Integrated Supplements Blog

All Dietary Fiber Is Not Created Equal - Study Shows That Only Certain Types of Fiber Prevent Pre-Cancerous Changes of the Colon

Thanks in large part to a collaborative effort by major television networks, media members and prominent celebrities, it's probable that most of us will be hearing a lot more about colon cancer in the coming weeks.

And it's about time.

Unbeknownst to many Americans, colon cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death in America, behind only lung cancer.

According to the National Cancer Institute:

• An estimated 150,000 Americans are predicted to be diagnosed with colon or rectal cancer in 2008, and 50,000 are predicted to die from the disease.

• Regular screenings for colon cancer are important. If caught early, the 5-year survival rate for colon cancer is among the highest of all cancers.

• Dietary and lifestyle factors play particularly major roles in the development of colon cancer.

And not surprisingly, the dietary and lifestyle recommendations often made for colon cancer prevention are pretty straightforward – they echo the stock recommendations we’ve been receiving from health authorities for decades:

• Find ways to reduce stress

• Exercise

• Eat a low-fat, high fiber diet rich in fruits and vegetables

In fact, we’ve all heard this advice so many times, that there’s a tendency to let it go in one ear and out the other. So, perhaps we owe it to ourselves to take a deeper look at exactly how the foods we eat can affect the health of our intestines - and in particular, it may help us to question our assumptions about dietary fiber.

Fiber – More Than Just “Roughage”

Most of us simply think of fiber as “nature’s broom,” that indigestible part of plant food that “sweeps” our insides and keeps us regular. But we now know that certain types of fiber have much more intricate and fascinating effects than just this. When we look a little closer at the research, we find that certain types of fiber may be particularly protective of the delicate tissue of the intestines, while other types of fiber may not be.

This may be why, historically, scientific studies have produced oddly conflicting results when looking at the role of fiber in preventing colon cancer.

All Fiber is Not Created Equal

But as scientists have recently begun examining the effects of different types of fibers, their findings are helping to put the big picture of fiber into clearer focus. The researchers who conducted the following study, for example, found clear evidence that only fibers which increase the production butyrate in the colon are protective against pre-cancerous changes:

Study Link - Only fibres promoting a stable butyrate producing colonic ecosystem decrease the rate of aberrant crypt foci in rats.

Quote from the above study:

. . .only RS and FOS produced large amounts of butyrate, with a trophic effect in the large intestine. No difference in mucosal proliferation between the diets was noted at this time. In the subsequent experiment one month later, fewer aberrant crypt foci were present in rats fed high butyrate producing diets . . . A stable butyrate producing colonic ecosystem related to selected fibres appears to be less conducive to colon carcinogenesis.

We’ve written previously in The Integrated Supplements Newsletter, and blog about how soluble fibers (more correctly defined as fermentable fibers), are unique in being able to support the growth of good bacteria in the intestines. These good bacteria, which feed on soluble fiber, produce substances called short chain fatty acids (SCFAs) as a byproduct of their metabolism. It’s these SCFAs (especially butyric acid, or, butyrate) which are now thought to exert protective effects upon the cells of the colon.

The researchers who conducted the above study fed rats three different types of dietary fiber:

• Wheat Bran (mostly insoluble, non-fermentable fiber)

• Resistant Starch (RS, a fermentable fiber)

• FOS (Fructo-oligosaccharides, a fermentable fiber)

They found that only resistant starch (RS) and FOS – two fibers able to increase the production of the SCFA, butyrate, by colonic bacteria, prevented the production of aberrant crypt foci in rats injected with the known colon cancer-promoter, azoxymethane. In this study, wheat bran had no protective effect.

Note: aberrant crypt foci are clusters of abnormal tube-like glands in the lining of the colon. Their formation precedes the formation of colon polyps, and they are the earliest noticeable pre-cancerous change in the intestines.

So, while our bowl of raisin bran or fiber cereal in the morning may be helping to keep us regular, it’s probable that these fiber sources alone may not be offering us the full protective benefits which dietary fiber has to offer.

Note: Some fruits and vegetables, like bananas and onions respectively, are known to contain sources of fiber like those shown in the above study to increase butyrate production. Cereal fibers, although they comprise a major percentage of fiber consumption in this country, may not be quite as protective as we’ve been led to believe:

Study Link - Fruit, vegetables, dietary fiber, and risk of colorectal cancer.

Quote from the above study:

Individuals who consume very low amounts of fruit and vegetables have the greatest risk of colorectal cancer. Relatively high consumption of cereal fiber does not appear to lower the risk of colorectal cancer.

How Does Butyrate Work?

Butyrate is known to inhibit an enzyme involved in the regulation of genes known as Histone Deacetylase (HDAC). When this enzyme is inhibited by butyrate, tumor-suppressor genes are activated, and this may account for the potential protective effect of butyrate, and certain types of dietary fiber.

