Irritable Bowel Syndrome Message Boards | Re: Carbohydrates

Hi PMartin,

Check the last page of that website which was prepared by the makers of Beano titled "For Healthcare Professionals". Under the subheading 'Causes' you will see the following

Complex carbohydrates consist of oligosaccharides, long chains of monosaccharides (small sugar units that cannot be further broken down) held together by alpha-galactosidic linkages. Oligosaccharide digestion is necessary because the gastrointestinal tract can only absorb monosaccharides, including glucose and galactose, in the small intestine.

It goes on to say

The inability of the small intestine to adequately transport and absorb glucose, galactose, and other monosaccharides is caused by a lack of a sufficient number of enzymes required to digest oligosaccharide bonds. In particular, all humans lack the intestinal enzyme alpha-galactosidase, which is required to hydrolyze alpha-galactosidic linkages present in complex carbohydrates.

The enzyme alpha-galactosidase contained in Beano breaksdown the raffinose, stachyose and verbascose, three oligosaccharides, into their digestible sugar components: glucose, galactose, sucrose and fructose.

The FAO says oligosaccharides are not widely occurring or of great importance in foods and food products, except for a series of galactosylsucroses (often designated as a -galactosides) and fructo-oligosaccharides. The galactosylsucrose family of oligosaccharides include raffinose (a trisaccharide), stachyose (a tetrasaccharide), and verbascose (a pentasaccharide). In vegetables, such as peas, beans, and lentils, the content of these oligosaccharides can range from five to eight percent on a dry matter basis.

If you look at the animation which you can access on the right hand side of the page where it says "Click here to see an animated demonstration of how CCI affects the way carbohydrates are absorbed by the body." You will see the second slide says Complex Carbohydrates are the sugars found in many health foods, beans and other legumes, vegetables, whole grains, nuts and seeds. Complex carbohydrates are made of long chains of sugars called "oligosaccharides".

The list of foods on the CCI site that they claim cause complex carbohydrate intolerance do not include rice (except rice bran), potatoes and pasta. Only oat bran and oat flour are on it because both contain oat bran which contains oligosaccharides. Beano will only help with foods that contain oligosaccharides.

Say - have you asked your GI doc if you have functional-D which is not associated with pain/discomfort and not IBS? Unfortunately, I believe it is managed the same way IBS is managed.

Good luck with your experiments. I hope it gives you some relief

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STABLE: ♂, IBS-D 50+ years - Science of IBS

The FODMAP Approach to Managing IBS Symptoms
Evidence-based Dietary Management of Functional GI Symptoms: The FODMAP Approach
FODMAP Chart & Cheatsheet
The Role of Food & Dietary Intervention in IBS

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