- Written By: Michael Pollick
- Edited By: Niki Foster
- Last Modified Date: 26 January 2012
-
Copyright Protected:
2003-2012 Conjecture Corporation
Guar gum can best be described as a natural food thickener, similar to locust bean gum, cornstarch or tapioca flour. Guar gum is said to have significantly more thickening ability than cornstarch, at a fraction of the cost. This has made guar gum a popular additive in products such as puddings and ice creams. Until recently, guar gum was also an ingredient in non-prescription diet pills designed to create a sense of fullness.
The guar plant, also known as a cluster plant, grows primarily in Pakistan and the northern regions of India. It thrives on the drought/monsoon cycles present in those areas. The plants are harvested after the monsoon season and the seeds are allowed to dry in the sun. The seeds are then manually or mechanically separated and processed into a flour or sold as split seeds. Guar gum is an important cash crop for the Indian and Pakistani economies.
While consumers may balk at such 'exotic' ingredients as locust bean gum, carageenan and guar gum, the truth is many of our ice creams, puddings and canned sauces would be fairly inedible without them. Guar gum is not just a thickening agent, but a binder and plasticizer as well. When untreated ice cream melts and refreezes, grainy ice crystals often form. Guar gum has the natural ability to bind with water molecules, preventing them from forming the unwanted crystals. Processed foods with creamy textures are primarily held together with binders such as guar gum. Without a binder, the individual ingredients might separate into a watery mess.
The use of guar gum as an ingredient in non-prescription diet aids was officially banned in the early 1990s by the FDA. The guar gum would bind with liquids in the stomach and swell, causing a feeling of satisfying fullness. However, this mass of swollen guar gum would also cause dangerous intestinal and duodenal blockages. Guar gum was declared unsafe and ineffective for use as a non-prescription diet aid, although it is still used in small amounts as a food thickener and binder.
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anon243213
Post 56 |
Put a little effort in preparing food yourself. Eat pure. Read labels don't buy anything that the food industry altered. Let's define who the bosses are when it comes to what we eat. Our bodies are temples. Let's treat them as such. |
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anon234382
Post 55 |
I'm diabetic and avoid as much starch and carbs as possible and use guar gum regularly for gravy and other thickening tasks. Guar gum has about eight times the thickening power of cornstarch without the starch sugars. A bottle from my local health food store will last for years since it is used so sparingly and I've never had it go bad. |
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anon233117
Post 54 |
I just had a guar gum reaction immediately following ingesting a teaspoon of pie crust that I put together with 1/4 teaspoon of guar gum in it. The pie crust was delicious, but I immediately felt a blockage of energy, hot in my shoulder/neck/head area, like everything in my upper body was not in motion the way it should normally be, and I started to panic. I took two huge glasses of cold water and four immune capsules (by Orenda. They are great for allergy symptoms, but not intended for emergencies. I just thought of them though and tried it) and I gradually started to get normalcy back. I still feel like there is glue running through my upper body, and will continue with water to flush it out asap. Wow. it just hit me so quickly! Yikes! Guys, I don't have allergies, and have been extremely healthy all of my 58 years! Beware of this stuff. |
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anon225670
Post 53 |
Does any one know what valgum is (it must be gum like)? |
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anon171471
Post 52 |
I've become gluten intolerant in the last ten years. So, I've been on the search for anything to help me bake gluten free breads. I do not like to use things that are too processed. That leaves guar gum and xanthan gum out. During all this, I've been eating brown rice as a substitute with my meals. Heck. I don't even miss breads anymore. But it did take a long time. Still, when I do want to cook with some sort of thickening agent, I've used arrowroot and agar agar (seaweed). |
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anon165113
Post 51 |
why anyone with any sense would eat soy protein and especially when they're pregnant is beyond comprehension and logic. Sad, but Archer Daniels loves to hear about using that toxic substance, for you see, they're soy producers. Please, do not, ever eat soy except in fermented form like Natto, naturally fermented organic soy sauce, miso, etc. After all, Asians eat only two tablespoons per capita, but why copy Asians? Maybe the Japanese, but why bother with soy in the first place? It's full of non-digestive elements. |
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anon163834
Post 50 |
why is guar gum called guar gum? |
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anon157245
Post 49 |
You said that guar gum is banned. May I use it in little concentrations or may it not be used in any concentration? What are the main differences among guar gum, xanthan gum, carrageenan, and the other gums? For example, the application? Can I them use in non food and beverages products? |
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anon136394
Post 48 |
I belong to the arid area of Pakistan. I live in village.People of my village cultivate guar for animal food. guar is very cheap here. I came to know it is not proper use of guar. So i want to export it. |
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anon122177
Post 47 |
i just bought this Energizing Soy Protein by Shaklee. it was recommended by a friend as she mentioned that it's good for me as i am pregnant, but when i look at its ingredients it contains guar gum. |
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anon118321
Post 46 |
if taking a lot of guar gum in one time, can i drink a lot of water to dilute to avoid swelling, obstructing? |
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anon117007
