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Frutafit® Inulin

A Natural Prebiotic for Health

Frutafit® is a natural, Kosher, functional food ingredient extracted from the root of a common vegetable, the chicory plant, Cichorium intybus L. Inulin, is a natural fructooligosaccharide (FOS), that aids and assists many of the human body's key metabolic functions. It is found in over 36,000 plant species worldwide and after starch, is the most plentiful carbohydrate occurring in nature. Inulin has extensive historical human use through the consumption of edible fruits, vegetables and grain such as bananas, tomatoes, onions, garlic, artichokes, asparagus. barley, wheat and rye.

Unlike probiotics which introduce living bacteria, prebiotic products, like Frutafit® Inulin, feed the beneficial microorganisms indigenous to our Gl tracts, a far more desirable process, than introducing new colonies of bacteria that may not be either compatible or beneficial.

NON-DIGESTIBLE. . .

Frutafit® - Inulin (Prebiotic) is neutral in odor and taste, and only has 1.6 kcal/g. It is a soluble dietary fiber, resisting digestion by mammalian alimentary secretions, alpha-amylase, and disaccharidases such as maltase, isomaltase, sucrase and lactase. However, when it reaches the lower intestine, it is selectively utilized by resident beneficial bacteria such as bifidobacteria and lactobacilli (probiotics) helping them to grow and develop rapidly.



POINTS ABOUT INTESTINAL BACTERIA -

To understand the health importance of a prebiotic like Frutafit® - Inulin, we must first understand the importance of intestinal bacteria on human health. The human colon is by far the most heavily colonized region of the digestive tract, with up to 1012 bacteria for every gram of intestinal content, composed of one hundred different species of both beneficial and potentially deleterious bacteria in a balance effecting how we digest food and obtain energy. The main types of generally recognized beneficial bacteria, the bifidobacteria and lactobacilli, constitute at best a little more than one-third of the bacterial population inhabiting the GI tract. However, at worst they may be so low in number that they are not detectable. Of these types, the number of bifidobacterium are regarded as a marker of the stability of the human intestinal microflora. These beneficial microflora play critical roles in all aspects of our immunological responses, by either helping to resist infection, or by creating pathogenic conditions by their low number. These beneficial bacteria act as wards regulating the activity of the other bacteria in the colon. The other bacteria, such as Salmonella, Shigella, Clostridium, Staphylococus aureus, Candida albicans, Campylobacter jejuni and E. coli, are typically much less numerous and have varying potentials to cause disease. Beneficial bacteria keep these potential disease-causing organisms under control, preventing several disease-related dysfunctions related to an unbalanced gastrointestinal situation.

The beneficial organisms exert their positive effects by enhancing digestion and improving lactose intolerance, promoting the recycling of compounds such as estrogen. synthesizing vitamins (largely of the B-group), releasing immune-stimulating compounds, inhibiting the metabolisms of disease-producing organisms to eliminate both human and bacterial toxins and carcinogens.

An unbalanced GI situation, typified by low numbers of beneficial bacteria and high numbers of pathogenic organisms, has been associated with, if not the primary cause of several human pathologies including: autoimmune dysfunctions such as ankylosing spondylitis and rheumatoid arthritis; Grave's disease; Lupus; dermatomyositis, psoriasis; pancreatitis; breast cancer; Candida albicans over growth; vaginitis. urinary tract infections; cirrhosis of the liver; acne; constipation: food poisoning; ear infections; antibiotic-associated diarrhea (AAD), inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) such as ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease; colorectal cancer; necrotizing entercolitis and ileocecitis; digestive problems; food allergy and intolerance; intestinal gas and bloating; irritable bowel syndrome (IBS); and PMS.

Maintaining populations of beneficial bacteria, consistent with good intestinal health, require many lifestyle factors be avoided such as prolonged use of antibiotics, which kill beneficial bacteria; antiseptic supplements, which can decrease levels of beneficial bacteria if for taken long periods of time; and diets high in animal products and low in vegetable fiber. Also, consumption of refined carbohydrates that feed harmful bacteria can disrupt the GI tract and can even lead to the overgrowth of Candida albicans yeast infections.

In order to realize benefits from beneficial bacteria ingested as probiotic supplements, in the food we consume, or those naturally growing in the GI tract it is important that they be selectively nourished by food that help them survive, multiply and remain viable - prebiotics serve this function. This is where Frutafit® - Inulin comes in. Frutafit® Inulin is an effective all-natural prebiotic ingredient that can be used alone or in combination with probiotics, producing a symbiotic, a synergistic mixture offering improved shelf life and a means to enhance the effectiveness of probiotic agents.

PROBIOTICS:
  • Living viable microbial dietary supplement
  • Relatively low shelf stability
  • Typically requires extra handling and refrigeration
  • Viability affected by environmental stresses: oxygen, shear, heat and pH (acids)
  • Very fragile
  • Effects are often transient and efficiency limited, survival, fixation & activity being strain-dependent
PREBIOTICS
  • Non-digestible functional food ingredient
  • Very shelf stable
  • Require no refrigeranon
  • Nourishes all beneficial bacteria naturally growing in the colon
  • Can be easily and effectively incorporated into processed foods
  • Can also be supplemented by sprinkling on/in food stirred into beverages, tableted, and many others
SYNBIOTICS
  • Mixture of living organisms and nondigestible food ingredient
  • Prolonged shelf stability as compared to probiotic without prebiotic
  • Increases likelihood probiotics reaching colon are metabolically active
  • Stimulate growth and implantation of both exogenous and endogenous bacteria

HOW THE PREIBIOTIC FRUTAFIT® WORKS...

Extensive research has shown that inulin molecules, like those in Frutafit® - Inulin, upon ingestion are not digested in the stomach or the small intestine and arrive unchanged in the colon. There, they serve as selective prebiotic food for the resident good bacteria such as the bifidobacteria and lactobacilli for their better survival, viability, growth and proliferation. When these good bacteria proliferate, they produce short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) and lactic acid that lower your intestinal pH, making your intestinal environment unsuitable for undesirable bacteria and certain enzymes that are a common source of several health problems. As your lower intestinal environment becomes unhabitable for the bad bacteria, they can no longer survive, creating a positive balance of good bacteria as compared to the bad bacteria, and as a consequence several health benefits are expenenced, such as those cited on the preceeding cover page.

EFFECTIVE...

Recent in vitro and in vivo research has shown that inulin selectively stimulates beneficial bacterial growth equal to or surpassing that of its short-chain synthetic counterparts, FOS/oligofructose in magnitude. Human experiments conducted by Gibson et al. (1995) at the Dunn Clinical Nutrition Center (UK) have shown that ingestion of moderate amounts of inulin results in a five-to-ten fold increase in beneficial bifidobacteria, rendering them the numerically predominant specie in feces and colon. Beneficial lactobacilli are also stimulated, but to a lesser extent. At the same time, the numbers of undesirable bacteria stagnate or decrease, the total bacterial count remaining essentially unchanged. This shows that each gram of inulin stimulates the metabolism and selectively increases the activity of healthy intestinal bactena, potentially leading to a healthier, more well-balanced colon.

The published data are purely informative. Under no circumstances can we be held responsible for the application of these products in violation with existing regulations and/or licences.