So, indirectly, fiber affects the health of our intestinal cells right down to the genetic and molecular level. And to think, it wasn’t all that long ago when scientists themselves thought of dietary fiber simply as the “roughage” we needed to keep us regular.

The Picture Becomes Clearer

While the causes of colon cancer are complex and multi-faceted, research like this makes the picture at least a little clearer. If you’re like the vast majority of Americans and you don’t consume sufficient fiber on a daily basis, or if you rely on cereal grains for the majority of your fiber intake, you may want to rectify this situation immediately - paying particular attention to take in sources of fiber which support the healthy intestinal bacteria, and the production of butyrate. Probiotic supplements, or cultured foods like yogurt are likely to be valuable as well.

Eating a varied diet of fiber-rich foods is, of course, important; but, even with the best diet, it can certainly be difficult to take in the recommended 25 to 35 grams of fiber we need each day. Making this task a little easier is why we created Fiber Balance™, an all natural blend of 5 types of fiber including inulin, FOS, and resistant starch – fiber sources which are all known to support the growth of the good bacteria, and to increase butyrate levels in the colon.

We often recommend that people mix Fiber Balance™ right into yogurt – with the combination of yogurt’s probiotic cultures and the butyrate-producing fibers in Fiber Balance™, you could hardly imagine a more potent one-two punch for supporting gastrointestinal health.

And the combination tastes so good, that you’ll probably have a hard time believing that this little snack is really on the cutting edge of scientific nutrition.

About Us: At Integrated Supplements, our goal is to bring you the wellness information and products you need to live your life to the fullest. We are dedicated to producing the highest quality, all natural nutritional supplements; and to educating the world on the health promoting power of proper nutrition. You can find out more by visiting: www.IntegratedSupplements.com

These statements have not been evaluated by the FDA. No Integrated Supplements product is intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.

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GMPs And The Future of Nutritional Supplements in America

There will always be those in any industry so blinded by greed, and so ignorant of the consequences of their actions, that they put the health and well-being of their customers at risk simply in order to produce a cheaper product – and unfortunately, the nutritional supplement industry in America today is no exception.

But even though the supplement industry is sometimes tainted by the use of sub-standard raw materials, questionable production methods, and downright fraudulent marketing practices, the future may hold reason for educated consumers to be optimistic about the quality and efficacy of their dietary supplements.

Of course, cleaning up the supplement industry is sure to take a little work, and ensuring the quality of nutritional supplements in this country will involve a three-pronged approach in which government, product manufacturers/marketers, and you, the consumer, will all play vital roles.

In particular, any meaningful improvement in the quality and safety of nutritional supplements in America will necessarily involve the simultaneous combination of:

• FDA-mandated Good Manufacturing Practices for dietary supplements

• The development of unique, research-backed, patented, and branded raw materials

• An increase in consumer education

The Role of Government – Enforcing Good Manufacturing Practices

In June of 2007, the United States Food and Drug Administration released official guidelines for mandatory good manufacturing practices (GMPs) of dietary supplements. These guidelines, under which supplement manufacturers are required to evaluate the identity, purity, quality, strength, and composition of dietary supplements, should go a long way towards increasing consumer confidence in an industry which is sometimes burdened by a less-than-stellar public image as an “unregulated” entity.

As outlined by over 800 pages worth of protocols and standards, GMPs (when employed and enforced) will give the nutritional supplement consumer the confidence to know that their supplements:

• Meet label claims

• Are labeled and packaged properly

• Are free of contaminants like pesticides, bacteria, heavy metals, and other toxins

But although GMPs are currently in the process of being implemented by various manufacturers of nutritional supplements, not all supplement manufacturers currently comply with the GMP regulations set forth by the FDA. Smaller manufacturers have been given a three year “grace period” in which to implement good manufacturing practices in their facilities. And, of course, we find ourselves in the midst of this grace period now - and for the next two years. In essence, while the publication of official GMPs for dietary supplements is a landmark occurrence for the supplement industry, there are still more than a handful of manufacturers looking to capitalize on the competitive advantage afforded them by the use of lax production methods and sub-standard raw materials.

Though it may slip past the radar of the general consumer, those of us in the supplement industry are bombarded month after month with stories of product recalls due to mislabeling, contamination, and outright adulteration of dietary supplements (and it should be noted, too, that many of these bad apples operate largely within the realm of sports nutrition and performance enhancement products). With the combination of unscrupulous marketing, shoddy production methods, and the cheapest raw materials, it often doesn’t take long to make a small fortune selling sub-standard “nutritional supplements.”

And if and when any legal repercussions come to pass for the operators of such companies, the penalty often represents but a small fraction of the profits these companies were able to make by defrauding, or, at the very least, misleading their customers. And, if you follow the supplement biz, you’ve seen such a scenario play out time and time again.

