Enzymes
Enzymes break down food macromolecules – protein, carbohydrates, fats – into their smaller building blocks. Protease enzymes break down proteins, amylase enzymes work on carbohydrates and lipase enzymes digest fats. In the body, enzymes are manufactured by the pancreas.
"These enzymes increase the level of digestion in the stomach, increasing the amount of food broken down," instructs EnzymeUniversity.com, an educational website produced by enzyme supplier NEC. "Therefore, less undigested food is passed into the colon, and food nutrients are more available for absorption."
Enzymes can help with conditions associated with poor digestion, including lactose intolerance and celiac disease – the diagnosis for those medically seeking a gluten-free diet. In one study, cereal enzymes were able to diminish the toxic reactions of celiac disease in intestinal epithelial cells in vitro.21,22
In a double-blind, crossover study, researchers gave 18 subjects pancreatic enzymes after a typical high-calorie, high-fat meal. Subjects were studied for the next 17 hours. Those who took the oral enzymes had significantly reduced bloating, gas and fullness during the entire period, as well as during the dinner-to-bedtime period. Researchers speculated that the pancreatic supplements could also be beneficial in IBS.23
One human study with 1,242 patients with colorectal cancer found those taking enzyme supplements for nine months had an improvement in the signs and symptoms of the disease.24
References
1. Petrof EO. Probiotics and Gastrointestinal Disease: Clinical Evidence and Basic Science. Antiinflamm Antiallergy Agents Med Chem. 2009 Sep 1;8(3):260-9.
2. Grimoud J, et al. In vitro screening of probiotics and synbiotics according to anti-inflammatory and anti-proliferative effects. Int J Food Microbiol. 2010 Sep 17.
3. Lenoir-Wijnkoop I, et al. Probiotic and prebiotic influence beyond the intestinal tract. Nutr Rev 2007 Nov;65(11):469-89.
4. Wenus C, et al. Prevention of antibiotic-associated diarrhoea by a fermented probiotic milk drink. Eur J Clin Nutr. 2008 Feb;62(2):299-301.
5. Hojsak I, et al. Lactobacillus GG in the prevention of nosocomial gastrointestinal and respiratory tract infections. Pediatrics. 2010 May;125(5):e1171-7.
6. Leyer GJ, et al. Probiotic effects on cold and influenza-like symptom incidence and duration in children. Pediatrics. 2009 Aug;124(2):e172-9.
7. Montes, R. G, et al. Effect of milks inoculated with Lactobacillus acidophilus or a yogurt starter culture in lactose-maldigesting children. J Dairy Sci 1995;78:1657-64.
8. Hun L. Bacillus coagulans significantly improved abdominal pain and bloating in patients with IBS. Postgrad Med 2009;121(2):119-24.
9. Kalman DS, et al. A proepective, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled parallel-group dual site trial to evaluate the effects of a Bacillus coagulans-based product on functional intestinal gas symptoms. BMC Gastroenterology 2009;9:85.
10. Dolin BJ. Effects of a proprietary Bacillus coagulans preparation on symptoms of diarrhea-predominant irritable bowel syndrome. Methods Find Exp Clin Pharmacol 2009 Dec;31(10):655-9.
11. Doron SJ, et al. Probitoics for prevention of antibiotic-associated diarrhea. J Clin Gastroenterol 2008;42 (Suppl 2):S58-S63.
12. Alm, L., Ryd-Kjellen, E., Setterberg, G., Blomquist, L. Effect of a new fermented milk product "CULTURA" on constipation in geriatric patients. 1993. 1st Lactic Acid Bacteria Computer Conference Proceedings. Horizon Scientific Press, Norfolk, England.
13. Black, F.T. Placebo-contolled double-blind trial of 4 lactobacilli strains (HIP) used as prophylactic agent against traveller's diarrhea (2 trials). 1996. Report by G. Nirnberger, Bioconsult, GmbH, Austria.
