Trial reportBMC medicine2024
Carrageenan and insulin resistance in humans: a randomised double-blind cross-over trial.
Trial report in BMC medicine, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT02629705 (Investigation of the Effect of Carrageenan as Food Additive on Insulin Resistance in Humans), which is not on this map. Cited by 12 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Investigation of the Effect of Carrageenan as Food Additive on Insulin Resistance in Humans
Who cites it
12 citing papers in PubMed.
- Nutrient and non-nutrient regulators of insulin secretion.Nature reviews. Endocrinology · 2026Review
- Sulfation Modification of Polysaccharides and Their Antidiabetic Activity.Journal of food science · 2026Review
- Review
- Carrageenan: Food Additive or Health Concern? A Comprehensive Review.Annals of nutrition & metabolism · 2026Review
- Review
- Translational Barriers to Pharmaceutical Excipient Readiness in Marine-Derived Polymers.Polymers · 2026Review
- Assessing the nutritional value and health risks of special low‑protein foods: narrative review.Orphanet journal of rare diseases · 2026Review
- The "pro-inflammatory imprint" of ultra-processed food exposure: a review of mechanisms affecting child and adolescent health and development via the gut microbiome-inflammation axis.Frontiers in nutrition · 2026Review
- Marine-Algal-Derived Postbiotics Modulating the Gut Microbiota-Adipose Tissue Axis in Obesity: A New Frontier.Nutrients · 2025Review
- Food as Medicine for Hypertension: Microbiota as Mediators.Hypertension (Dallas, Tex. : 1979) · 2025Review
- Gut Feelings: How Microbes, Diet, and Host Immunity Shape Disease.Biomedicines · 2025Review
- Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
19 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundThe potential impact of specific food additives, common in Western diets, on the risk of developing type 2 diabetes is not well understood. This study focuses on carrageenan, a widely used food additive known to induce insulin resistance and gut inflammation in animal models, and its effects on human health.
methodsIn a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled, cross-over trial conducted at a university hospital metabolic study centre, 20 males (age 27.4 ± 4.3 years, BMI 24.5 ± 2.5 kg/m
resultsOverall insulin sensitivity did not show significant differences between the treatments. However, interactions between BMI and treatment were observed (OGTT-based insulin sensitivity index: p=0.04, fasting insulin resistance: p=0.01, hepatic insulin sensitivity index: p=0.04). In overweight participants, carrageenan exposure resulted in lower whole body and hepatic insulin sensitivity, a trend towards increased brain inflammation, and elevated C-reactive protein (CRP) and IL-6 levels compared to placebo. Additionally, carrageenan was associated with increased intestinal permeability. In vitro natural killer (NK-)cell activation and increased pro-inflammatory cytokine release were found after carrageenan exposure in the participant's peripheral blood mononuclear cells.
conclusionsThese findings suggest that carrageenan, a common food additive, may contribute to insulin resistance and subclinical inflammation in overweight individuals through pro-inflammatory mechanisms in the gut. Further investigation into the long-term health impacts of carrageenan and other food additives is warranted.
trial registrationNCT02629705.
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