Fructans and Inulin
Aug 11, 2013 14:49:26 GMT
Post by Charlie Arnold on Aug 11, 2013 14:49:26 GMT
Fructans.
I had never heard of these until I entered the world of Fructose Malabsorption so it has taken me a while to understand what they are and where they are found. I don’t think everyone who has FM needs to worry about fructans but if by eliminating general high fructose from the diet you still are experiencing symptoms then you need to look into fructans as well. Those with severe symptoms would do well to eliminate them from the beginning and then try reintroducing them later when their system is feeling better to see if they can cope with them at all.
What are they? Basically they are a large group of carbohydrates and can be found in plants, algae and bacteria. They have a general structure of multiple fructose units, with or without a single glucose molecule at the beginning. In plants up to 1000 fructose units can be linked in a single fructan-molecule. Bacterial fructans can consist of up to 100,000 fructose units. Fructans with a short chain length are known as fructooligosaccharides, whereas longer chain fructans are termed inulins.
Nearly all fructans found in plants are of the inulin type.
Fructans are naturally produced by approximately 15% of the flowering plant species. Important crops like wheat, barley, onion and chicory contain fructans.
A large part of the fructan producing species is present in regions with seasonal drought or cold. It is suggested that the function of fructans in plants could be the protection against drought and cold. Also the storage of energy similar to starch may play a role in some species.
Plants that contain a high concentration of inulins include:
Agave
Burdock
Chicory
Dandelion
Elecampane
Garlic
Jerusalem Artichoke
Jicama
Onion
Wild Yam
Yacon
Here is a table of fructan content:
High Fructan Content: Fruits - Custard Apples, Persimmon, Rambutan, Watermelon
Lower fructan content: All fruits except those in High Fructan list
High Fructan Content: Vegetables - Artichokes, asparagus, beetroot, brussels sprouts, cabbage, chicory, dandelion leaves, fennel, garlic, leeks, okra, onions (brown, red, white, onion powder), peas, radicchio, spring onions (white part).
Lower fructan content: Alfalfa,avocado,bamboo shoots, bean shoots, bok choy, broccoli, capsicum, carrots, cauliflower, celery, chives, choy sum, cucumber, eggplant, endives, ginger, green beans, lettuce, marrow, mushrooms, olives, parsnips, potatoes, pumpkin, silver beet, snow peas, spinach, spring onions(green part only), squash, swedes, sweet potatoes, taro, tomatoes, turnips, yam, zucchini.
High Fructan content: Grains, Cereals, etc Wheat based products: bread, pasta, couscous, cracker and biscuits. Rye based Products: Bread, dry biscuits.
Lower fructan content: Amaranth, arrowroot, barley, buckwheat, corn (maize), millet, oats, potato, quinoa, rice, sorghum, tapioca.
High fructan content: Legumes - Chickpeas, lentils, all legume beans.
fructosefriendlyfoodie.com/food-guides/fructan-content
Fructans are commercially mainly obtained from chicory roots or the Jerusalem artichoke and of the inulin type. Degredation products of inulin are fructo-oligosaccharides.
Inulin is used increasingly in foods because it has unusual nutritional characteristics. It ranges from completely tasteless to subtly sweet and can be used to replace sugar, fat and flour. Inulin can stabilise water into a creamy structure with the same mouthfeel as fat, which can be used as a low-calorie spread on bread.
Inulin is also used as a soluble colourless dietary fibre and used as such in many food products. A recent example is fibre-rich white bread, a type of inulin enriched bread, targeted for children that do not like ‘brown’ bread.
Fructans can also be used as low calorie sweeteners. Many short-chain fructans have a sweet taste, but can not be digested in the human intestine and thus provides much less energy as normal fructose.
Inulins and fructo-oligosaccharides can not be used unlimited in foods, as they are rapidly fermented by intestinal bacteria. This results in the production of gasses and thus bloating, flatulence or diarrhea. The seriousness of these side effects depends on the type of fructan, the composition of the intestinal flora and the efficiency of the individual to absorb the gases.
Humans (and most other mammals) do not have the enzymes necessary to cut up a fructan like inulin. We do have enzymes for sugar, fructose, glucose and starch, so when we eat those sugars, they get dealt with immediately in our small intestine. But when we eat inulin it sails straight through our small intestine and becomes food for the bacteria that inhabit our large intestine. They then convert it into fatty acids (which we then absorb into our blood stream) and gases.