14. http://www.uaslabs.com/sections/newsletters/DDS%20Probiotics%20show%20promise%20for%20IBS.pdf
15. Canani RB, et al. Probiotics for treatment of acute diarrhoea in children: randomised clinical trial of five different preparations. BMJ. 2007 Aug 18;335(7615):340.
16. Bosscher D, et al. Inulin and oligofructose as prebiotics in the prevention of intestinal infections and diseases. Nutr Res Rev 2006 Dec;19(2):216-26.
17, Hughes R, Rowland IR. Stimulation of apoptosis by two prebiotic chicory fructans in the rat colon. Carcinogenesis. 2001 Jan;22(1):43-7.
18. Jan Van Loo, et al. The SYNCAN project: goals, set-up, first results and settings of the human intervention study. Br J Nutr 2005; 93, Suppl. 1, S91–S98.
19. Bolognani F, et al. Effect of lactobacilli, bifidobacteria and inulin on the formation of aberrant crypt foci in rats. Eur J Nutr. 2001 Dec;40(6):293-300.
20. Giacosa A, Rondanelli M. The right fiber for the right disease: an update on the psyllium seed husk and the metabolic syndrome. J Clin Gastroenterol . 2010 Sep;44 Suppl 1:S58-60.
21. Roxas M. The role of enzyme supplementation in digestive disorders. Altern Med Rev 2008 Dec;13(4):307-14.
22. Stenman SM, et al. Degradation of coeliac disease-inducing rye secalin by germinating cereal enzymes: diminishing toxic effects in intestinal epithelial cells. Clin Exp Immunol. 2010 Aug;161(2):242-9. Epub 2010 Jun 15.
23. Suarez F, et al. Pancreatic supplements reduce symptomatic response of healthy subjects to a high fat meal. Dig Dis Sci. 1999 Jul;44(7):1317-21.
24. Popiela T, et al. Influence of a complementary treatment with oral enzymes on patients with colorectal cancers--an epidemiological retrolective cohort study. Cancer Chemother Pharmacol. 2001 Jul;47 Suppl:S55-63.
http://www.functionalingredientsmag.com/content/print.aspx?topic=research-reveals-digestive-health-secrets
www.DEPSYL.com
http://back2basicnutrition.com
http://bionutritionalresearch.olhblogspace.com/
Showing posts with label digestive health secrets. Show all posts
Showing posts with label digestive health secrets. Show all posts
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
Monday, December 13, 2010
Research reveals digestive health secrets #4
Fiber
Only three things are truly zero-calorie: air, water and insoluble fiber. Fiber is the most beneficial compound adults are looking for, according to research conducted by the International Food Information Council.
In 2005, fiber's fortunes were fired up when the Dietary Guidelines for Americans and MyPyramid.gov recommended that adults consume more fiber-rich foods, such as fruits, vegetables,and whole grains. The U.S. Institute of Medicine recommended 19 to 38g of fiber per day, depending on age and gender, with at least three daily servings of whole-grain foods. However, the average American consumes only about 14g of dietary fiber per day. The 2010 guidelines were not released by press time, but fiber is already a known commodity, and formulators are busy integrating both soluble and insoluble forms into a variety of food formats.
Health claims are allowed for oat (cholesterol reduction), barley (heart disease) and psyllium (heart disease). Dietary fiber is also known to reduce post-meal blood-sugar levels. Moreover, water-soluble fibers, such as psyllium, moderate post-meal glucose and insulin concentrations in noninsulin dependent diabetic patients, if taken with meals, and also can reduce body weight and hypertension.20
"There is no doubt that the amount of fiber in a diet controls the amount of bulk, controls transit time, and determines whether the individual will suffer from chronic constipation," explained Abram Hoffer, MD, Ph.D., and Andrew Saul, Ph.D., in Orthomolecular Medicine For Everyone (Basic Health Publications, 2008). "People on food that is high in fiber have a very low rate of bowel cancer. With a long transit time, it is more likely that carcinogenic chemicals will be formed."
http://www.functionalingredientsmag.com/content/print.aspx?topic=research-reveals-digestive-health-secrets
www.DEPSYL.com
http://back2basicnutrition.com
http://bionutritionalresearch.olhblogspace.com/
Only three things are truly zero-calorie: air, water and insoluble fiber. Fiber is the most beneficial compound adults are looking for, according to research conducted by the International Food Information Council.
