Has there been any research on Inulin?
Yes a great deal. Recent in vitro and in vivo research has shown that inulin selectively stimulates beneficial bacterial growth equal to or surpassing that of its short-chain synthetic counterparts, FOS/oligofructose in magnitude. Human experiments conducted by Gibson et al. (1995) at the Dunn Clinical Nutrition Center (UK) have shown that ingestion of moderate bifidobacteria, rendering them the numerically predominant specie in feces and colon. Beneficial lactobacilli are also stimulated, but to a lesser extent. At the same time, the numbers of undesirable bacteria stagnate or decrease, the total bacterial count remaining essentially unchanged. This shows that each gram of inulin stimulates the metabolism and selectively increases the activity of healthy intestinal bacteria, potentially leading to healthier, more well-balanced colon.
