Manufactured citric acid is a powerful inflammatory/allergy agent

yerrag

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Well now I know why I have had a chronic cough for 10 years, worsening every time I take a drink of a beverage containing citric acid. I already KNEW I was allergic to Aspergillus as allergy testing over the years has always included specific mold allergies. But of course I had no idea citric acid was MADE with aspergillus. More recently, in the last 3-4 years I have developed digestive difficulties and joint pains. Adding insult to injury, I guess.

Good grief, what else do I have to avoid in order to simply feel normal?

I was coughing a lot, mostly dry cough but persistent enough. All of one month and still going after I got sick a week after I began using manufactured citrates to improve my blood's zeta-potential. At first I thought the dry cough was caused by an acid base imbalance that rendered my extracellular fluids very acidic, but even as I restored my acid base balance, the cough continued.

I don't know if it's just the aspergillus niger causing the cough, or if it was because it caused me to develop malaria (by activating a dormant plasmodium parasite). One of the symptoms of malaria is persistent dry coughing.
 

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I put some baking soda on a cup of water with juice squeezed from a lemon and drank it. The taste is very different from just drinking water with lemon juice. It is bland but tolerable, but definitely not enjoyable.
I would use the concentrated juice to add baking soda bit by bit and watch the fizzing. Once it stops, all the citric acid should have converted into sodium citrate. The fizzing is the venting of carbon dioxide. Then after that, add water. This minimizes the amount of baking soda. Another way would be using pH strips to monitor the acid content but I don't think that this necessary or even practical...
 

yerrag

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I would use the concentrated juice to add baking soda bit by bit and watch the fizzing. Once it stops, all the citric acid should have converted into sodium citrate. The fizzing is the venting of carbon dioxide. Then after that, add water. This minimizes the amount of baking soda. Another way would be using pH strips to monitor the acid content but I don't think that this necessary or even practical...
That's a good idea! Thanks for the tip Stephan.
 

yerrag

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I would use the concentrated juice to add baking soda bit by bit and watch the fizzing. Once it stops, all the citric acid should have converted into sodium citrate. The fizzing is the venting of carbon dioxide. Then after that, add water. This minimizes the amount of baking soda. Another way would be using pH strips to monitor the acid content but I don't think that this necessary or even practical...
I got lucky this time.

I squeezed 16g of lemon juice from a lemon I had used, and 16g more or less was about a fourth of the juice I could get from that lemon.

Then I added 0.25g of baking soda to the juice the first time, and I would repeat it a second, third, and a fourth time. In all, I had added 1 gram of baking soda. At that point, a subsequent minute addition of baking soda failed to produced fizz, and that signaled the endpoint to the addition of baking soda, and which signified all the citric acid in lemon had converted to sodium bicarbonate.

It would turn out in my calculations that this mix of 16g lemon juice: 1g baking soda hits the sweet spot for my daily needs for citrate, matching the daily dosing of Zeta-Aid. Knowing this, I would put the reacted mix into a liter container of water, and spread my intake of citrate throughout the day drinking from this liter of sodium citrate solution.

I had the help of this site to do my calculations:

 

StephanF

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I got lucky this time.

I squeezed 16g of lemon juice from a lemon I had used, and 16g more or less was about a fourth of the juice I could get from that lemon.

Then I added 0.25g of baking soda to the juice the first time, and I would repeat it a second, third, and a fourth time. In all, I had added 1 gram of baking soda. At that point, a subsequent minute addition of baking soda failed to produced fizz, and that signaled the endpoint to the addition of baking soda, and which signified all the citric acid in lemon had converted to sodium bicarbonate.

It would turn out in my calculations that this mix of 16g lemon juice: 1g baking soda hits the sweet spot for my daily needs for citrate, matching the daily dosing of Zeta-Aid. Knowing this, I would put the reacted mix into a liter container of water, and spread my intake of citrate throughout the day drinking from this liter of sodium citrate solution.

