Mark Thorson > wrote in :

g.
>
> Anyone familiar with the Korean oligosaccharide?
>


Interesting read........

http://lowcarbdiets.about.com/od/nut...saccharide.htm

(Excerpt)

Sandwiched in between the simple sugars (monosaccharides) and the starches
(polysaccharides) are a group of carbohydrates that we never heard much
about until recently, and most people still probably have no idea what
they are. But if you read labels you might see ingredients like inulin and
oligofructose on food packages – and probably will more and more. You
also may have seen the word “prebiotic” creeping into the nutritional
vocabulary.
What is an Oligosaccharide?
As we discussed in Part One, oligosaccharides are carbohydrates which have
3-10 simple sugars linked together. They are found naturally, at least in
small amounts, in many plants. Plants with large amounts of
oligosaccharides include chicory root, from which most commercial inulin
is extracted, and so-called Jerusalem artichokes (the root of a member of
the sunflower family). They are also found in onions (and the rest of the
"onion family", including leeks and garlic), legumes, wheat, asparagus,
jicama, and other plant foods. It is estimated that North Americans get
about 1-3 grams naturally in their diets each day, while Europeans get 3-
10 grams.

Most oligosaccarides have a mildly sweet taste, and have certain other
characteristics, such as the mouthfeel they lend to food, that has drawn
the interest of the food industry as a partial substitute for fats and
sugars in some foods as well as improved texture. Because of this, more
and more of the oligosaccharides in food are synthetically produced.

Recent interest has also been drawn to oligosaccarides from the
nutritional community because of an important characteristic: the human
digestive system has a hard time breaking down many of these
carbohydrates. Almost 90% escapes digestion in the small intestine and
reaches the colon where it performs a different function: that of a
prebiotic.

What is a Prebiotic?
Prebiotic is a kind of an odd term, fairly recently coined to refer to
food components that support the growth of certain kinds of bacteria in
the colon (large intestine). At first it was thought that oligosaccharides
were the main prebiotics, but it turns out that resistant starch and
fermentable fiber also feeds these bacteria. We’re learning now that a
whole other digestive system is happening in the colon, with important
influences on the rest of the body.

What Are The Health Benefits of Prebiotics?

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--
Peter Lucas
Hobart
Tasmania

The act of feeding someone is an act of beauty,
whether it's a full Sunday roast or a jam sandwich,
but only when done with love.