Cassava Flour
Level 4 — Significant concerns
Cassava Flour is a other additive listed in the FDA food-additive database.
Also: tapioca flour, tapioca starch, manioc flour
Where you'll see it
gluten-free baked goods, tapioca pudding, boba pearls, paleo flours, fufu
What the research says
Cassava is the canonical kwashiorkor food: high-carbohydrate, low-fiber, low-protein refined starch that drives glycation, oxidative stress, mitochondrial dysfunction, and insulin resistance — producing fatty liver in protein-deficient children. Lustig uses it as the exemplar of 'developing world metabolic syndrome' translating to 'developed world kwashiorkor.'
[metabolical] Cassava is the canonical kwashiorkor food: high-carbohydrate, low-fiber, low-protein refined starch that drives glycation, oxidative stress, mitochondrial dysfunction, and insulin resistance — producing fatty liver in protein-deficient children. Lustig uses it as the exemplar of 'developing world metabolic syndrome' translating to 'developed world kwashiorkor.'
Regulatory status
- Notes: From enrichment source only, not in Winter Dictionary
Sources
- Metabolical (Lustig) — Chapter 11: Kwashiorkor… their livers are filled with fat… What caused the fatty liver? Cassava flour — a high-carbohydrate, low-fiber food