I had the help of this site to do my calculations:

Cool! If you were in one of my classes when I was teaching, I would have given you ann’A’!!
 

yerrag

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Cool! If you were in one of my classes when I was teaching, I would have given you ann’A’!!
An A! I wish I were this lucky, and smart, in my college days haha
 

Amazoniac

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Citric is not the only organic acid being produced this way by the 1%, soon there can be more:
- Aspergillus as a versatile cell factory for organic acid production

I would try to identify similar effects in using others. It's not reliable, but so aren't the attribution of a detrimental effect to contamination.

- The Role of Tricarboxylic Acid Cycle Metabolites in Viral Infections

If it's not contamination, would it possible to replicate with acetate? Related to Raj's concern, citrate derived from acetate is going to be formed in mitochondria. Another difference is that systemic distribution is greater for acetate than citrate, therefore, liver perturbation might occur earlier with citrate [?].
 

InChristAlone

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I was coughing a lot, mostly dry cough but persistent enough. All of one month and still going after I got sick a week after I began using manufactured citrates to improve my blood's zeta-potential. At first I thought the dry cough was caused by an acid base imbalance that rendered my extracellular fluids very acidic, but even as I restored my acid base balance, the cough continued.

I don't know if it's just the aspergillus niger causing the cough, or if it was because it caused me to develop malaria (by activating a dormant plasmodium parasite). One of the symptoms of malaria is persistent dry coughing.
Have you tried raw crushed garlic?
 

yerrag

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Have you tried raw crushed garlic?
Had a lot of it to lower bp before, but I OD'ed on it and it caused me to urinate a lot and also raised my acidity and that caused me to have a persistent but soft dry cough.

But that was on me because I took too much.

But it wasn't effective in lowering my bp.

I don't know if with parasites, it will have a different effect.
 

yerrag

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Had a lot of it to lower bp before, but I OD'ed on it and it caused me to urinate a lot and also raised my acidity and that caused me to have a persistent but soft dry cough.

But that was on me because I took too much.

But it wasn't effective in lowering my bp.

I don't know if with parasites, it will have a different effect.
@sugarbabe

I had used my artemisia annua herbal extract as well as turpentine when there was high bacteria in my system, but they did nothing.

It's a good thing I had some leftover and when the parasitic infection came about, Iused each of them, and each time it lowered the parasite levels.

That's why I'm wondering if garlic will work on parasites. Have you found it effective against parasites?
 

InChristAlone

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@sugarbabe

I had used my artemisia annua herbal extract as well as turpentine when there was high bacteria in my system, but they did nothing.

It's a good thing I had some leftover and when the parasitic infection came about, Iused each of them, and each time it lowered the parasite levels.

That's why I'm wondering if garlic will work on parasites. Have you found it effective against parasites?
No, I was more referring to the dry cough. I had that after a head cold a few yrs ago one that was so bad I didn't sleep for three nights. I believe it was the fourth night I tried raw garlic and breathing steamed onions and it finally went away. I don't get too afraid of parasites these days, but if I knew it was parasites I'd use the ivermectin.
 

yerrag

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No, I was more referring to the dry cough. I had that after a head cold a few yrs ago one that was so bad I didn't sleep for three nights. I believe it was the fourth night I tried raw garlic and breathing steamed onions and it finally went away. I don't get too afraid of parasites these days, but if I knew it was parasites I'd use the ivermectin.
From Forbidden Health by Andreas Kalcker, I got to learn about how good Artemisia Annua is, so much so that the WHO has practically banned it, by way of denying its healing properties and instead the WHO would harrass manufacturers into producing pharma-based alternatives to it. So it is not surprising that many people would not know of it, and would instead use Ivermectin. One needs to remember that Ivermectin is now more affordable only because there is no longer patent protection for it. But when Ivermectin had patent protection, it would have been very profitable, so much so that the medical system would then push for its use while suppressing an herb that has been used for centuries in China for malaria, and not only that, rediscovered by a Chinese scientist named Tu Youyou, who was able to extract artemisinin from the herb and use it to prove how effictive it is in combating malaria (for this she was awarded a Nobel Prize in 2015).This is not to disparage Ivermectin as it truly has its place in being a drug that is significant in saving lives, as we now see it in the light of COVID, although it has already been saving lives from parasitic sickness such as malaria.

