1985 · Solomons et al. — Intestinal Metabolism of a Random-Bonded Polyglucose Bulking Agent in Humans: In Vitro and In Vivo Studies of Hydrogen Evolution
Super-Abstract
This 1985 study investigated how much polydextrose — a proposed low-calorie bulking agent — is fermented by gut bacteria, using breath H₂ as the marker of fermentation. Polydextrose alone produced minimal breath H₂ (comparable to glucose), but when mixed with milk it significantly increased fermentation. This is a food safety/nutrition study, not a therapeutic H₂ investigation. (Journal of Laboratory and Clinical Medicine, 1985.)
Commentary
Polydextrose is a synthetic glucose polymer used as a low-calorie bulking agent in foods. Regulatory acceptance depended on understanding how much of it escapes digestion and reaches the colon for bacterial fermentation. This study used both in vitro fecal incubation and in vivo breath H₂ testing to answer this question. The finding that polydextrose alone causes minimal fermentation (comparable to glucose) was commercially significant. The unexpected interaction with milk — where mixing substantially increased breath H₂ — suggested either that milk carbohydrates become less absorbable in the presence of polydextrose, or that polydextrose itself ferments more readily when combined with other substrates. Neither scenario involves H₂ as a therapeutic agent. This is classic dietary safety science.
Key quotes
- „Oral ingestion of 15 gm polydextrose by healthy volunteers produced a flat breath hydrogen response, equivalent to that of glucose, and significantly less than that of lactulose.“ — polydextrose alone shows minimal fermentation — the key safety finding
- „When either milk or lactose-hydrolyzed milk containing 18 gm intrinsic carbohydrate was mixed with 18 gm polydextrose, a significantly greater breath hydrogen excretion was observed as compared with the respective beverages alone.“ — the unexpected interaction: polydextrose increases fermentation of milk carbohydrates
Our assessment
This is a dietary safety and gut physiology study, not a therapeutic H₂ intervention. Breath H₂ is used solely as a non-invasive marker of colonic fermentation — the tool of measurement, not the therapy. No H₂ is administered, and no health outcomes are studied. Limitations: small sample (n not precisely stated); only breath H₂ measured (no symptoms, no mucosal assessment); the in vitro fecal incubation data complement but do not replace in vivo findings; food matrix interactions are complex and not fully explained mechanistically. Not applicable to H₂ medicine.
Study design
- Type: combined in vitro + in vivo dietary tolerance study · n: healthy volunteers (exact n not stated) · H₂ measurement: breath H₂ as fermentation marker; in vitro fecal homogenate incubation
- Test substance: polydextrose (15–18 g), with and without milk, vs. glucose and lactulose
- Result: polydextrose alone → minimal breath H₂ (≈glucose, <
Abstract
In vivo and in vitro experiments were conducted to determine the extent of intestinal fermentation of polydextrose, a random-bonded glucose polymer proposed as a low-calorie bulking agent in weight-reducing diets. The evolution of hydrogen gas was the index of bacterial fermentation. Oral ingestion of 15 gm polydextrose by healthy volunteers produced a flat breath hydrogen response, equivalent to that of glucose, and significantly less than that of lactulose. In vitro incubation of a polydextrose solution with fecal homogenates produced 24.8% of the hydrogen production of a comparable glucose solution. When either milk or lactose-hydrolyzed milk containing 18 gm intrinsic carbohydrate was mixed with 18 gm polydextrose, a significantly greater breath hydrogen excretion was observed as compared with the respective beverages alone. There is minimal in vivo fermentation of polydextrose when consumed alone, but when mixed into foods it may produce carbohydrate malabsorption or itself be more readily fermented.
Source & links
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