PURPOSE High fasting blood glucose (FBG) can lead to chronic diseases such as diabetes mellitus, cardiovascular and kidney diseases. Consuming probiotics or synbiotics may improve FBG. A systematic review and meta-analysis of controlled trials was conducted to clarify the effect of probiotic and synbiotic consumption on FBG levels. METHODS PubMed, Scopus, Cochrane Library, and Cumulative Inde...

Several studies in animals and humans have shown positive effects of nondigestible oligosaccharides (NDO) on mineral absorption and metabolism and bone composition and architecture. These include inulin, oligofructose, fructooligosaccharides, galactooligosaccharides, soybean oligosaccharide, and also resistant starches, sugar alcohols, and difructose anhydride. A positive outcome of dietary pre...

We read with interest the review article of Gionchetti et al [1], which elegantly summarizes the data surrounding probiotics in pouchitis. Probiotics are live microorganisms that, when ingested, confer health benefits. In recent years, others have expanded on this concept, and introduced the words ‘prebiotics’ and ‘synbiotics’ to the lexicon. Respectively, they are “a non-digestible food ingred...