I could not share the pages of Andreas Kalcker's book Forbidden Health as the author specifically forbids so in a public context, but if you're interested in reading on what he has to say about artemisua annua,just pm me. After reading it, you may change your mind about using Ivermectin as the go to substance for dealing with parasites. And maybe, just maybe, you would also appreciate more another much maligned and not well understood substance called turpentine.

I believe they are fringe only because the mainstream media and the medical establishment purposefully places them in a position where we view them with fear, uncertainty, and doubt.
 

Kray

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I great study, which goes hand-in-hand with another one I recently posted about in regards to silica (ubiquitous in commercially sold food products/drinks). Namely, just as that other study found silica to be a potent inducer of the endotoxin/LPS receptor TLR4 even in minute amounts, this study below describes the powerful inflammatory effects of manufactured/citric acid capable of causing chronic inflammatory disease in the respiratory, digestive, muscular, bone/joint, etc systems. One may wonder how can manufactured/industrial citric acid cause all of these issues yet its natural version is harmless. Well, the answer lies again in the deviousness of the business interests behind this product. Since its discovery and up until the 1950s citric acid was predominantly extracted from natural sources such as lemon (and other citrus) juice. However, subsequently, it was discovered that it can be more cheaply produced through extraction from a mold organism (Aspergillus Niger), which is highly pathogenic and can cause severe infections in humans. As such, the industrially produced citric acid extracted from that mold contains fragments of that mold's cells, as well as other contaminants. That is the substantive difference between the manufactured and natural citric acid, and it is this contamination in the manufactured version the authors of the study below believe is responsible for a wide range of inflammatory disorders. I wonder how many other GRAS ingredients this cautionary tale applies to as well - i.e. malic acid, salicylic acid, acetic acid, various benzoates, etc are all commonly used preservatives often used as substitutes for citric acid...
IMO, this study also directly corroborates Peat's repeated claims about vitamin C and pregnenolone. Namely, he claims the production process for those chemicals has also changed over the years and their effects nowadays are incomparable with the effects he experienced when he first used them in the 1960s. He thinks contamination in the manufactured versions of those chemicals (analogous to the ones in manufactured citric acid), are likely responsible for the lack of beneficial effects (or even allergic/inflammatory effects) people report nowadays with when using chemicals.

Potential role of the common food additive manufactured citric acid in eliciting significant inflammatory reactions contributing to serious disease states: A series of four case reports

"...Citric acid naturally exists in fruits and vegetables. However, it is not the naturally occurring citric acid, but the manufactured citric acid (MCA) that is used extensively as a food and beverage additive. Approximately 99% of the world’s production of MCA is carried out using the fungus Aspergillus niger since 1919. Aspergilus niger is a known allergen. The FDA placed MCA under the category of GRAS without any research to substantiate this claim. In 2016, 2.3 million tons of MCA were produced, predominantly in China, and approximately 70% is used as a food or beverage additive. There have been no scientific studies performed to evaluate the safety of MCA when ingested in substantial amounts and with chronic exposure. We present four case reports of patients with a history of significant and repetitive inflammatory reactions including respiratory symptoms, joint pain, irritable bowel symptoms, muscular pain and enervation following ingestion of foods, beverages or vitamins containing MCA. We believe that ingestion of the MCA may lead to a harmful inflammatory cascade which manifests differently in different individuals based on their genetic predisposition and susceptibility, and that the use of MCA as an additive in consumable products warrants further studies to document its safety."