Post 45 |
Anyone know if guar gum and gum tragacanth would be interchangeable - specifically for use in fondant icing for cakes? Gum tragacanth is used to make icing more pliable and to then set harder. |
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anon100200
Post 44 |
I knew it was the guar gum. I read about this a few months ago when I first saw it in the ingredients of that Purely Decadent coconut ice cream. I seemed fine when I first had it back then, and I thought, "hey, it happens to other people, but I feel fine." Right now I feel like I'm going to explode. I vow never to eat the stuff again. I'm up at 3:45 am and I can't sleep because of it. I feel like I don't ever want to eat again. It's horrible. |
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anon89447
Post 43 |
No wonder when I ate oatmeal that has guar gum in it would make me so full and uncomfortable. My stomach would get really swollen and now I stay away from it. |
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anon86382
Post 41 |
I just don't like the way guar gum sounds. |
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anon85880
Post 40 |
what's the difference between guar gum and xanthan gum? are both needed for making ice cream, or will one suffice? |
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anon85864
Post 39 |
I'm sick and tired of corporations adulterating our food supply with 'thickeners', especially when these are added to foundational products like milk/cream, bread and meat. If extenders and other crap is added to processed food, I can avoid it. But it is no longer possible to buy cream at the grocery store that hasn't been 'improved'. There are very few ice creams left either. I suspect butter also contains extenders now because it contains cream. This crap bloats me and makes me sick and drives my glucose levels crazy (I have a blood glucose meter). All so that food factories can become bigger and ship their products further. I want natural food, not a 'product'. |
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anon75792
Post 37 |
Are there any rancidity issues with guar gum once it has been hydrated? I'm using it to thicken homemade toothpaste and am wondering if it needs refrigeration. I just made the first batch the other day and it smells a little weird but that could be the 'beaniness'? |
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anon73070
Post 36 |
Seems like there are a lot of questions on Guar gum. Yes, it's safe for gluten free folks. You can find it in most health food stores. Use about a half to one teaspoon per cup of baking flour mix of your choice. I use it instead of xanthan gum because I am allergic to corn products as well as gluten. Xanthan gum is grown on corn sugars. Guar gum is the seed from a plant as described above. Both are good for GF baking. |
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anon67261
Post 35 |
I found a coconut-cream based ice cream substitute called Coconut Bliss and it has guar gum listed in the ingredients. Anyway, the fiber content of 1 cup is listed at 8 grams or 36 percent of your RDA. I seemed to remember hearing about issues with guar gum in the past in regards to intestinal blockages and bumped into this site while doing some research. It's yummy stuff, though. |
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anon48199
Post 34 |
how many people are allergic to guar gum? I am and it is a major pain reading labels to make sure i don't eat any of it. i even have to carry an epi-pen because of the reaction i get. |
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pollick
Post 32 |
Xanthan gum and guar gum are often used in gluten-free recipes as binders and thickeners. If you are currently on a gluten-free diet, you should be able to tolerate any food product containing guar gum, although some people do report unpleasant gastrointestinal side effects if they consume too much of it. Diet products containing high concentrations of guar gum, however, may be risky to consume regardless of your type of diet. Because many gluten-free food products are naturally lower in carbohydrates, they should be acceptable for a high protein/low carb diet plan. It is still important to read the nutritional information on the product's label to determine if the total carbohydrate count is reasonable. Ice cream may contain guar gum, for example, but still have a substantial amount of carbohydrates because of the sweeteners. |
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anon46485
Post 31 |
Hi, I'm on a high protein and low carb diet and was wondering whether Guar Gum was great to use or not? I'm looking for a food thickener that works in well with my diet. Also, does anyone know of any "Carb free" stir fry sauces and marinades? |
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anon46112
Post 30 |
can we use gaur gum as gelling agent in eye? |
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anon45754
Post 29 |
if you have a gluten free diet, can you have guar gum in anything? |
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anon43409
Post 28 |
I once read that guar gum can help lower cholestrol. Is this true? and if so how much should one take? |
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anon42829
Post 27 |
i am not able to eat any products using guar gum as it gives me diarrhea. Do you know how many products contain guar gum? I can only eat one commercial ice cream and soft ice cream as at McDonalds. Please, I've even found it in bagels! Give me the old cornstarch or tapioca thickeners. I am tired of reading every label at the grocery. |
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anon42218
Post 24 |
You cannot use guar gum as sticking agent on bread, as it a stabilizer and thickening agent. |
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anon41410
Post 23 |
i was wanting to know if i glutinous rice flour would do the same job as guar gum. |
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anon41273
Post 22 |
Where can I buy some guar gum? |
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anon40822
Post 21 |
I wish to use guar gum solution as a sticking agent to stick the sesame seeds over the bun surface. I tried this practice through spray system but gum solution is not passing from spray nozzle to convert into tiny droplets.
