MGP's Fibersym RW Reduces Risk Factors Associated with Metabolic Syndrome

Such factors include high blood pressure, abdominal obesity, elevated fasting blood sugar, and high blood cholesterol and triglyceride levels that increase the chance of developing heart disease, stroke and type-2 diabetes. The American Heart Association estimates that 34% of Americans have metabolic syndrome.

The 26-week double blind, placebo-controlled, cluster crossover intervention study involved 20 individuals from two Hutterite colonies in eastern South Dakota with signs of metabolic syndrome.  Participants consumed food products made with control flour or a 30%/70% blend of Fibersym RW and flour with no dietary restrictions. The intervention was conducted in two 12-week sessions, with a two-week break to allow the researchers to switch the intervention and control groups so that each group served as its own control.

After Fibersym RW consumption, the subjects had a lower percentage of body fat and trending lower waist circumference, along with reduced glycosylated hemoglobin and lower fasting blood glucose. Fibersym RW consumption also resulted in reduced total cholesterol, HDL cholesterol and non-HDL cholesterol, as well as less pro-inflammatory molecules in the blood.

Dr. Moul Dey, associate professor of health and nutritional sciences at SDSU and lead investigator for the study, said, "Fibersym RW worked as a health-promoting functional fiber in our study. Because it is a starch that is not broken down in the upper gastrointestinal tract, it can reach the colon where it is fermented by the gut bacteria.  This produces new substances, such as short chain fatty acids, that have functions related to health."

The individual proportion of short chain fatty acids--butyric, propionic, valeric, isovaleric and hexanoic acids--increased post-Fibersym RW intervention. "Butyrate levels were correlated with Oscillospira species," noted Ody Maningat, Ph.D., MGP's vice president of R&D and chief science officer.  "Propionate and isobutyrate levels were linked to Methanobrevibacter species, Eubacterium dolichum, Christensenella minuta and Ruminococcus lactaris," he said. "This is significant in that Fibersym RW consumption induced the enrichment in the gut of some microbial species over another, which altered bacterial fermentation and resulted in the production of short chain fatty acids that are beneficial to human health," Dr. Maningat explained.

Mike Buttshaw, vice president of ingredients sales and marketing, stated, "This clinical study proves once again that Fibersym RW-fortified food products are a smart dietary choice for consumers wanting to live a healthier lifestyle.  Its growing use in a number of bakery, pasta, breakfast cereal, and snack products attest to its significant impact on American consumers."

Dr. Maningat added, "The encouraging results of Fibersym RW on cholesterol lowering, reduced body fat/waist circumference, short chain fatty acid production and modulation of gut microbiota are consistent with the beneficial physiological effects in humans expected from dietary fiber sources by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the 9th Vahouny Fiber Symposium."

The SDSU study, published on June 30, 2016 in Scientific Reports, a Nature Publishing Group academic journal (http://www.nature.com/articles/srep28797), has important implications for dietary guidelines for individuals with metabolic syndrome because it provides evidence that supplementation of Fibersym RW in the diet selectively alters the gut microbial and metabolite environment as well as the individual's associated metabolic functions.

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