"...Manufactured citric acid (MCA) is a ubiquitous substance and one of the most common food additives in the world. Approximately 99% of the world production of MCA is through microbial processes using predominantly a mutant strain of the black mold Aspergillus niger [1]. This method has been the industry standard for production of MCA since 1919, long before the FDA’s involvement in evaluating food additives. When the FDA adopted the Food Additives Amendment in 1958, Congress excluded from the definition of Food Additive the common food ingredients in use before 1958, including MCA. Although the FDA has studied many food additives to ensure that they are within acceptable safety parameters, certain additives were granted GRAS (generally recognized as safe) status by the FDA due to lack of demonstrated harm over a history of prior use [2,3]. Thus, MCA was considered GRAS and did not undergo any FDA evaluation. MCA is one of the most common additives used today, with applications ranging from food to non-food industries. It is estimated that 70% is used in foods and beverages, 20% in the pharmaceutical and cosmetic industry, and 10% in cleaning detergents and softening agents [1]. In foods and beverages, it is used as a flavoring, a preservative, an acidulant, and to provide pH control. The growth of the processed foods industry, pharmaceuticals, and cosmetics is currently the driving force behind the rapid growth of the citric acid market globally."

"...Historically, citric acid was first isolated by William Scheele in England in 1784 from lemon juice imported from Italy [2]. Subsequently, Italy controlled the industrial production of citric acid from lemon juice and commanded a high price for the next 100 years, with peak production in 1915–1916 at 17,500 tons, after which it started to decline due to cost.2 This led to attempts all over the world to find alternatives to its production with chemical and microbial techniques, including commercial production by sugar fermentation [2]. Citric acid was first manufactured using the fermentation process in 1919 in Belgium using Cytromices mold (now known as Penicillium), but this method was abandoned due to contamination and duration of fermentation [2]. In 1917, American food chemist James Currie had begun experimenting with a process of making citric acid from mold. Currie discovered that strains of Aspergillus niger provided high yields of citric acid through a fermentation process using low cost molasses as the raw material [4]. This system was very cost effective and rapidly adopted. Pfizer started to produce citric acid from Aspergillus niger in 1919, and this method is still used today across the world, particularly in China. The molecular formula of the natural citric acid obtained from lemons and limes and that of MCA is the same, C6H8O7. However, the potential presence of impurities or fragments from the Aspergillus niger in MCA is a significant difference that may trigger deleterious effects when ingested. We have done several literature searches and have been unable to find any research evaluating the safety of long term or repetitive exposure to MCA, which has become ubiquitous in processed and pre-prepared foods, carbonated beverages, energy drinks, fruit drinks, nutritional supplements, pediatric and adult vitamins, confectioneries, processed dairy, common snacks, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, detergents and cleansers. In certain common energy beverages, it is the second leading ingredient following water. We provide evidence with four case reports that ingestion of foods, beverages or supplements containing MCA may lead to increased inflammation, which in susceptible individuals affects the respiratory, gastrointestinal, neurological and musculoskeletal systems. Although MCA is an unnatural substance and is produced from Aspergillus niger, there has been a paucity of research to ascertain its safety with repetitive exposure over time. To our knowledge, this is the first scientific report revealing the potential inflammatory reactions related to ingestion of MCA."
Just came across this thread. Great information, Haidut. I will carefully check all foods from now on for this. And what about all the Magnesium Citrate products out there? Surely they use MCA and not citrus acid, no? And animal rennet- as @ecstatichamster said, it is hard to find animal rennet cheeses and when you do, you pay for them! Ironically you get what you pay for- often they also taste better. Funny how that is.
 

Kray

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there are some cheeses that are safe. Some mozzarella uses vinegar only. Other than that you have to go for the higher end cheese at Whole Foods if you can afford to. Some supermarkets have a second cheese second near the produce department where they sell "gourmet" cheese, for instance parmegiano reggiano, and these often are made with real animal rennet (but not always).

I contacted Kerrygold because their label said "rennet" but they responded that all their products are made with fake enzymes now.

