Konjac Glucomannan – A Very Good Food for Gut Bacteria

It is an established fact that the human gastrointestinal system is occupied by millions of microorganisms known as bacteria. Their presence in our gut is never for aesthetic purpose but they play immense role in every human being’s total health. Health conditions such as Inflammatory Bowel Syndrome (IBS), constipation, heart attack, obesity and diabetes have all found their links one way or the other to these tiny organisms. Not all bacteria present in the gut are actually harmless. However, for a gut described as being healthy, the total number of harmful bacterial remains insignificant to the harmless ones. Again, a healthy gut would be one that has microbial diversity of even the beneficial bacterial.
Gut Bacteria Protects against Diabetes and Obesity
A recent report made public in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, it was stated that one of the paramount bacteria in the mucus layer of the gut filled with nutrients, A. muciniphilia may be very instrumental at discovering the effective treatment for obesity, diabetes and their related metabolic disorder. Their experiment on some groups of mice revealed that mice which are obese and with type 2 diabetes had an abysmally low level of A. muciniphilia in their guts. This, according to the researchers suggest that the bacterium plays an important role in both conditions. When fed with probiotics, those mice that were at risk of the two conditions showed appreciable increase in the number of A. muciniphila in their guts which gave birth to an improved functioning of the lining of the gut and reversal of earlier symptoms such as fat mass, insulin resistance and inflammation.
Gut Bacteria May Be Connected With Celiac Disease
Celiac disease is a chronic autoimmune condition that results in improper digestion. It is a hereditary disease condition triggered by a special protein called gluten. However, not everyone with the gene that predisposes to celiac eventually develop the symptoms. This reason account for a research conducted by some Canadian scientists to identify what factor makes individuals with the gene for celiac disease manifest the symptoms or not. For this work, a group of mice having the gene for celiac disease were used. Their guts were first made germ-free by clearing all the bacteria there after which gluten was introduced to them. These mice were reported to have reacted sharply to gluten thereby manifesting symptoms of celiac disease. However, when probiotics were introduced to those mice, it was observed that the earlier manifested signs and symptoms were reversed.
Although the specific kinds of bacterial responsible for this gluten tolerance action may yet remain unknown, it is incontrovertible that microbial population of the gut is connected with whether a celiac predisposed person will manifest the symptoms or not. The issue therefore is how to increase the diversity of these beneficial bacteria that prevent manifestation of celiac disease symptoms.
What Determines Your Gut Bacteria Diversity
The diversity of the microbial population in your gastrointestinal tract depends largely on the quality of food you feed them with. As it goes, not all food are good for these microorganisms. The best choice are food items highly rich in fiber, particularly fibers that are soluble. Fiber food sources include whole grain cereals, fruits, vegetables and oatmeal. Howbeit, the soluble fibers remain the best way to increase the microbial diversity and population owing to their fermentable nature and their ability to release short-chain fatty acids.
Konjac Glucomannan is A Highly Soluble Fiber
One notable challenge often faced by individuals predisposed to celiac disease is the choice of diet. They have to stay away from food items that contain gluten. That in a way reduces their options as many who love bread, Noodles and the like would not be able to eat them anymore. Even the food that are said to be gluten-free has to be well prepared because of its high tendency of being cross-contaminated with gluten during their preparation.
One food item that has come to be a solace to everyone whether predisposed or not, is Konjac glucomannan. Konjac is a plant with shelf life of about three years mostly found in the mountainous region of Southwest China. The root is highly rich in fibers which are extremely soluble in water. The fiber has the highest water-holding capacity out of the numerous fiber food sources making it the most soluble fiber. This is exactly what gut bacteria needs. In addition to its great solubility, below are some of the advantages of settling for Konjac Glucomannan
• It contains no calories or carbohydrate
• It is wheat and gluten free
• When stored in room temperature, it can still retains its taste and viability for up to a year without refrigeration
• It comes in variety of size and forms to suit your need
• It is a pure vegetable making it vegan-friendly
Summary
Going by the numerous benefits the tiny organisms in our gut offer for our overall health, it is critical for everyone to take the consumption of fiber serious particularly those who have genes that predispose them to celiac disease. One sure-bet dietary option is konjac glucomannan which is not only soluble but wheat and gluten free.

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