For decades, I’ve encouraged thousands of patients to mind their gut microbiome and focus on supporting its health with essential, healthy lifestyle behaviors – think, good sleep, stress reduction, frequent movement, supplementation when needed – and perhaps most importantly, feeding it the clean, healthy whole foods it thrives on. What you put in your gut microbiome – the community of bacteria that live mostly in your large intestine – has an enormous impact on countless aspects of your overall resilience, immune defenses and even brain function. Ignore your gut at your peril.

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When it comes to foods that support the health of your microbiome, a big part of the equation involves subtracting the sweet stuff and indeed all processed foods. There are countless reasons to ditch them, but here’s another: virtually all processed foods bring with them an extra special health scourge, namely, emulsifiers. Look at just about any food label in your pantry and they’ll be there – and I urge you to start phasing them out for good.

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Why? Because dumping emulsifiers on your gut microbiome can play a big role in creating belly troubles now, and potentially chronic illness later. Here’s what emulsifiers do to your gut, why it matters, and why to steer clear as much as possible:

You’re the host of your bacterial party.

Imagine yourself the host of an enormous party in your belly — one with a hundred trillion or so (bacterial) guests. This bustling metropolis of bacteria works tirelessly to keep you healthy, happy, and resilient. These microscopic partygoers help digest your food, train your immune system, and help keep your brain on its toes. But, like any good party, things can go sideways if you don’t manage the guest list — or the menu. Why? Because what you feed your gut bacteria shapes your health from head to toe. 

Emulsifiers can slip right into your gut microbiome if you’re not gatekeeping the door, as in, paying attention to what you allow into your system. Emulsifiers are, unfortunately, virtually everywhere in processed foods  — in things like salad dressings, ice cream, nut butters, and even some plant-based milks. 

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Which begs the question, what are they doing in there anyway? Well, it’s a combination of chemical, textural and aesthetic reasons. Manufacturers add emulsifiers to processed foods to more easily mix together ingredients that normally don’t blend well, like oil and water. They keep foods looking and tasting appealing, enabling them keep things smooth, creamy, and shelf-stable for weeks, months and even years at a time. But, beneath their silky-smooth exteriors, those hidden emulsifiers may be stirring up a cauldron of chaos in your gut. 

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So, which emulsifiers are most likely to pop up on the ingredients list? Among the most common ones you’re likely to find on processed food labels: carboxymethylcellulose (CMC); polysorbate 80; lecithin; carrageenan; gums like guar and xanthan, to name a few.

Emulsifiers mess with your microbes. 

A healthy gut is all about balance – keeping your good bacteria well fed and thriving while preventing the no-so-helpful bacteria from overtaking them with the poor dietary choices that the bad actors love (like sugar, additives and processed foods.) Trouble is, emulsifiers like CMC and polysorbate 80 can mess with your gut’s delicate balance, causing ‘dysbiosis,’ reducing the diversity of bacteria in your gut, and encouraging the growth of inflammation-triggering troublemakers. 

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The second problem is that emulsifiers help set the stage for leaky gut. When your gut microbiome is in balance and functioning optimally, your gut’s lining is protected by a mucus layer — think of it as the velvet rope at an exclusive club. But the sneaky emulsifiers can help bacteria slip past this barrier, through microscopic holes in the lining, leading to leaky gut and triggering inflammation, which is bad news for your entire system.

A domino effect of inflammation and metabolic mayhem follows.

When your gut is frequently under siege by a steady stream of emulsifiers, the consequences go far beyond a little tummy trouble. Chronic gut inflammation is linked to serious conditions like inflammatory bowel disease, like Crohn’s disease, auto-immune problems and even colon cancer. Some emulsifiers can prompt your body to churn out pro-inflammatory molecules, setting off alarm bells throughout your system. Your now disrupted microbiome can contribute to weight gain, insulin resistance, and metabolic syndrome. When your gut barrier breaks down, toxins can slip into your bloodstream, throwing your metabolism into chaos.

Hit the emulsifier eject button.

OK, so no need to panic or throw out everything in your pantry just yet. But, over time, you can finish off what you have and replace it with new emulsifier-free options, which will likely be primarily whole foods. Also, keep in mind that some emulsifiers are worse than others. For example, lecithin’s impact, while not ideal, is significantly less than carrageenan and certain gums, which are linked to more serious gut disruptions. Dosage matters too, as some emulsifiers cause problems when eaten in large amounts, so the fewer processed foods in your life, the better. The good news is that gatekeeping your gut and protecting your microbiome doesn’t have to be a full-time job. Here’s how to keep emulsifiers out of your gut microbiome and enable your gut to function at its best:

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1. Read labels: Watch out for CMC, polysorbate 80, carrageenan, and synthetic gums. When you see them, leave them on the shelf.
2. Eat whole foods: They don’t have labels! Your gut loves label-free fiber-rich veggies, fruits, and whole grains – so give it the good stuff. 
3. Think minimally processed: The fewer ingredients, the better. What makes a food minimally processed? As the Harvard School of Public Health defines them, they’re “foods have been slightly altered so they can be more easily stored, prepared, and eaten; this processing level does not substantially change the nutritional content of the food.”
4. Cultivate and feed the good bugs: Dig into prebiotics as in foods that contain the fiber on which friendly bacteria feed. Key prebiotic foods include tomatoes, garlic, onions, radishes, leeks, asparagus, and Jerusalem artichokes.  Always remember to eat the stalks and stems as that’s where a lot of the fiber lives.
5. Do go deep on fiber: At every meal, for instance, add more resistant starch like the kind you find in nuts, seeds, and legumes that “resist” being broken down to glucose and feed the good bacteria in your gut the stuff they need to support optimal function.
6. Stay Curious: At-home microbiome tests can give you a peek into your gut’s health—and might just inspire you to skip that processed snack you were considering.

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BOTTOM LINE: Your gut microbiome is a powerhouse that deserves your attention. Emulsifiers may make your food look and taste better, but they could be quietly undermining your health. Choose whole, real foods whenever you can, and treat your gut like the VIP it truly is.