Nutritional Supplements

As a continuation on my series of blog posts on healthy digestion, I'd like to talk about Prebiotics and how they affect digestion.

Overview
If you’ve ever seen inulin, oligofructose or fructooligosaccharides on product packages, you are probably wondering what on earth these food ingredients are and why they are were added to your food or supplements. Inulin, oligofructose and fructooligosaccharides are all prebiotics – food ingredients that are not digested by the human body but boost the growth and/or activity of the friendly bacteria in our gut, especially bifidobacteria and lactobacilli. Most prebiotics are a type of soluble fiber.

Prebiotics are added to foods to enhance the nutrition profile of the food and improve certain characteristics of the food. Inulin can replace some of the sugar in food while adding sweetness, replace fat, improve mouth feel and texture of certain foods.

Inulin for Good Health
Inulin is a versatile non-digestible prebiotic fiber. In other words, it is an ingredient added to food or dietary supplements to boost your health. The form of inulin (inulin-type fructans) used in food and supplements is not digested or absorbed to any extent. Inulin-type fructans are metabolized by bacteria in the colon, increasing the growth of the healthy bacteria – bifidobacteria.

Unlike other types of carbohydrate, inulin does not raise triglycerides and has a minimal effect on blood sugar. And, a thorough look through the research by a team of scientists at the University of Parma in Italy found that inulin-type fructans can reduce serum triglycerides. Inulin can cause gas and bloating in people who are not accustomed to eating a high fiber diet or inulin. These effects should go away after becoming accustomed to inulin (most Americans eat far below the dietary recommendations for fiber – 14 grams for every 1,000 calories consumed).

Prebiotics and Nutrient Absorption
Some prebiotics may improve the absorption of some minerals by changing the environment in the colon and transferring water into the large bowel thereby increasing the volume of fluid minerals can dissolve in. In human studies, inulin and oligofructose have been found to increase the absorption of calcium.  Rat studies have found these prebiotic fibers increase the absorption of calcium, magnesium and zinc.

Why is this important? Results from the largest national nutrition examination survey (NHANES 2005-2006) show that as we age, we are less likely to take in enough calcium.  Just 58% of men aged 31-50 years of age are meeting their calcium needs. And, a mere 26% of men aged 51-70 and 14% of men over 71 years of age are taking in adequate amounts of calcium.  These numbers are even more dismal for women!  Thirty-three percent of women ages 31-50, 8% of women 51-70 and 7% of women over the age of 71 are taking in enough dietary calcium needed for bone health.

A liquid calcium supplement with 1000 mg of Calcium and 1000 IU of Vitamin D3 is a great way to get the calcium needed each day to help prevent and in managing osteoporosis.