In 2005, fiber's fortunes were fired up when the Dietary Guidelines for Americans and MyPyramid.gov recommended that adults consume more fiber-rich foods, such as fruits, vegetables,and whole grains. The U.S. Institute of Medicine recommended 19 to 38g of fiber per day, depending on age and gender, with at least three daily servings of whole-grain foods. However, the average American consumes only about 14g of dietary fiber per day. The 2010 guidelines were not released by press time, but fiber is already a known commodity, and formulators are busy integrating both soluble and insoluble forms into a variety of food formats.
Health claims are allowed for oat (cholesterol reduction), barley (heart disease) and psyllium (heart disease). Dietary fiber is also known to reduce post-meal blood-sugar levels. Moreover, water-soluble fibers, such as psyllium, moderate post-meal glucose and insulin concentrations in noninsulin dependent diabetic patients, if taken with meals, and also can reduce body weight and hypertension.20
"There is no doubt that the amount of fiber in a diet controls the amount of bulk, controls transit time, and determines whether the individual will suffer from chronic constipation," explained Abram Hoffer, MD, Ph.D., and Andrew Saul, Ph.D., in Orthomolecular Medicine For Everyone (Basic Health Publications, 2008). "People on food that is high in fiber have a very low rate of bowel cancer. With a long transit time, it is more likely that carcinogenic chemicals will be formed."
http://www.functionalingredientsmag.com/content/print.aspx?topic=research-reveals-digestive-health-secrets
www.DEPSYL.com
http://back2basicnutrition.com
http://bionutritionalresearch.olhblogspace.com/
Sunday, December 12, 2010
Research reveals digestive health secrets #3
Marketing challenges
So if you are precluded from saying anything, what can you say?
Culturelle, the consumer packaged good-product containing LGG, claims the product "restores the natural balance of good bacteria in your digestive tract." DanActive claims, "helps strengthen the body's natural defenses." BioGaia says, "reduces colic, improves digestive health and function and boosts immunity."
"In all of these you have no idea about the health end point as demonstrated in the published literature," says Mary Ellen Sanders, Ph.D., president of Dairy & Food Culture Technologies consultancy. "It's getting harder for companies to substantiate benefits of these products. And there's no mechanism for companies to communicate to doctors. FDA says you can do this on a drug but not a food."
Worse, there's a fear that, because probiotics are so effective, the FDA could categorize probiotics as biologics, which would put them in a whole new regulatory class that could quash the entire market.
The fact remains that the next five years should see an explosion of growth of research in the safety and efficacy of different cultures at different levels to different health conditions. Perhaps even enough to make it catch up to the market, which continues to grow rapidly.
Prebiotics
The synbiotic concept – that is, combining probiotic bacteria with prebiotic fibers that act as feedstock for probiotics – has a lot of merit. Europe has led the way in getting the synbiotic concept off the ground as the EU launched the Syncan study, which aimed at studying the effects of prebiotics such as chicory inulin and oligofructose with probiotics in cancer treatment.
Prebiotics modify not just the composition but also the metabolic activity of probiotic bacteria in the gut. Beneficial effects include improving bowel habits and mineral absorption, modulating lipid metabolism and the immune system by slowing down pathogen growth, and decreasing pathogen colonization in the gut and retarding the process of carcinogenesis.16
In the area of cancer, one rat study found oligofructose as well as the long-chain inulin (provided by Beneo) exerted protective effects at an early stage in the onset of cancer.17 Another rat study demonstrated the anticarcinogenic effect of prebiotics and synbiotics but not of probiotics.18
Other researchers studying rats found that, against the background of a diet with a level of fat typical of a Western diet, L. acidophilus and inulin exerted a protective effect against colon cancer.19
A prebiotic like inulin is a true multi-tasker. Beyond operating as a food source for probiotics, food companies are seeing multiple benefits of using prebiotics. For one, they are a low-calorie sweetener source, which makes them useful for reduced-sugar products. Also, inulin can stabilize water into a viscous structure with the same mouthfeel as fat – so not only can it help with high sugar content of products, but also high fat content. Triple bonus: all the while maintaining a smooth, creamy texture. Formulators should note that while inulin is good, you have to get the dose down correctly, as too much can have bad effects on texture.
