What are emulsifiers?
Emulsifiers are food additives used to prevent separation in processed foods. They enable oils or fats and water to mix together, creating a smooth emulsion. They also improve texture, extend shelf life, and enhance taste. They are among the most commonly used additives worldwide.
Emulsifiers are added to bread to improve texture, increase its volume, give breadcrumbs a softer texture and increase shelf life. Emulsifiers can give chocolate a
silky smooth consistency and more easily allow it to be moulded. They are added to coffee creamer. Ice-cream, frozen yoghurt and mousse are especially rich in emulsifiers, where they improve textural smoothness and mouth feel, and prevent ice cream from melting too quickly. Ready to drink protein milk smoothies are also high in emulsifiers.
They are added to processed meat, so that the fat is evenly distributed, giving the meat a rich mouthfeel. If you carefully check food labels of supermarket items, you’ll be shocked to see how often emulsifiers are present. They are sometimes listed as “stabiliser” and can go by a number rather than a name.
Emulsifiers harm your intestines
Emulsifiers act like a detergent in your gut. In this way, they wear away the protective mucus layer that lines your digestive tract, similar to the way dishwashing detergent removes grease from a pan.
When this protective layer is gone, substances in your gut can seep through the intestinal wall and reach your bloodstream. You can develop a leaky gut, allowing wastes, bacteria, and partially digested food into your bloodstream. In a healthy digestive tract, a thick layer of mucus coats the lining of the intestines, which acts as a protective shield for your gut. Emulsifiers dissolve this protective layer, allowing foreign substances to enter your bloodstream (called bacterial translocation). Your immune system recognises them as foreign, causing an immune reaction and chronic gut inflammation.
The state of your gut directly affects your cognitive function, mood and sleep quality. If you have gut inflammation, you might experience brain fog, anxiety, depression, and the inability to think clearly.
In animal studies, some emulsifiers have created metabolic syndrome (insulin resistance), weight gain, blood sugar instability, and altered gut bug balance (dysbiosis). Animal studies have also shown an enormously increased rate of inflammatory bowel disease (Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis). Some animal studies have shown an increased rate of colon polyps and colon cancer.
At this stage there are no long term human studies, although a human trial published in 2024 found that participants had altered gut microbiomes after just 2 weeks of eating emulsifiers. A study is currently underway in people with Crohn’s disease to see if avoiding emulsifiers can lead to improved disease outcomes.
Which specific emulsifiers to watch out for
The terms emulsifier and stabiliser are vague, and there are several additives that fall under those categories, which each have an identifying number.
The following emulsifiers seem to be the most harmful:
Carrageenan (407) This is in so many processed dairy products.
Carboxymethyl cellulose (466)
Polysorbate-80 (433)
Polyglycerol Polyricinoleate (476)
The most simple solution to this problem is to avoid ultra processed foods as much as possible. Rather than focusing on willpower and discipline when you are tired or emotional, try to avoid buying junk food in the first place. If you base your diet on satiating real foods such as meat, seafood, poultry, eggs, vegetables, nuts, seeds and natural fats, you are less likely to suffer with overpowering cravings.
Ultimate Gut Health powder is a combination of powerful ingredients that soothe and repair the gut lining, helping to repair a leaky gut. For more information about leaky gut see the books Healthy Bowel Healthy Body and Healing Autoimmune Disease: A plan to reduce inflammation and help your immune system.
References:
Chassaing B, Koren O, Goodrich J, Poole A, Srinivasan S, Ley R and Gewirtz A (2015). Dietary emulsifiers impact the mouse gut microbiota promoting colitis and metabolic syndrome. Nature 519, 92-96
Chassaing B, Compher C, Bonhomme B, Liu Q, Tian Y, Walters W, Nessel L, Delaroque C, Hao F, Gershuni V, Chau L, Ni J, Bewtra M, Albenberg L, Bretin A, McKeever L, Ley R, Patterson A, Wu G, Gewirtz A and Lewis J (2022). Randomized Controlled-Feeding Study of Dietary Emulsifier Carboxymethylcellulose Reveals Detrimental Impacts on the Gut Microbiota and Metabolome. Gastroenterology 162, 743-756
Bancil, A., Rossi, M., Sandall, A., Cox, S., Dalrymple, K., Kelaiditis, C., Buckley, A., Burke, S., Xu, Y., Smith, L., Pena, E., Harrison, F., Hart, A., Irving, P., Chassaing, B., Lindsay, J. & Whelan, K. 2025. DOP097 Emulsifier restriction is an effective therapy for active Crohn’s disease: the ADDapt trial – a multi-centre, randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled, re-supplementation trial in 154 patients. Journal of Crohn’s and Colitis, 19, i262-i262.
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