But even Boars Head has some cheese they sell that is made with "animal rennet."
@ecstatichamster
Have you found any (other) cheeses since this post that have animal rennet?
I great study, which goes hand-in-hand with another one I recently posted about in regards to silica (ubiquitous in commercially sold food products/drinks). Namely, just as that other study found silica to be a potent inducer of the endotoxin/LPS receptor TLR4 even in minute amounts, this study below describes the powerful inflammatory effects of manufactured/citric acid capable of causing chronic inflammatory disease in the respiratory, digestive, muscular, bone/joint, etc systems. One may wonder how can manufactured/industrial citric acid cause all of these issues yet its natural version is harmless. Well, the answer lies again in the deviousness of the business interests behind this product. Since its discovery and up until the 1950s citric acid was predominantly extracted from natural sources such as lemon (and other citrus) juice. However, subsequently, it was discovered that it can be more cheaply produced through extraction from a mold organism (Aspergillus Niger), which is highly pathogenic and can cause severe infections in humans. As such, the industrially produced citric acid extracted from that mold contains fragments of that mold's cells, as well as other contaminants. That is the substantive difference between the manufactured and natural citric acid, and it is this contamination in the manufactured version the authors of the study below believe is responsible for a wide range of inflammatory disorders. I wonder how many other GRAS ingredients this cautionary tale applies to as well - i.e. malic acid, salicylic acid, acetic acid, various benzoates, etc are all commonly used preservatives often used as substitutes for citric acid...
IMO, this study also directly corroborates Peat's repeated claims about vitamin C and pregnenolone. Namely, he claims the production process for those chemicals has also changed over the years and their effects nowadays are incomparable with the effects he experienced when he first used them in the 1960s. He thinks contamination in the manufactured versions of those chemicals (analogous to the ones in manufactured citric acid), are likely responsible for the lack of beneficial effects (or even allergic/inflammatory effects) people report nowadays with when using chemicals.

Potential role of the common food additive manufactured citric acid in eliciting significant inflammatory reactions contributing to serious disease states: A series of four case reports

"...Citric acid naturally exists in fruits and vegetables. However, it is not the naturally occurring citric acid, but the manufactured citric acid (MCA) that is used extensively as a food and beverage additive. Approximately 99% of the world’s production of MCA is carried out using the fungus Aspergillus niger since 1919. Aspergilus niger is a known allergen. The FDA placed MCA under the category of GRAS without any research to substantiate this claim. In 2016, 2.3 million tons of MCA were produced, predominantly in China, and approximately 70% is used as a food or beverage additive. There have been no scientific studies performed to evaluate the safety of MCA when ingested in substantial amounts and with chronic exposure. We present four case reports of patients with a history of significant and repetitive inflammatory reactions including respiratory symptoms, joint pain, irritable bowel symptoms, muscular pain and enervation following ingestion of foods, beverages or vitamins containing MCA. We believe that ingestion of the MCA may lead to a harmful inflammatory cascade which manifests differently in different individuals based on their genetic predisposition and susceptibility, and that the use of MCA as an additive in consumable products warrants further studies to document its safety."

"...Manufactured citric acid (MCA) is a ubiquitous substance and one of the most common food additives in the world. Approximately 99% of the world production of MCA is through microbial processes using predominantly a mutant strain of the black mold Aspergillus niger [1]. This method has been the industry standard for production of MCA since 1919, long before the FDA’s involvement in evaluating food additives. When the FDA adopted the Food Additives Amendment in 1958, Congress excluded from the definition of Food Additive the common food ingredients in use before 1958, including MCA. Although the FDA has studied many food additives to ensure that they are within acceptable safety parameters, certain additives were granted GRAS (generally recognized as safe) status by the FDA due to lack of demonstrated harm over a history of prior use [2,3]. Thus, MCA was considered GRAS and did not undergo any FDA evaluation. MCA is one of the most common additives used today, with applications ranging from food to non-food industries. It is estimated that 70% is used in foods and beverages, 20% in the pharmaceutical and cosmetic industry, and 10% in cleaning detergents and softening agents [1]. In foods and beverages, it is used as a flavoring, a preservative, an acidulant, and to provide pH control. The growth of the processed foods industry, pharmaceuticals, and cosmetics is currently the driving force behind the rapid growth of the citric acid market globally."

