Friendly Bacteria

Inside your body exist billions of bacteria that are essential to your health. In your bowel, for example, these friendly bacteria play an important role in helping to break down food and in protecting your intestinal lining. They're also responsible for keeping levels of harmful bacteria in check.

However, chronic infections, the use of antibiotics and a generally unhealthy lifestyle can all have a damaging impact on the amount of friendly bacteria in your bowel.
Once their levels begin to drop, harmful bacteria begin to proliferate and this can soon leave you vulnerable to diarrhoea, abdominal pain and tenderness, lowered immunity and infections such as thrush.

In the past, we have recommended that you eat live natural yoghurt - a good source of friendly bacteria - or take lactobacillus (a strain of friendly bacterium) supplements, in order to avoid this problem.

Now, HSI Panellists are pleased to report that they have discovered an even more beneficial way of maintaining a healthy balance of good and bad bacteria in your bowel, in a new remedy called stachyose.

Stachyose is able to get to the areas of your body that need it most
Stachyose is a naturally occurring compound - present in peas and beans (especially soya beans) - which encourages the growth of friendly bacteria1.

When ingested, it is able to pass through your digestive tract more or less unabsorbed - allowing it to reach your large bowel where it can get to work.
Scientists at the Institute of Pharmacology and Toxicology in Beijing have found that only 3.82 per cent of stachyose is absorbed, and this occurs mainly in the stomach (25 per cent of total absorption) and in the small bowel2.

The residue stays in the large bowel for several hours where friendly bacteria break it down and absorb its nourishing components. Within a few hours their numbers start to increase and over time, the bowel is returned to a healthy state.

As a result of this, your general health also begins to benefit and improve, making it easier for your immune system to fight infections such as thrush.

Stachyose helps render infectious microbes harmless
Researchers from the Department of Microbiology, at the University of Alabama, have found that certain infective bacteria are unable to grow in the presence of stachyose. They used Streptococcus pneumoniae (bacteria which cause pneumonia) and altered their genes to make them as resistant to destruction as possible. However, despite this, these highly infective microbes were found to lose their ability to multiply in the presence of stachyose3.

In another experiment at the Institute of Microbiology and Virology at the University of Sassari, a bacterium called Trichomonas vaginalis (responsible for causing vaginal infections) was exposed to stachyose. Again, the microbes were unable to survive in the presence of stachyose4.

Exactly why stachyose has the ability to specifically target and destroy unfriendly bacteria while encouraging the growth of friendly ones, is not known. However, the fact that it works in this way is certainly something you should exploit for good bowel health.

With an active population of friendly bacteria, your bowel is less prone to developing cancer. In addition, minerals such as calcium and magnesium, which are essential for bone health are more readily absorbed, which lowers your risk of osteoporosis.

How to obtain maximum benefits from stachyose
To increase your intake of stachyose, include more beans (soya beans in particular), chickpeas and other pulses in your diet.

According to a report from the Food Science and Technology Department at Menofiya University in Egypt, microwaving is the best way of conserving the stachyose and vitamin content in these foods. Boiling and frying quickly destroys the essential chemical bonds of these nutrients, which means your health does not receive their full benefits5.

You should be aware that consuming large amounts of pulses can cause excessive gas to build up in your bowel, which can cause discomfort and flatulence. To avoid this, simply soak the pulses for a few hours before cooking (changing the water at least once or twice during this process).

In addition, opt for soya foods that state on the label that they are low in oligosaccharides - as this chemical is known to encourage the build up of gas.
You may prefer to take stachyose in supplement form. The recommended dosage is normally one to two capsules a day.

1. Sanni A et al. Nahrung 1997, 41(1):18-21
2. Zheng N et al. Zhonggue Zhong Xi Yi, 2000, 20(6): 444-446
3. Smith AW et al. Mol Microbiol 2002, 44(2): 431-448
4. Fiori P et al. FEMS Microbiol Lett 1993, 109(1): 13-18
5. el-Adawy. Plant Foods Hum Nutr 2002, 57(1): 83-97