Soluble fibers as glyconutrients?

Knack wrote:

: It is published that various soluble fibers such as beta-glucan and
: the plant gums (psyllium, xanthan, guar, carrageenan, konjac, locust
: bean, etc.) are regarded as glyconutrients that are capable of
: lowering serum LDL levels and enhancing the immune system. How can
: that be? How can they get absorbed into blood serum? I thought
: soluble fibers are indigestible and become fully or partially
: fermented in the colon. In fact they're useful for treating
: constipation.

Here is some further information:

"Soluble fiber has been shown to lower blood cholesterol, including LDL
cholesterol. Some evidence suggests that soluble fiber makes LDL particles
less dense and, therefore, less harmful.

Besides trapping fat and cholesterol that would otherwise be digested by the
body, there are two proposed mechanisms for the lowering of blood
cholesterol by soluble fiber. In the first scenario, soluble fiber traps
bile acids in the same way that it traps sugars and carries them out of the
body as waste. Bile acids are produced from cholesterol in the liver.
Therefore, if bile acids are removed, the body pulls cholesterol from the
bloodstream to produce more.

In the second theory, soluble fiber shifts the bile acid pools away from
cholic acid and toward another acid (chenodeoxycholic acid) that inhibits an
enzyme involved in fat and cholesterol production (3-hydroxy 3
methylglutaryl CoA reductase). Decreased enzyme activity means less
cholesterol produced by the liver and lower blood cholesterol levels."

http://www.konjacfoods.com/fiber.htm

--
Juhana

Soluble fiber is bad stuff, robbing your body of nutrients.
Carrageenan is used to give animals in experiments cancer. This kind
of thing is just a sales pitch for stuff that is cheap. Remember the
oat bran craze? Same thing. Prices go up dramatically when the stuff
gets press, and even if it goes down again, a nice little profit gets
made. Search this group for montygram and read some of my posts to get
an idea about what the scientific reality is. Any questions, feel free
to ask me. Start a new post with "montygram:..." and I will answer.

"montygram" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Soluble fiber is bad stuff, robbing your body of nutrients.
Carrageenan is used to give animals in experiments cancer. This kind
of thing is just a sales pitch for stuff that is cheap. Remember the
oat bran craze? Same thing. Prices go up dramatically when the stuff
gets press, and even if it goes down again, a nice little profit gets
made. Search this group for montygram and read some of my posts to get
an idea about what the scientific reality is. Any questions, feel free
to ask me. Start a new post with "montygram:..." and I will answer.

Which nutrients do you believe they are robbing, and can you elaborate on
the biochemistry behind your assertion?

On 28 Feb 2006 22:37:11 -0800, "montygram" <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

Soluble fiber is bad stuff, robbing your body of nutrients.

Breathing is bad too, monty. I recommend you stop taking in all that
toxic atmosphere for a bit.