Fortifiying with Fibre

Dietary fibres have a lowering effect on the rising blood-sugar curve when the person consumes a large quantity of carbohydrates.

Dietary fibres have grown meaningful for a balanced diet, fighting for example problems in intestinal transit and also possibly counteracting diseases such as cardio-vascular affections, blood pressure, hyperlipidemy, obesity, diabetes mellitus, thrombosis, hemorroids, gout, diverticulosis, arteriosclerosis, degenerative diseases (e.g. Alzheimer dementia) and even cancer.

Dietary fibres are generally vegetable substances - parts of plant cells - that are not or very little digested, resorbed or metabolised by the digestive enzymes of the upper part of the digestion system and are subsequently more or less fermented or metabolised by the microbial flora of the large intestine (colon). Dietary fibres are divided in two groups:

> (water) insoluble fibres, also called bulking agents (for example cellulose, lignin, some semi-celluloses)

> (water) soluble fibres, also called swelling agents (for example gums, mucilages, pectin, some semi-celluloses)

By definition, dietary fibres are low-calorie substances since they are not hydrolysed by the digestive enzymes. However, their fermentation in the bowels and the production of partly absorbed volatile fatty acids release a small quantity of energy. Equal to acacia gum, Quick Fibre has a very low caloric value of 1.5 kcal/g compared to 9 kcal/g for fats, 7 for alcohol, 4 for sugars and 4 for proteins. It is a non-cariogenic food additive and ingredient due to its low carbohydrate content, which is another plus for the consumers and, of course, for the food and beverage manufacturers.

Candies for Fitness
Fibre enriched foodstuffs and beverages satiate over a longer period of time and regulate or improve the good work of important metabolic functions in the human body. Yet without unpleasant flatulence and painful laxative effect. A balanced, fibre enriched diet cares for a smooth work of muscles as well as nervous and cerebral cells. Dietary fibres have a lowering effect on the rising blood-sugar curve when the person consumes a large quantity of carbohydrates.

Energetic bars, chewy sweets, extruded products, fruit bars, musli and breakfast cereals, beverages, milk drinks and dairy products, sport and health food, puddings as well as sweet or salty snacks are examples of products, the composition of which can easily be fortified and complemented with dietary fibres.

Benefits
In the case of sportmen and women, no matter of which age, the consumption of fibre enriched food - either in liquid or solid form - begins during the training. During the sport action, a further ingestion of liquid and small amounts of solid fibre enriched snacks stabilizes the performance of the body and satiates over a longer period of time than the energetic push up of sugars. Sportmen and women also require a high protein intake to nourish their strong physical efforts. Here too, dietary fibres represent an ideal complement to the nutritional value of foodstuffs and beverages with a high protein content.

Generally speaking, feeding on a balanced diet on a daily basis is beneficial for everyone. Among the various population groups, children, pregnant women and elderly people certainly need to pay a special attention to their nutrition. The metabolic benefits also apply to other human groups with a respective adaptation to their physical and physiological needs. Candies for fitness could mean that confectionery products have a positive role to play in a balanced nutrition, diminishing sugar or fat supply and fortifying the product recipe with dietary fibres.

Fitness to Wellness
The natural water soluble dietary fibre Quick Fibre has been developed by the German company Alfred L. Wolff to respond to the growing expections of consumers "to feel good while indulging food". Quick Fibre is a fine and highly purified acacia powder with more than 80% fibre content (acc. to the AOAC method), 3% minerals, 2% proteins and 10% moisture. The prebiotic function of Quick Fibre positively affects the human body by stimulating the growth and/or activity of bacterial cells in the large gut (especially bifidobacteria and bacteroids, i.e. probiotics or live organisms that improve the balance of the microflora of the gut). Their amount is increased at the expense of potential pathogens such as E-coli and salmonella, hereby impeding the growth of these pathogens in the intestine. The increased number of living cells in the colon leads to an increased faecal volume and a longer intestinal transit time, hence a better digestion and absorption of nutrients.

The water soluble Quick Fibre is a 100% plant exudate of the acacia, which is physically purified and spray-dried, neither genetically nor chemically modified and fully neutral in odour and taste. Due to its low viscosity and high solubility in cold water, it is possible to prepare highly concentrated solutions of Quick Fibre for food recipes without affecting the sensory properties of the finished products. It can be integrated in the composition of solid and liquid foodstuffs with a high percentage (up to 50%) of dietary fibre to complement their nutritional value. The afore- mentioned properties are quite performing for the industrial food manufacturers, namely because Quick Fibre acts as a stabilizer, emulsifier and texture enhancer, which is particularly interesting in the production of beverages and dairies.

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