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Dr. Berg’s Healthy Keto and Intermittent Fasting Podcast

Hidden Ingredient in 60% of Junk Foods (Acts Like a Detergent)

Dr. Berg’s Healthy Keto and Intermittent Fasting Podcast

Dr. Eric Berg

Health & Fitness

4.71.7K Ratings

🗓️ 6 March 2026

⏱️ 8 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

This hidden ingredient in junk food is quietly destroying your health. Uncover the harmful food additives and food industry secrets that leave you sick, yet still hungry for more. Learn how these hidden junk food ingredients sabotage your gut health and how you can avoid them starting today.



Download Dr. Berg’s Free Daily Health Routine: https://drbrg.co/45qtO07



This dangerous ingredient in junk food acts as a detergent in your gut. This toxic food additive destroys the protective layer that lines your digestive tract, similar to the way dish soap removes grease from a pan. Once this protective layer is gone, you can develop a leaky gut, allowing toxic food additives, bacteria, and partially digested food into your bloodstream.


Harmful food additives are often hiding in ice cream, chocolate, salad dressing, plant-based milk, bread, peanut butter, coffee creamer, mayo, baby formula, and the list goes on! This toxic ingredient is found in 60% of all packaged foods, and goes by names like polysorbate 80, carboxymethylcellulose, and carrageenan. These hidden ingredients in junk food are called emulsifiers.


Emulsifiers force oil and water to mix so that the processed food appears smoother or creamy in texture and has a longer shelf life.


There is a thick layer of mucus that coats the inside of the intestines, which acts as a built-in protective mechanism for your gut. Emulsifiers dissolve this protective layer over time, allowing bacteria to enter your bloodstream. Your immune system tags them as pathogens, causing an immune reaction and chronic gut inflammation.


Gut health directly affects your cognitive function. If you have gut inflammation, you might experience brain fog, sluggishness, and the inability to think clearly after eating.


In animal studies, polysorbate 80 caused metabolic syndrome, weight gain, blood sugar problems, and altered gut bacteria. Although no long-term human studies have been published, a human trial published in 2024 found that participants had altered gut microbiomes after just 2 weeks of eating emulsifiers.


In the US, food additives can be self-classified as generally recognized as safe (GRAS). Junk food companies do not have to submit long-term human trials to the FDA.


The easy solution to this problem is to avoid ultra-processed foods. Instead of focusing on willpower and discipline, avoid buying junk foods altogether.


Dr. Eric Berg DC Bio:

Dr. Berg, age 60, is a chiropractor who specializes in Healthy Ketosis & Intermittent Fasting. He is the Director of Dr. Berg Nutritionals and author of the best-selling book The Healthy Keto Plan. He no longer practices, but focuses on health education through social media.



Disclaimer:

Dr. Eric Berg received his Doctor of Chiropractic degree from Palmer College of Chiropractic in 1988. His use of “doctor” or “Dr.” in relation to himself solely refers to that degree. Dr. Berg is a licensed chiropractor in Virginia, California, and Louisiana, but he no longer practices chiropractic in any state and does not see patients, so he can focus on educating people as a full-time activity, yet he maintains an active license. This video is for general informational purposes only. It should not be used to self-diagnose, and it is not a substitute for a medical exam, cure, treatment, diagnosis, prescription, or recommendation. It does not create a doctor-patient relationship between Dr. Berg and you. You should not make any change in your health regimen or diet before first consulting a physician and obtaining a medical exam, diagnosis, and recommendation. Always seek the advice of a physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

the hidden ingredient in junk food that acts like a detergent. I want you to think about what

0:05.3

dish soap actually does. You squirt some on a greasy pan and it dissolves the grease by stripping

0:10.7

off the protective layer off the surface of the pan. Now imagine the same process happening inside

0:15.7

your gut and I'm talking about this very delicate thin layer of mucus on the inside of your

0:20.7

gut that

0:21.3

is there to protect you.

0:22.8

There's a chemical that is so commonly added to our foods that we just consider it normal.

0:29.5

And that chemical does the exact same thing to the protective lining of your intestines.

0:34.3

That dish soap does to the grease on a pan. And once the lining is gone, things

0:40.3

that were never supposed to reach your bloodstream start reaching your bloodstream. They start getting

0:45.8

through a leaky gut. I'm talking about bacteria, toxins, partially digested proteins from your

0:52.9

food. And most people have never actually heard about it unless

0:55.8

they read ingredients. And the bad news is chances are you've been eating it unknowingly on a daily

1:01.7

basis. Let me show you where this ingredient is actually hiding. It's an ice cream. It's in chocolate

1:06.9

bars. It's in salad dressing. It's in plant-based milk. It's in bread, protein bars,

1:13.5

peanut butter, coffee creamer, mayonnaise, and baby formula. It's estimated that this ingredient is

1:19.6

roughly in 60% of all packaged foods on the grocery store shelves. And the wild part is when I

1:26.7

tell you what this is, you've probably heard

1:29.3

about it before, but had no idea what it really is. It goes by names like polysorbate 80, mono

1:38.0

and dye glycerides, carboxy methylcellulose, and something called carigenin.

1:45.0

And I know this sounds like chemistry.

1:47.0

Well, it is chemistry. It's chemicals.

...

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