by Lewis Chang, PhD Series Part 2: An Overview on Prebiotics This multi-part series will help you understand what prebiotics are, what they do, and how they may improve the health of your patients. Based on published scientific literature, this series will also clarify common misconceptions surrounding prebiotics and summarize clinical evidence of specific ingredients with prebiotic properties.  Series Part 2: (A) Regarding Fiber vs. Prebiotics  (B) Regarding IMOs What are fibers? Fibers, starches and sugars are actually all carbohydrates. What…

by Lewis Chang, PhD Series Part 1: An Overview on Prebiotics This multi-part series will help you understand what prebiotics are, what they do, and how they may improve the health of your patients. Based on published scientific literature, this series will also clarify common misconceptions surrounding prebiotics and summarize clinical evidence of specific ingredients with prebiotic properties.  Introduction: I think I know what prebiotics are, but... Many health-conscious consumers have become familiar with the term “prebiotics.”  Yet, conflicting information…

Human Milk Oligosaccharides – Part 2 Presented by Lars Bode, PhD Lars Bode, PhD presents and overview of Human Milk Oligo Saccharides, what they are, their metabolism and how HMOs serve as prebiotics. HMOs are the third most abundant component in human milk and their composition follows a basic blueprint. There are more than 150 different HMOs identified. This video presentation includes a very informative Q&A session following the overview.

Lars Bode, PhD: Potential Effects of HMOs on Adult Gut Microbiome Lars Bode, PhD discusses the health benefits of Human Milk Oligosaccharides (HMOs) and how research has shown ways HMOs can effect the adult microbiome. Positive effects are seen specifically in breastfed infants, where it has been identified to raise levels of two prime fucosyllactose (2′FL).

In this Clinical Minute, Nikky Contractor, PhD discusses oligosaccharides. 2’-fucosyllactose, also known as 2'-FL and pronounced “two F L,” is the most abundant human milk oligosaccharide (HMO) in human breast milk. Human milk contains many chemical structures that support the growth of beneficial bacteria in infants. The bacteria that are beneficial to infants are also beneficial in adults and support the growth of beneficial bacteria. 2'FL is also a “decoy receptor” that can bind with pathogenic bacteria and prevent binding…

Prebiotics and Quality Carbohydrates: Enhancing Digestive Health Prebiotics are non-digestible carbohydrates that selectively stimulate the growth and activity of beneficial gut bacteria. Some beneficial gut bacterial can metabolize prebiotics, which gives them a growth advantage. Some prebiotics have more specialized benefits and can play a protective role in gut function. This is especially true for selected oligosaccharides called two prime fucosyllactose, or 2’FL, that are naturally produced and are identical to oligosaccharides originally identified in breast milk, referred to as…

Regular exercise at any intensity level—even just one hour per week—can help reduce depression, a large population study found.1 A group of researchers from University of New South Wales (Australia), King’s College London (England), and Norwegian Institute of Public Health (Norway) examined data from the Nord-Trøndelag Health (HUNT) Study—a large-scale, long-term, population-based health surveys in Norway—to understand whether exercise provided protection against depression and anxiety and whether intensity and amount of exercise mattered. After evaluating longitudinal data from nearly 34,000…

Abnormally high blood sugar in individuals with type 2 Diabetes (T2D) is associated with impaired cognitive performance, a Dutch epidemiological study finds.1 Hyperglycemia is known to cause various long-term complications such as damage to retina, nerve and kidney, cardiovascular disease, and infections. Dutch researchers from the Department of Internal Medicine at Maastricht University Medical Centre and Department of Neurology at University Medical Centre Utrecht were interested in whether differences in glucose metabolism status were associated with cognitive performance, in patients of…

Small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO) is a disorder characterized by an excessive concentration of bacteria in the small intestine (exceeding 105 organisms/mL). Patients with SIBO commonly report abdominal pain, flatulence, bloating, and diarrhea, and may experience malabsorption and weight loss in more severe cases.1 The standard regimen to manage SIBO has been antibiotic therapy, but this may disrupt the normal balance of the gut microbiota and can increases the risk of developing antibiotic resistance. Further, the antibiotics used are often bacteriostatic, not…