Previous a day ago (4 comments) https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43245738
As pointed out by muddi900, there are all sorts of emulsifiers which are not that related chemically.
The gut biome as a note, ever changing depending on our diet. The idea is to eat food that is a benefit to the good bacteria. If the diet is limited then pro-biotics, water kifer or small amounts of lactulose can be beneficial if the gut is able to tolerate their use.
IMHO there are more common other types of additives which impact a greater proportion of the population. Additives the food industry have decided to use despite being quite aware these additives do cause issues with some people such as inulin [1] Personally if I were to bet, probably the widest reaching additive giving issue, is 160b or annatto [2] or any of its derivatives since generally the symptoms mirror that of IBS. Most people have never even heard of it when I'm chatting about it IRL - yet some of the more particular symptoms more often they know someone where sensitivity to the additive fits. Self testing is fairly easy if IBS flares up after eating foods chocked full of 160b (it's a natural colouring agent ... or sometimes alleged to have a subtle flavour) -- and it behaves while rigorously avoiding it, then it's a fair bet it's smart to keep on avoiding it.
From a child I had suffered greatly at the hands of 160b, but I do react to other food types but it was the number one for inflicting near 50 years of hellish misery on me. There were times during my life I seemed to have a near full blown gluten intolerance issue, other times I didn't but more often put it down to not having had any amount for a long period of time. I found out by accidentally that my gluten sensitivity came courtesy of 160b, since some food companies like to hide 160b here by using instead a description on the label as natural colour. Any food item that seems to have a needless natural colour listed on it's ingredient label I now mostly avoid - eg orange juice doesn't need any additional colouring and labels (in Australia) do not describe ingredients twice ...
Sometimes perhaps one could forgive the food companies for using an additive thinking it's all equal - for example not all inulins are the same, there's obviously high quality well tolerated inulin and there's the cheap and nasty which I found out the hard way. It wasn't immediate, only a few days and then for a time I could not eat sweet potatoes any more without awkward bathroom visits afterwards.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inulin
[2] https://www.fedup.com.au/factsheets/factsheets-by-additive/1...
This sentence will tell you everything about what is being written: "People who have higher intakes of several common emulsifiers are more likely to develop Type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease and cancer, according to three recent studies by Touvier and colleagues"
Emulsifiers are present in processed foods, and processed foods are known to cause all these conditions. Not only that, "emulsifier" is a mechanical category; they are grouped because of the function they provide. Xanthan Gum, Corn Starch, and Eggs can be used as emulsifiers. But they have very little to do with each other chemically. Besides the proteins(?) that allow for binding different substances.