Effect of consumption of a ready-to-eat breakfast cereal containing inulin on the intestinal milieu and blood lipids in healthy male volunteers

Abstract

Objective: To investigate the effect of a breakfast cereal containing inulin on blood lipids and colonic ecosystem in normolipidemic young men. Setting: Department of Food Science and Microbiology,University of Milan, Italy. Subjects: Twelve healthy male volunteers, age 23.3 AE 0.5 y, body mass index (BMI) 25.7 AE 1.2 kgam 2 (mean AE s.e.m.).Interventions: Subjects consumed daily, for three periods of four weeks, 50 g of a rice-based ready-to-eat cereal (placebo) and the same cereal containing 18% inulin (test) in substitution of their habitual breakfast, then returned to the habitual diet (wash-out). They followed no other dietary restrictions.Results: No changes in body weight, dietary habits, faecal and bile acid output, faecal short-chain fatty acid (SCFA) and faecal pH, were observed at the end of each period, whereas plasma total cholesterol and triacylglycerols signi®cantly decreased at the end of test period by 7.9 AE 5.4 (P`0.05) and 21.

Effects of oligofructose on glucose and lipid metabolism in patients with nonalcoholic steatohepatitis: results of a pilot study

“…Some data obtained in normo-or moderate hyperlipidaemic patients suggest that the daily consumption of about 10 g inulin for several weeks decreases triglyceridaemia and/or cholesterolaemia (Brighenti et al, 1999;Jackson et al, 1999). In our study, a decrease in triglyceridaemia due to OFS was observed in three patients out of seven (non significant).…”

The effects of prebiotic, probiotic and synbiotic diets containing Bacillus coagulans and inulin on serum lipid profile in the rat

“…13 Similarly, in another study involving eight healthy volunteers with a daily consumption of 10 g of inulin for 3 weeks, significant decrease in plasma triacylglycerides concentrations compared to the placebo was observed. 14 In another study by Brighenti et al,15 significant (P<0.05) reduction in plasma total cholesterol and triacylglycerols of twelve healthy rats was seen following 12-week consumption of 50 g of a rice-based ready-to-eat cereal containing 18% inulin. 15 According to the results of this study, B. coagulans did not contribute to any lipid profile changes after 30 days.…”

“…14 In another study by Brighenti et al,15 significant (P<0.05) reduction in plasma total cholesterol and triacylglycerols of twelve healthy rats was seen following 12-week consumption of 50 g of a rice-based ready-to-eat cereal containing 18% inulin. 15 According to the results of this study, B. coagulans did not contribute to any lipid profile changes after 30 days. Although many studies have demonstrated cholesterol-lowering effects of probiotics in both animals and humans, debatable results have also been reported concerning inability of a particular strain of probiotic bacteria to improve lipid profile.…”

Glycaemic index methodology

“…Regarding the latter, most of the studies in this area compare the effects of exchanging sucrose or dextrins with fructo-oligosaccharides or inulin (Williams & Jackson, 2002). Effects that are seen in these cases may, along with a reduction of the amount of glycaemic CHO ingested, be due to the production of short-chain fatty acids during colonic fermentation (Brighenti et al 1999).…”