Emulsifiers harm gut bacteria <\/strong> When the mice were given the artificial emulsifiers in their water bottles, they developed gut health problems and became overweight. The scientists suspect that the emulsifiers affected the normal gut bacteria that the mice had and in some cases, moved the bacteria from their proper place to the behind the protective layer of gut mucus. The study connected these emulsifiers with obesity and related conditions like Type-2 diabetes and inflammatory bowel disease. <\/p>\n One reason that researchers embarked on this experiment was to see the affect of these chemicals and what roles they might have played in the rise of certain illnesses and health conditions over the past 60 years. <\/p>\n "The dramatic increase in these diseases has occurred despite consistent human genetics, suggesting a pivotal role for an environmental factor," study coauthor Benoit Chassaing said in a statement. "Food interacts intimately with the microbiota, so we considered what modern additions to the food supply might possibly make gut bacteria more pro-inflammatory."<\/p>\n Forbes magazine reported that the researchers may soon do a comparable experiment related to lecithin, a naturally occurring emulsifier that's found in eggs and helps you create homemade mayonnaise. As people have avoided foods higher in fats, these artificial chemical emulsifiers have become more popular in diets rather than the natural emulsifiers in higher fat foods. <\/p>\n The researchers explained that they don't think that the emulsifiers are the underlying cause of obesity and many modern health concerns, but rather a contributing factor found in people who eat excessive amounts of processed foods. <\/p>\n A new form of emulsion These findings have promising uses outside of the food industry, like for complex and targeted drug delivery and cleaning up chemical spills and pollution. The work was published in the journal Nature and funded by Eni-MIT Alliance Solar Frontiers Program, the U.S. Army Research Laboratory, the U.S. Army Research Office, and the National Institutes of Health. The MIT scientists described their method as a two-step approach<\/a>. <\/p>\n First, they mixed together two oils that only combined at a high temperature. They used hexane and perfluorohexane – chemically similar substances. These were mixed together in water to form an emulsion then cooled to create a complex emulsion. <\/p>\n
\nThe team of scientists from different universities and research centers studied the effects of two chemical emulsifiers – Polysorbate-80 and carboxymethylcellusoe – on mice. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has rated both of these chemicals as nontoxic and noncarcenogenic but with no further safety distinctions. <\/p>\n
\nThere's more than one way to create an emulsion. Instead of using chemical emulsifiers to make a simple emulsion, researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have developed new techniques using temperature and surfactants to create complex emulsions with multiple layers within a single mixture. <\/p>\n
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