Finally, inulin is also increasingly being used to boost calcium absorption, especially in dairy foods because dairy has a natural affinity in consumers' minds with calcium content. "Inulin has been shown to improve calcium absorption in some studies, though not in others," said calcium researcher Robert Heaney, Ph.D., from Creighton University in Nebraska.
http://www.functionalingredientsmag.com/content/print.aspx?topic=research-reveals-digestive-health-secrets
www.DEPSYL.com
http://back2basicnutrition.com
http://bionutritionalresearch.olhblogspace.com/
So if you are precluded from saying anything, what can you say?
Culturelle, the consumer packaged good-product containing LGG, claims the product "restores the natural balance of good bacteria in your digestive tract." DanActive claims, "helps strengthen the body's natural defenses." BioGaia says, "reduces colic, improves digestive health and function and boosts immunity."
"In all of these you have no idea about the health end point as demonstrated in the published literature," says Mary Ellen Sanders, Ph.D., president of Dairy & Food Culture Technologies consultancy. "It's getting harder for companies to substantiate benefits of these products. And there's no mechanism for companies to communicate to doctors. FDA says you can do this on a drug but not a food."
Worse, there's a fear that, because probiotics are so effective, the FDA could categorize probiotics as biologics, which would put them in a whole new regulatory class that could quash the entire market.
The fact remains that the next five years should see an explosion of growth of research in the safety and efficacy of different cultures at different levels to different health conditions. Perhaps even enough to make it catch up to the market, which continues to grow rapidly.
Prebiotics
The synbiotic concept – that is, combining probiotic bacteria with prebiotic fibers that act as feedstock for probiotics – has a lot of merit. Europe has led the way in getting the synbiotic concept off the ground as the EU launched the Syncan study, which aimed at studying the effects of prebiotics such as chicory inulin and oligofructose with probiotics in cancer treatment.
Prebiotics modify not just the composition but also the metabolic activity of probiotic bacteria in the gut. Beneficial effects include improving bowel habits and mineral absorption, modulating lipid metabolism and the immune system by slowing down pathogen growth, and decreasing pathogen colonization in the gut and retarding the process of carcinogenesis.16
In the area of cancer, one rat study found oligofructose as well as the long-chain inulin (provided by Beneo) exerted protective effects at an early stage in the onset of cancer.17 Another rat study demonstrated the anticarcinogenic effect of prebiotics and synbiotics but not of probiotics.18
Other researchers studying rats found that, against the background of a diet with a level of fat typical of a Western diet, L. acidophilus and inulin exerted a protective effect against colon cancer.19
A prebiotic like inulin is a true multi-tasker. Beyond operating as a food source for probiotics, food companies are seeing multiple benefits of using prebiotics. For one, they are a low-calorie sweetener source, which makes them useful for reduced-sugar products. Also, inulin can stabilize water into a viscous structure with the same mouthfeel as fat – so not only can it help with high sugar content of products, but also high fat content. Triple bonus: all the while maintaining a smooth, creamy texture. Formulators should note that while inulin is good, you have to get the dose down correctly, as too much can have bad effects on texture.
Finally, inulin is also increasingly being used to boost calcium absorption, especially in dairy foods because dairy has a natural affinity in consumers' minds with calcium content. "Inulin has been shown to improve calcium absorption in some studies, though not in others," said calcium researcher Robert Heaney, Ph.D., from Creighton University in Nebraska.
http://www.functionalingredientsmag.com/content/print.aspx?topic=research-reveals-digestive-health-secrets
www.DEPSYL.com
http://back2basicnutrition.com
http://bionutritionalresearch.olhblogspace.com/
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