Guar Gum

kscolorado · Post by **kscolorado** » Thu Nov 05, 2009 10:04 am

I have a wonderful cousin-in-law who sent me a care package of a bunch of gluten free mixes, pasta's ect that she thought I may have not seen yet. One thing was cinnamon and raisin bread mix by Bob's Red Mill. Everytime I made BRM stuff in the past (pizza mix & cornbread mix) I got that gluten feeling along with diarrhea the next morning, so I hesitantly decided to try the bread thinking after all, I didn't know about soy back then and could have ate soy during the day. Well long story short, I got diarrhea again after eating the bread. I isolated the ingredients and guar gum keeps coming up. I looked it up and found that it is a legume and found several sites about soy sensitivity listing guar gum as a possible cross reaction. Does anyone else who is soy intolerant find they have problems with guar gum? My favorite gluten free bread (udi, that tastes so much like real bread you wanna cry with your first bite) does not contain guar gum and no problems whats so ever.

Gloria · Post by **Gloria** » Thu Nov 05, 2009 5:54 pm

I've been suspicious about guar gum too, because it's made from legumes. I noticed that it's in the coconut ice cream that I used to eat, but stopped because I began reacting. I've never been sure if it was the guar gum, coconut or carrageenan. I don't use mixes because they generally contain ingredients which I need to avoid, but I'll look at any other foods I might have that contain guar gum. I'll let you know if I can draw any conclusions.

Gloria

kscolorado · Post by **kscolorado** » Thu Nov 05, 2009 7:16 pm

Thanks Gloria, here's one of the articles that I found that has guar gum on the avoid list if you are sensitive to soy

http://www.entspringfield.com/materials ... tivity.PDF

Post by **tex** » Thu Nov 05, 2009 7:55 pm

There are no "one-size-fits-all" baking gums, unfortunately. Virtually all of the gums usable for gluten-free baking, are from a legume-based source. Xanthan gum, is not, but I believe it's usually made from corn syrup, though it can be made from other sugar sources. There are no easy answers for those with multiple intolerances.

Of course, baked goods were not a part of the paleo lifestyle, anyway, since they didn't have any grains to use for baking.

Tex

Gloria · Post by **Gloria** » Thu Nov 05, 2009 9:11 pm

Thanks for the list - I think I've avoided all of the products containing soy in the list, but I'm not sure if the list is saying Lea & Perrins Worcestershire Sauce has soy or if it's their teriyaki sauce. I was under the impression that it is soy-free.

I didn't realize that alfalfa sprouts were in the legume family. I haven't eaten them since I've gotten MC, but it's good to know I need to continue to avoid them.

Gloria

kscolorado · Post by **kscolorado** » Thu Nov 05, 2009 10:26 pm

Lea & Perrins at one time did have soy but does not at this time. I didn't know about the alfalfa sprouts either! Seems like I am always learning!

Your right Tex, there is no easy answer when there are multiple intolerances. xantham gum is generally grown as a mold from corn. I don't seem to have any problems with corn. I will stay with my hunch and avoid guar gum since its in the bread and dessert mixes that cause problems for me.

Going away for the weekend, meeting up with my daughter who is in school at Boulder for a girlie weekend!

Gloria · Post by **Gloria** » Thu Nov 05, 2009 11:12 pm

Have a great time, Kathy!

Gloria

teagirl · Post by **teagirl** » Fri Nov 06, 2009 6:28 pm

When I researched baking ingredients to restock my cupboards with gf products, guar gum came up many times as a laxative often recommended by doctors. Seeing that and having quite enough D from my MC, I went for XG instead.

This same caveat re GG is also mentioned in a couple of cookery books.