The health benefits of dietary fiber have long been appreciated. Higher intakes of dietary fiber are linked to less cardiovascular disease and fiber plays a role in gut health, with many effective laxatives actually isolated fiber sources. Higher intakes of fiber are linked to lower body weights. Only polysaccharides were included in dietary fiber originally, but more recent definitions have included oligosaccharides as dietary fiber, not based on their chemical measurement as dietary fiber by the accepted total dietary fiber (TDF) method, but on their physiological effects. Inulin, fructo-oligosaccharides, and other oligosaccharides are included as fiber in food labels in the US. Additionally, oligosaccharides are the best known “prebiotics”, “a selectively fermented ingredient that allows specific changes, both in the composition and/or activity in the gastrointestinal microflora that confers benefits upon host well-bring and health.” To date, all known and suspected prebiotics are carbohydrate compounds, primarily oligosaccharides, known to resist digestion in the human small intestine and reach the colon where they are fermented by the gut microflora. Studies have provided evidence that inulin and oligofructose (OF), lactulose, and resistant starch (RS) meet all aspects of the definition, including the stimulation of Bifidobacterium, a beneficial bacterial genus. Other isolated carbohydrates and carbohydrate-containing foods, including galactooligosaccharides (GOS), transgalactooligosaccharides (TOS), polydextrose, wheat dextrin, acacia gum, psyllium, banana, whole grain wheat, and whole grain corn also have prebiotic effects.

Fiber and prebiotics: mechanisms and health benefits.

Statistical methods in medical research , Statistical methods in medical research , کتابخانه دیجیتال جندی شاپور اهواز

Statistical methods in medical research

https://pure.bond.edu.au/ws/files/32288082/AM_Dietary_fiber_intervention_on_gut_microbiota_composition_in_healthy_adults.pdf

Dietary fiber intervention on gut microbiota composition in healthy adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

The bifidogenic effect of inulin and oligofructose is now well established in various studies, not only in adult participants but also in other age groups. This bifidogenic shift in the composition of the colonic microbiota is likely the basis for the impact of these prebiotic compounds on various parameters of colonic function. Mainly from animal and in vitro studies and also from some human trials, there are indications, for instance, that inulin-type fructans may reduce the production of potentially toxic metabolites and may induce important immune-mediated effects. This review discusses how these changes in the composition and activity of the colonic microbiota may affect gut health in healthy people, including in those who may experience some form of gastrointestinal discomfort.

The bifidogenic effect of inulin and oligofructose and its consequences for gut health.

This article is part 1 of a two-part review of inulin-type prebiotics. Prebiotics are a category of nutritional compounds grouped together by the ability to promote the growth of specific beneficial (probiotic) gut bacteria. Inulin-type prebiotics contain fructans of the inulin-type. Fructans are a category of nutritional compounds that encompasses naturally occurring plant oligoand polysaccharides in which one or more fructosyl-fructose linkages comprise the majority of glycosidic bonds. To be “inulin-type” a fructan must have beta (2−1) fructosyl-fructose glycosidic bonds, which gives inulin its unique structural and physiological properties, allowing it to resist enzymatic hydrolysis by human salivary and small intestinal digestive enzymes. Inulin-type prebiotics include fructooligosaccharides (FOS), oligofructose, and inulin – terms that have been used inconsistently in both the scientific literature and in food applications. Commercially available inulin-type prebiotics can be extracted from food (typically chicory root) or synthesized from a more fundamental molecule (typically sucrose). Depending on the starting source and degree of processing, inulin-type prebiotics can be produced with very different chemical compositions. Some inulin-type prebiotics are relatively high in free sugars (the monosaccharides fructose and glucose and the disaccharide sucrose), while others have most or all free sugars removed. Processing can also result in mixes consisting exclusively of inulin-type oligosaccharides, polysaccharides, or both. Because inulin, oligofructose, and FOS resist enzymatic digestion in the upper gastrointestinal tract, they reach the colon virtually intact where they undergo bacterial fermentation. All inulin-type prebiotics are bifidogenic – stimulating the growth of Bifidobacteria species. The effects they have on other gut organisms are less consistent. A minimal dose of inulintype prebiotic appears to be needed to produce a bifidogenic effect. However, intraindividual response to an identical dose of the same inulin-type prebiotic, in terms of stimulation of total number of Bifidobacteria and individual Bifidobacteria species, can be variable. Research on therapeutic uses of inulin-type prebiotics will be covered in part 2 of this review. (Altern Med Rev 2008;13(4):315-329)

/pdf/inulin-type-prebiotics-a-review-part-1-3nwypmgopj.pdf

Inulin-type prebiotics--a review: part 1.

The present study was undertaken to determine the prebiotic efficacy of gum arabic upon consumption by man for up to 4 weeks and, if any, to establish the dose-effect relationship. Human healthy volunteers consumed various daily doses (5, 10, 20, 40 g) of gum arabic (EmulGold) in water for up to 4 weeks. Daily consumption of water was taken as the negative control and that of 10 g inulin as the positive control. At 0, 1, 2 and 4 weeks quantification of bacterial numbers in stool samples was performed via real time-PCR techniques and questionnaires were filled in to account for potential drawbacks. The genera of Bifidobacteria and Lactobacilli were taken as potentially beneficial bacteria and those of Bacteroides, Clostridium difficile and Enterococci as potentially non-beneficial, this distinction was dependent on the issue of these numbers being or becoming out of balance in the host. Compared with the negative control the numbers of Bifidobacteria and Lactobacilli 4 weeks after consumption were significantly higher for gum arabic: the optimal dose being around 10 g. Moreover, at this dose the numbers of Bifidobacteria, Lactobacilli and Bacteroides were significantly higher for gum arabic than for inulin. No significant drawback was encountered during the study. It is concluded that gum arabic establishes prebiotic efficacy, at least as good as inulin. The optimal daily dose was found to be 10 g.

/pdf/gum-arabic-establishes-prebiotic-functionality-in-healthy-1jo5k4fprt.pdf

Christer Viebke

Papers

Gum arabic establishes prebiotic functionality in healthy human volunteers in a dose-dependent manner.

Evaluation of satiety enhancement, including compensation, by blends of gum arabic. A methodological approach

Gum arabic establishes prebiotic functionality in healthy human volunteers in a dose-dependent manner - CORRIGENDUM