Journal of the American College of Nutrition, Vol 15, Issue 5 30S-34S, Copyright © 1996 by American College of Nutrition

JOURNAL ARTICLE

Role of colonic scavengers of unabsorbed carbohydrates in infants and children

C. H. Lifschitz
USDA/ARS Children's Nutrition Research Center, Department of Pediatrics, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA.

The role of the colonic bacterial flora as scavenger of carbohydrate (CHO) in general and that of fruit juice in particular is reviewed. In the large bowel, CHO is fermented to short chain fatty acids (SCFA) and gas. SCFA are not produced in the immediate neonatal period when the fecal flora is still at the first stage of its development. Studies have demonstrated that mature animals have a compensatory response to diarrhea by increasing six times the capacity to absorb fluids in the large bowel compared to the younger animals; furthermore, CHO that arrives in the colon is completely fermented to SCFA while in the younger pigs CHO passes through the colon unchanged. As in the young pigs, a similar situation can occur in young children when a relatively large amount of CHO arrives in the large bowel.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				Committee on Nutrition The Use and Misuse of Fruit Juice in Pediatrics Pediatrics, May 1, 2001; 107(5): 1210 - 1213. [Abstract] [Full Text]