Intestinal Health
MALTISORB® maltitol has a prebiotic effect that encourages the development of beneficial flora with a favorable effect on intestinal health.
- MALTISORB® maltitol is only partly digested in the small intestine; fermentation of the undigested fraction of polyols reaching the colon leads to volatile fatty acid (or short chain fatty acids = SCFA) production.
- These SCFAs are an energy substrate for colonocytes (butyrate...), and can contribute to improving colon health. Any excess of energy recovered by the liver (*) can provide part of the daily energy (up to 8 % of our energy needs in a fiber-rich diet for polyols in general) adding to that of the fraction digested in the small intestine.
(*) : almost 100% according to LIVESEY and ELIA, 1995; BRODY, 1999
- When polyols are easily fermented in the colon, they can promote growth of beneficial gut microflora (glucidolytic and acidogenic microorganisms) to the detriment of endotoxic and pathological organisms (OKU, 1991).
MALTISORB® can be fermented in the colon for 10 hours, according to breath hydrogen tests (OKU, 1991). It is fermented slowly after ingestion (between 3 and 10 hours) and produces SCFAs diffusely (BERNIER, 1988; OKU, 1991).
- Moreover, acidifying organisms lead to better mineral absorption, for example Mg, particularly with maltitol (MALTISORB®) and maltitol syrup (LYCASIN® HBC) (COUDRAY et al., 2003).
Animal experiments show that MALTISORB® maltitol contributes to improving calcium absorption. (FUKAHORI,1998).