"...Historically, citric acid was first isolated by William Scheele in England in 1784 from lemon juice imported from Italy [2]. Subsequently, Italy controlled the industrial production of citric acid from lemon juice and commanded a high price for the next 100 years, with peak production in 1915–1916 at 17,500 tons, after which it started to decline due to cost.2 This led to attempts all over the world to find alternatives to its production with chemical and microbial techniques, including commercial production by sugar fermentation [2]. Citric acid was first manufactured using the fermentation process in 1919 in Belgium using Cytromices mold (now known as Penicillium), but this method was abandoned due to contamination and duration of fermentation [2]. In 1917, American food chemist James Currie had begun experimenting with a process of making citric acid from mold. Currie discovered that strains of Aspergillus niger provided high yields of citric acid through a fermentation process using low cost molasses as the raw material [4]. This system was very cost effective and rapidly adopted. Pfizer started to produce citric acid from Aspergillus niger in 1919, and this method is still used today across the world, particularly in China. The molecular formula of the natural citric acid obtained from lemons and limes and that of MCA is the same, C6H8O7. However, the potential presence of impurities or fragments from the Aspergillus niger in MCA is a significant difference that may trigger deleterious effects when ingested. We have done several literature searches and have been unable to find any research evaluating the safety of long term or repetitive exposure to MCA, which has become ubiquitous in processed and pre-prepared foods, carbonated beverages, energy drinks, fruit drinks, nutritional supplements, pediatric and adult vitamins, confectioneries, processed dairy, common snacks, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, detergents and cleansers. In certain common energy beverages, it is the second leading ingredient following water. We provide evidence with four case reports that ingestion of foods, beverages or supplements containing MCA may lead to increased inflammation, which in susceptible individuals affects the respiratory, gastrointestinal, neurological and musculoskeletal systems. Although MCA is an unnatural substance and is produced from Aspergillus niger, there has been a paucity of research to ascertain its safety with repetitive exposure over time. To our knowledge, this is the first scientific report revealing the potential inflammatory reactions related to ingestion of MCA."
@haidut
I am trying to find anything tying MCA to allergic/atopic dermatitis. If one uses mostly Mag Citrate (assuming MCA as citric acid source), could prolonged daily use be cause of this condition? Citric acid is ubiquitous, but in something like Mag Citrate, there is so much more than in a jar of jam with CA listed as one of the last ingredients. I didn't find anything directly from your post, but if you have any other references, I would appreciate. Thank you!
 
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cs3000

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Dr. B

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this is also the case with "vegetable rennet" for cheese, it is a VERY powerful allergen. I avoid all cheese made with "enzymes" or "vegetable rennet".
this is also the case with "vegetable rennet" for cheese, it is a VERY powerful allergen. I avoid all cheese made with "enzymes" or "vegetable rennet".
mate if I remember isnt there a quote or interview with Peat where he said the vegetable rennet/microbial or vegetable enzymes are even more inflammatory than citric acid. Maybe these rennets are used in larger amounts in foods compared to citric acid which is often just a few milligrams? citric acid is used for flavoring in candies and sodas usually, but is used in some cheeses also. the rennet problem is also serious, and it can luckily be minimized by not eating cheeses, or avoiding pizzas and sticking to cheeseburgers, cheesecakes, cream cheeses, ricotta, etc. the burgers have a very thin slice of cheese so the rennet amount should be small. Also american cheese is heavily processed I wonder if all that processing actually makes it less allergenic than some of these other cheese products which use these rennets?
cream cheeses usually dont require enzymes or rennet, and there are some cheese products available which use vinegar or salt only, instead of enzymes. a local market had "Paneer cheese" which I think is an Indian type of cheese. I didn't read the nutrition label but it might be a fatty cheese like cream cheese. it had only vinegar in the ingredients, no enzymes or rennet or citric acid.

