People fed beta-glucan-enriched pasta for 2 months showed increased populations of beneficial bacteria in their intestinal tracts, and reduced populations of non-beneficial bacteria. They also showed reduced LDL (bad) cholesterol. This work is part of a broad effort to identify potential prebiotics – foods that could encourage the growth of health-promoting bacteria in the gastrointestinal tract.
β-glucans are healthy fibers that humans cannot digest, but that can be digested by some species of our gut bacteria. They are special types of sugars that are found in the cell walls of certain microbes, as well as in oats and barley...
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