Soluble corn fiber can build strong bones in women
Professor Connie Weaver of Purdue University suggests that supplementing food with soluble corn fiber (SCF) at two critical times in a woman’s life – adolescence and post-menopause, can help build and retain calcium in the bones.
Professor Weaver said, ‘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.’
‘Soluble corn fibre, a prebiotic, helps the body better utilise calcium during both adolescence and post-menopause. The gut microbiome is the new frontier in health,’ Weaver noted.
A prebiotic fibre passes through the gut for the microbes in the lower gut to digest. Weaver found that soluble corn fibre is broken down into short chain fatty acids to aid in bone health.
‘We found this prebiotic can help healthy people use minerals better to support bone health,’ Weaver said.
The postmenopausal findings were published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, and the adolescent findings appeared in the Journal of Nutrition.
SCF also serves as dietary fiber and can be had in doses of up to 40 grams daily as the average daily intake of fiber of an individual is around 15 grams.
SCF is not available in India and since its source is corn it is likely that having corn will also produce similar results.
For strong bones during adolescence and postmenopausal stage it may be a wise decision to include SCF or corn in your diet.