I think daisy cottage cheese only has salt in it, no citric acid, no vinegar and no rennet or enzymes. other cheeses I have found that often use only vinegar and no enzymes/rennet are ricotta cheese and mascarpone cheese. then there is cream cheese. the similarity with these all seems to be they are less fermented cheeses, and are softer cheeses and always refrigerated. and they seem to be very high fat, with the exception of cottage cheese. they seem to have 1:1 protein to fat ratio. ricotta cheese probably tastes the best of all these.
someone on here posted that you can get mozzerella cheese that only uses vinegar, no rennet or enzymes but ive never been able to find it. there are two main cheeses, parmeggiano reggiano and pecorino romano which seem to always use the traditional animal rennet. but the taste on them is so strong its hard to eat them unless used as a topping on bread or pasta or mixed with something.

if you look at starbucks cheese danish ingredients it uses "neufchatel cheese" or something which is some european cheese. it basically is an alternate form of cream cheese. theres no enzymes or rennet needed or listed in the ingredients. but their danish actually has enzymes listed in the bread portion of the ingredients so im not sure what kind of enzymes are being used in the danish bread.


I great study, which goes hand-in-hand with another one I recently posted about in regards to silica (ubiquitous in commercially sold food products/drinks). Namely, just as that other study found silica to be a potent inducer of the endotoxin/LPS receptor TLR4 even in minute amounts, this study below describes the powerful inflammatory effects of manufactured/citric acid capable of causing chronic inflammatory disease in the respiratory, digestive, muscular, bone/joint, etc systems. One may wonder how can manufactured/industrial citric acid cause all of these issues yet its natural version is harmless. Well, the answer lies again in the deviousness of the business interests behind this product. Since its discovery and up until the 1950s citric acid was predominantly extracted from natural sources such as lemon (and other citrus) juice. However, subsequently, it was discovered that it can be more cheaply produced through extraction from a mold organism (Aspergillus Niger), which is highly pathogenic and can cause severe infections in humans. As such, the industrially produced citric acid extracted from that mold contains fragments of that mold's cells, as well as other contaminants. That is the substantive difference between the manufactured and natural citric acid, and it is this contamination in the manufactured version the authors of the study below believe is responsible for a wide range of inflammatory disorders. I wonder how many other GRAS ingredients this cautionary tale applies to as well - i.e. malic acid, salicylic acid, acetic acid, various benzoates, etc are all commonly used preservatives often used as substitutes for citric acid...
IMO, this study also directly corroborates Peat's repeated claims about vitamin C and pregnenolone. Namely, he claims the production process for those chemicals has also changed over the years and their effects nowadays are incomparable with the effects he experienced when he first used them in the 1960s. He thinks contamination in the manufactured versions of those chemicals (analogous to the ones in manufactured citric acid), are likely responsible for the lack of beneficial effects (or even allergic/inflammatory effects) people report nowadays with when using chemicals.

Potential role of the common food additive manufactured citric acid in eliciting significant inflammatory reactions contributing to serious disease states: A series of four case reports

"...Citric acid naturally exists in fruits and vegetables. However, it is not the naturally occurring citric acid, but the manufactured citric acid (MCA) that is used extensively as a food and beverage additive. Approximately 99% of the world’s production of MCA is carried out using the fungus Aspergillus niger since 1919. Aspergilus niger is a known allergen. The FDA placed MCA under the category of GRAS without any research to substantiate this claim. In 2016, 2.3 million tons of MCA were produced, predominantly in China, and approximately 70% is used as a food or beverage additive. There have been no scientific studies performed to evaluate the safety of MCA when ingested in substantial amounts and with chronic exposure. We present four case reports of patients with a history of significant and repetitive inflammatory reactions including respiratory symptoms, joint pain, irritable bowel symptoms, muscular pain and enervation following ingestion of foods, beverages or vitamins containing MCA. We believe that ingestion of the MCA may lead to a harmful inflammatory cascade which manifests differently in different individuals based on their genetic predisposition and susceptibility, and that the use of MCA as an additive in consumable products warrants further studies to document its safety."