So, for now, the first step the supplement consumer can take is to make sure that their supplements are produced in a GMP-certified facility (as, of course, all Integrated Supplement products are). But, FDA regulations, in and of themselves, aren’t nearly enough to ensure that supplements are the highest quality, or, for that matter, even healthy. Remember, the FDA oversees the products produced by fast food chains and junk food manufacturers, too; and while their oversight may protect us from the imminent danger of contamination, it’s not the FDA’s job to see to it that these foods are actually healthy.

Similarly, GMP certification, while it does safeguard us against contaminated or adulterated products, doesn’t necessarily give us any indication of exactly what ingredients are being used in a particular supplement, or where those ingredients are coming from. Without this knowledge, we’ll often have no way of knowing if the supplements we’re consuming are quality, or merely “junk food” in disguise - which brings us to the next piece of the supplement-quality puzzle.

The Role of The Supplement Industry – Support Quality, Research-Backed, Branded Ingredients

These days, with many cheap imported goods from pet food, to toothpaste, to children’s toys being shown to pose major health risks, consumers are understandably concerned about exactly where their foods and supplements are coming from. But with supplement companies often sourcing the cheapest raw materials they can find, it can be almost impossible to know where certain ingredients have come from, or even if we’re getting the same ingredient from one batch of product to the next. So, even if a product isn’t misbranded, mislabeled, or adulterated, the ambiguity of product labeling often allows companies to cut corners with the raw materials used in their formulations.

The perfect example of this would be whey protein. We’ve written many times on the Integrated Supplements Blog and in our Newsletters about the many virtues of undenatured, ceramic-filtered whey protein isolate. We’ve showed you how whey protein concentrate can’t even compare as a protein source, and that even some other types of whey isolate may be vastly inferior.

So, when you see “whey protein” or “whey isolate” listed on a product label, how do you know exactly what type of whey protein you’re getting? Is it ceramic-filtered? Resin polymer-filtered? Ion-exchange? A “blend”? Usually, you’ll have no idea, but if a company labels their products ambiguously, you’re safe in assuming that you’re getting whichever type of whey protein happened to be cheapest at the time the product was produced.

This is where branded ingredients become so important. The top raw material suppliers for dietary supplement ingredients often invest large amounts of money in perfecting the extraction and/or production technology of certain ingredients. These production methods are often proprietary and patented, and the resultant ingredient is given a brand name to differentiate it from other products in its category. The CFM® Whey Isolate used in Integrated Supplements Whey Protein is such an example – CFM® is a production technology patented by Glanbia Nutritionals which uses unique ceramic filters to produce the highest quality whey protein isolate available.

At Integrated Supplements, we use only CFM® Whey Isolate in our whey protein product, and we put the CFM® logo on the bottle for the world to see. This way, our customers know that, time after time, they’re getting the same high-quality whey protein in each and every bottle.

Similarly, in our Fiber Balance™ we use Nutrim® oat bran, a high beta-glucan oat fiber from Futureceuticals and Fibersol 2®, a digestion-resistant starch fiber from Matsutani.

These ingredients, and the companies which produce them, may not be household words to the average person, but for those of you who know supplements, the use of these ingredients speaks volumes as to the quality and purity of Integrated Supplements products. This leads us naturally to perhaps the most important factor in ensuring the production of high quality supplements – an educated consumer.

The Role of The Consumer – Become Educated!

At Integrated Supplements, we know that all of the FDA oversight in the world, or the production of the highest quality raw materials means very little if you, the customer, don’t see the value in these things. We know full well that, in the end, it’s educated and passionate customers - customers who demand the best products produced by the strictest measures - who will make the biggest difference in elevating the standards of the nutritional supplement industry.

Since our inception, it’s been our goal at Integrated Supplements to educate our customers, and to build a loyal and educated customer base comprised of people who demand the highest quality nutritional supplements – and judging from our rapid growth, we’re succeeding.

We’ve aimed to teach our customers about the significant differences between whey isolate and whey concentrate. We’ve aimed to teach the general population that quality whey protein isolate can offer numerous benefits to nearly everyone - not just bodybuilders looking to build large muscles. We’ve aimed to bring the concepts of oxidized cholesterol and oxidative stress out of the research journals and into the public consciousness. And we’ve aimed to underscore the importance of dietary fiber for literally every aspect of health.

And we’re just getting warmed up.

At Integrated Supplements, we believe that quality supplements should contain research-backed, branded ingredients. And equally as important, we believe that nutritional products should be produced under the controls of the strictest good manufacturing practices.

And we see the research journals simply bursting with studies outlining simple, low-cost, and effective nutritional strategies for preventing and even reversing the ravages of aging – and we’re excited to continually bring this information to you.

Because, when these pieces of the puzzle come together, and the promise of proper nutritional supplementation is realized, we’ll have a future we can all be excited about.

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