LECITHIN
What is it?
“Lecithin (from the Greek lekithos, “egg yolk”) is a generic term to designate any group of yellow-brownish fatty substances occurring in animal and plant tissues, which are amphiphilic – they attract both water and fatty substances (and so are both hydrophilic and lipophilic), and are used for smoothing food textures, dissolving powders (emulsifying), homogenizing liquid mixtures, and repelling sticking materials.” – Wikipedia
What are the effects?
This substance belongs to the groups:
How is it used?
This substance can be derived plants or from animals (egg yolk) but it can also be synthetically manufactured. Most commonly you will find it as a food additive or in food preparations, it can for example be found in non stick cooking spray. But it is also used in pharmaceuticals and in all kinds of cosmetics*, including eye creams, lipsticks, liquid powders, hand creams, lotions, soaps and shampoos.
It is also common to find hydrogenated lecithin in products, where hydrogen is added to the substance to make it more stable against heat.
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