"...Manufactured citric acid (MCA) is a ubiquitous substance and one of the most common food additives in the world. Approximately 99% of the world production of MCA is through microbial processes using predominantly a mutant strain of the black mold Aspergillus niger [1]. This method has been the industry standard for production of MCA since 1919, long before the FDA’s involvement in evaluating food additives. When the FDA adopted the Food Additives Amendment in 1958, Congress excluded from the definition of Food Additive the common food ingredients in use before 1958, including MCA. Although the FDA has studied many food additives to ensure that they are within acceptable safety parameters, certain additives were granted GRAS (generally recognized as safe) status by the FDA due to lack of demonstrated harm over a history of prior use [2,3]. Thus, MCA was considered GRAS and did not undergo any FDA evaluation. MCA is one of the most common additives used today, with applications ranging from food to non-food industries. It is estimated that 70% is used in foods and beverages, 20% in the pharmaceutical and cosmetic industry, and 10% in cleaning detergents and softening agents [1]. In foods and beverages, it is used as a flavoring, a preservative, an acidulant, and to provide pH control. The growth of the processed foods industry, pharmaceuticals, and cosmetics is currently the driving force behind the rapid growth of the citric acid market globally."

"...Historically, citric acid was first isolated by William Scheele in England in 1784 from lemon juice imported from Italy [2]. Subsequently, Italy controlled the industrial production of citric acid from lemon juice and commanded a high price for the next 100 years, with peak production in 1915–1916 at 17,500 tons, after which it started to decline due to cost.2 This led to attempts all over the world to find alternatives to its production with chemical and microbial techniques, including commercial production by sugar fermentation [2]. Citric acid was first manufactured using the fermentation process in 1919 in Belgium using Cytromices mold (now known as Penicillium), but this method was abandoned due to contamination and duration of fermentation [2]. In 1917, American food chemist James Currie had begun experimenting with a process of making citric acid from mold. Currie discovered that strains of Aspergillus niger provided high yields of citric acid through a fermentation process using low cost molasses as the raw material [4]. This system was very cost effective and rapidly adopted. Pfizer started to produce citric acid from Aspergillus niger in 1919, and this method is still used today across the world, particularly in China. The molecular formula of the natural citric acid obtained from lemons and limes and that of MCA is the same, C6H8O7. However, the potential presence of impurities or fragments from the Aspergillus niger in MCA is a significant difference that may trigger deleterious effects when ingested. We have done several literature searches and have been unable to find any research evaluating the safety of long term or repetitive exposure to MCA, which has become ubiquitous in processed and pre-prepared foods, carbonated beverages, energy drinks, fruit drinks, nutritional supplements, pediatric and adult vitamins, confectioneries, processed dairy, common snacks, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, detergents and cleansers. In certain common energy beverages, it is the second leading ingredient following water. We provide evidence with four case reports that ingestion of foods, beverages or supplements containing MCA may lead to increased inflammation, which in susceptible individuals affects the respiratory, gastrointestinal, neurological and musculoskeletal systems. Although MCA is an unnatural substance and is produced from Aspergillus niger, there has been a paucity of research to ascertain its safety with repetitive exposure over time. To our knowledge, this is the first scientific report revealing the potential inflammatory reactions related to ingestion of MCA."

do you think this change of production process is responsible for taurines side effects too? supposedly people had great effects from it back when it was directly extracted from bull semen or bull testicles. but for the last 12+ years its been chemically synthesized. maybe there is something similar going on with TUDCA. it used to be extracted from bear liver or other animal livers, but is also being chemically made now.
and I also wonder about aspirin. is there any guarantee that it's actually coming from the white willow tree bark and vinegar or whatever, or can they manufacture that using chemically synthesized acids too? maybe the aspirin formula has also changed over time.
 

Dr. B

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@haidut doesnt vitamin C also come from aspergillus niger or some type of fungus or mold? I seem to have reactions even to the Quali C vitamin C by doctors best. all the cortisol type reactions from 1000mg of it.

btw I sent Peat a big list of supplements one time with questions on some of them. it included vitamins A, D3, C, E, K2, K1, olive leaf extract, taurine, different b vitamins, apple cider vinegar and a few other things. He didnt have comments on the individual supplements but he responded saying vitamin A is the safest one on the list. so maybe vitamin A is one of the few things still being made in a safe way, followed by D3 if its cholecalciferol? Peats mentioned issues with vitamin E the potential pufa or allergens, and also K2 being allergenic. He mentioned something about a harmful vitamin K culture spreading on the internet. Maybe lots of people are emailing him about megadosing K2 or something.
 

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