Calcium Retention Increased With…Corn Fiber?

The “gut” just keeps popping up as something to pay attention to. New research from Purdue University has found that adolescent girls and postmenopausal women who take soluble corn fiber are likely to get some help in building and retaining calcium in bone.

“We are looking deeper in the gut to build healthy bone in girls and help older women retain strong bones during an age when they are susceptible to fractures, ” said Connie Weaver, Ph.D., Purdue distinguished professor and head of nutrition science, in the August 22, 2016 news release. “Soluble corn fiber, a prebiotic, helps the body better utilize calcium during both adolescence and post-menopause. The gut microbiome is the new frontier in health.”

As indicated in the news release, “In the post-menopausal study, calcium retention was measured in 14 women by using an isotope to measure the excretion of 41Ca to measure bone loss. The women consumed 0 grams, 10 grams or 20 grams of this nondigestible carbohydrate each day for 50 days. Bone calcium retention was improved by 4.8%and 7% for those who consumed 10 grams and 20 grams, respectively. These amounts of soluble corn fiber would be found in supplement form.

“Thirty-one girls either consumed 0 grams, 10 grams or 20 grams of soluble corn fiber carbohydrate each day for three weeks while maintaining their regular diets. Both 10 grams and 20 grams led to improved calcium absorption by 12 percent for female adolescents, which would build 1.8 percent more skeleton a year.

In both studies, gastrointestinal symptoms were minimal and the same for the control groups, as well as in those who consumed soluble corn fiber.

Dr. Weaver is a member of the National Academy of Medicine and deputy director of the National Institutes of Health-funded Indiana Clinical and Translational Science Institute. She also is director of Purdue’s Women’s Global Health Institute. In 2011 she was appointed to the Institute of Medicine’s Food and Nutrition Board, and in 2005 she was appointed to the U.S. Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee.

Dr. Weaver told OTW, “I have been studying the effect of diet on bone health for over two decades. In one study, I compared the effect of eight different types of fibers on bone strength. Soluble corn fiber was the most beneficial to bone so we have conducted three studies in humans with that fiber and it was beneficial to calcium absorption or bone health in all three.

“Diets that alter the gut microbiome can have a positive effect on bone health. We are beginning to understand which dietary constituents have the most benefit. Certain kinds of fiber that act as substrate (food) for gut microbiota can influence their effect on bone in a positive way.

“We first performed two studies in children with growing bones and found a positive benefit of fiber on calcium absorption. I did not expect a similar benefit in postmenopausal women who are in a state of losing bone. What a pleasant surprise when it did.

“I think these results will contribute to development of public health messages including FDA allowing health claims that relate diet to improve bone health.”

The studies are funded by Tate & Lyle Ingredients America LLC. Weaver serves on the scientific advisory board for Pharmative LLC.