Information used from Wikipedia and www.food-info.net/uk/carbs/fructans.htm
I had never heard of these until I entered the world of Fructose Malabsorption so it has taken me a while to understand what they are and where they are found. I don’t think everyone who has FM needs to worry about fructans but if by eliminating general high fructose from the diet you still are experiencing symptoms then you need to look into fructans as well. Those with severe symptoms would do well to eliminate them from the beginning and then try reintroducing them later when their system is feeling better to see if they can cope with them at all.
What are they? Basically they are a large group of carbohydrates and can be found in plants, algae and bacteria. They have a general structure of multiple fructose units, with or without a single glucose molecule at the beginning. In plants up to 1000 fructose units can be linked in a single fructan-molecule. Bacterial fructans can consist of up to 100,000 fructose units. Fructans with a short chain length are known as fructooligosaccharides, whereas longer chain fructans are termed inulins.
Nearly all fructans found in plants are of the inulin type.
Fructans are naturally produced by approximately 15% of the flowering plant species. Important crops like wheat, barley, onion and chicory contain fructans.
A large part of the fructan producing species is present in regions with seasonal drought or cold. It is suggested that the function of fructans in plants could be the protection against drought and cold. Also the storage of energy similar to starch may play a role in some species.
Plants that contain a high concentration of inulins include:
Agave
Burdock
Chicory
Dandelion
Elecampane
Garlic
Jerusalem Artichoke
Jicama
Onion
Wild Yam
Yacon
Here is a table of fructan content:
High Fructan Content: Fruits - Custard Apples, Persimmon, Rambutan, Watermelon
Lower fructan content: All fruits except those in High Fructan list
High Fructan Content: Vegetables - Artichokes, asparagus, beetroot, brussels sprouts, cabbage, chicory, dandelion leaves, fennel, garlic, leeks, okra, onions (brown, red, white, onion powder), peas, radicchio, spring onions (white part).
Lower fructan content: Alfalfa,avocado,bamboo shoots, bean shoots, bok choy, broccoli, capsicum, carrots, cauliflower, celery, chives, choy sum, cucumber, eggplant, endives, ginger, green beans, lettuce, marrow, mushrooms, olives, parsnips, potatoes, pumpkin, silver beet, snow peas, spinach, spring onions(green part only), squash, swedes, sweet potatoes, taro, tomatoes, turnips, yam, zucchini.
High Fructan content: Grains, Cereals, etc Wheat based products: bread, pasta, couscous, cracker and biscuits. Rye based Products: Bread, dry biscuits.
Lower fructan content: Amaranth, arrowroot, barley, buckwheat, corn (maize), millet, oats, potato, quinoa, rice, sorghum, tapioca.
High fructan content: Legumes - Chickpeas, lentils, all legume beans.
fructosefriendlyfoodie.com/food-guides/fructan-content
Fructans are commercially mainly obtained from chicory roots or the Jerusalem artichoke and of the inulin type. Degredation products of inulin are fructo-oligosaccharides.
Inulin is used increasingly in foods because it has unusual nutritional characteristics. It ranges from completely tasteless to subtly sweet and can be used to replace sugar, fat and flour. Inulin can stabilise water into a creamy structure with the same mouthfeel as fat, which can be used as a low-calorie spread on bread.
Inulin is also used as a soluble colourless dietary fibre and used as such in many food products. A recent example is fibre-rich white bread, a type of inulin enriched bread, targeted for children that do not like ‘brown’ bread.
Fructans can also be used as low calorie sweeteners. Many short-chain fructans have a sweet taste, but can not be digested in the human intestine and thus provides much less energy as normal fructose.
Inulins and fructo-oligosaccharides can not be used unlimited in foods, as they are rapidly fermented by intestinal bacteria. This results in the production of gasses and thus bloating, flatulence or diarrhea. The seriousness of these side effects depends on the type of fructan, the composition of the intestinal flora and the efficiency of the individual to absorb the gases.
Humans (and most other mammals) do not have the enzymes necessary to cut up a fructan like inulin. We do have enzymes for sugar, fructose, glucose and starch, so when we eat those sugars, they get dealt with immediately in our small intestine. But when we eat inulin it sails straight through our small intestine and becomes food for the bacteria that inhabit our large intestine. They then convert it into fatty acids (which we then absorb into our blood stream) and gases.
Information used from Wikipedia and www.food-info.net/uk/carbs/fructans.htm
