New round-breaking research from University of British Columbia has made a fascinating finding. Common food thickeners, previously assumed to quickly move through our digestive tract unaltered, are in fact fermented by gut microbes. This seminal work first appeared in the Journal of Bacteriology. It sparks our understanding of food-microbiome interactions, offering new perspectives on the ways we metabolize polysaccharides.
Dr. Deepesh Panwar, a postdoctoral fellow at the University’s Michael Smith Laboratories, and lead author of the study. He continues to say that the study demonstrates how gut bacteria flourish by eating intricate structures found in food additives. These results illustrate that macromolecular polysaccharides, frequently obtained from naturally occurring or biological systems, are far from simply inert fillers. Instead, they may in fact be completely collapsible in the intestinal tract.
Understanding Food Thickeners
Food thickeners such as starches, gums and gelatin are widely used in food service, institutional and home kitchens to create mouthfeel and improve appearance. CG are common thickening agents traditionally derived from natural polysaccharides. Cellulose-based materials are especially sought-after for this purpose because they improve food quality while contributing no calories. For decades, a slightly different belief took hold—that these thickeners remained undigested as they traveled through the gastrointestinal tract.
This recent study challenges that assumption. Our researchers discovered that gut bacteria have specialized enzymes that can effectively break down these cellulose-based thickeners. This recent find opens up an entirely new perspective on human digestion. Furthermore, it encourages all of us to ask how these substances are impacting gut microbiota.
Implications of the Research
The implications of this study are significant. Now researchers have demonstrated that gut bacteria are able to efficiently break down cellulose-based thickeners. This finding provides very promising new information on how these compounds may improve gut health. To heal the digestion process, Dr Panwar says it’s important to first understand how digestion works. It means getting a better understanding of how nutrition works in the human body.
While these findings truly are groundbreaking, the study does not call into question the established safety of consuming food thickeners. In addition, they’ve been through more years of empirical testing. They claim an extensive history of safe use in other food items. The researchers would like to study this unusual ability in greater depth. Next, they’ll expand their focus to a wider range of human gut microbes to determine possible differences in digestion and fermentation processes.
Future Directions in Research
This big idea—from an amazing research team—only begins to scratch the surface of their far more exciting plans. They’ll test how different strains of gut bacteria react to food thickeners. In this new phase, we’re looking at a much broader swath of human gut microbiota. Our hope is to better understand if all bacteria have the same digestive prowess. These findings will in turn help determine future impact on nutrition and health.
Scientists have recently begun to explore the digestive breakdown of food thickeners. Their goal is to provide new knowledge about favorable dietary fiber utilization and microbial fermentation and its impact on gut health. Greater understanding of these dynamics might result in better dietary recommendations at population level and better nutritional personalized interventions.