Kindly help me to solve the problem. Thanks & regards. --Junaid Ahmed Khan, Bakery Department, Cupola, Pakistan. |
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anon36288
Post 20 |
my question has not been answered yet, #17, how much guar gum should be used in an 8 oz jar of oil and nut based mayonnaise?
Thank you, Tina |
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anon36163
Post 19 |
The University of Guelph did a study feeding pigs 10% of their total diet as guar gum and found a 37% reduction in plasma LDL cholesterol over only 5 weeks. The Journal of Nutrition 137:568-572, 2007 |
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anon31207
Post 18 |
Can people who are fructose intolerant use this without any worries? |
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kanitbeu
Post 17 |
How much guar gum would one use to bind an 8 oz jar of oil and nut based mayonnaise? |
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anon26953
Post 16 |
Guar gum is used as a clumping agent in cat litter... see Feline Pine Flakes... yum! |
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caswell
Post 15 |
I am on a gluten free diet. Is "guar gum" OK? |
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anon21610
Post 14 |
I bought evercleanse. It is just Guar Gum. I bought $110.00 worth of Benefiber. Stupid me |
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KeeliLuv
Post 11 |
I was just diagnosed as allergic to soybeans, peas, and peanuts (all legumes), and during my research online (at about.com, to be precise) it says to avoid guar gum... is it because its in the same family? |
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kcf549
Post 10 |
response to anon1146: Yes--guar gum is used to make the Foods By George English Muffins that I absolutely LOVE. They are gluten-free. |
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anon16456
Post 9 |
For those who want to cook gluten-free, I suggest trying ground chia seeds (has properties a bit like flax seeds, but better, in my opinion) or arrowroot powder. These will give consistence and btw chia is ultra-nutritious and isn't processed at all! |
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Bugsy63
Post 8 |
I'm counting calories and want to lower the calories in pudding by using Guar Gum. I made a batch using 1 teaspoon guar gum to 2.5 cups milk. The pudding tasted great but was gluey and wouldn't set. Any suggestions or recipes for it? Do I need to mix it with corn starch?
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anon10384
Post 7 |
Emulsifiers like guar gum have made possible the shipment and storage of commercial ice cream. The term "creaminess" has nothing to do with cream but rather is a marketing term to convince consumers that we want the consistency of this product which is most efficiently mass-produced for shipment. The delectable icy crunch of hand-cranked and some commercially produced ice creams could be more desirable if economics warranted their marketing as such. "Creaminess" is a by-product of manufacturing a stable shippable product. Most consumers want it because marketing has done its job well. |
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anon8217
Post 6 |
I'm allergic to xanthan gum. I suspect because of its relation to mold. Is guar gum a reasonable substitute in gluten-free baking? |
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anon6538
Post 5 |
I'm sold on gum guar for making ice creams and thickening Indian chai (like Starbucks uses it to thicken their frappuccinos), but do you have a rule of thumb for how much to use? I've discovered that a very little goes a long long way. |
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balakrishnan
Post 3 |
Guar Gum contains some protein residue (4 to 6 %), is there any method available to eliminate all residue? |
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anon1146
Post 2 |
Is Guar Gum used as a substitute for Gluten in bread products for people who are Coeliac and require gluten free food? |
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anon133
Post 1 |
"The dietary supplement Benefiber is almost 100 percent guar gum." is no longer true. Benefiber recently changed it formula to "wheat dextrin". |
