BENEO holds symposium at ICO

At the International Congress on Obesity (ICO) held in Malaysia on 17-20 March 2014, Beneo-Institute gathered experts to speak on the potential role of functional carbohydrates in weight management. Below are excerpts:

Dr Stephan Theis, Head of Nutrition Science, BENEO-Institute:

“At BENEO-Institute, we have been studying the role that functional carbohydrates play in helping people to maintain a healthy weight. Scientific studies suggest that functional dietary carbohydrates which are either slowly, partially or not digested in the upper gastrointestinal tract can positively contribute to successful weight management – be it through their influence on fat metabolism, their reduced energy content or via satiety signalling evidenced by lower daily caloric intake in long term human intervention studies.”

Prof Nathalie Delzenne, Université catholique de Louvain, Belgium:

“Research suggests that the composition of gut microbiota in obese individuals is significantly different to that of people with a normal body weight. The consumption of functional prebiotic carbohydrates shows the potential to improve host health, specifically in the context of obesity. Metabolic alterations such as insulin resistance, dyslipidaemia and non-alcoholic fatty liver diseases, can be modified with the consumption of prebiotics to promote positive change, namely by modulation of gut barrier and endocrine functions. Some bacterial changes are related to a decrease in inflammation and glycaemia, a decrease in fat mass and changes in liver metabolism.”

Prof Jeyakumar Henry, Singapore Institute for Clinical Science:

“The research related to the postprandial blood glucose response to carbohydrates led to the increased awareness that the quality of carbohydrates may be of much greater importance than the quantity of carbohydrates. In fact, the Glycaemic Index (GI) concept revolutionised our understanding of carbohydrate nutrition, and provoked interest in the dietary management of obesity and diabetes. Clinical observations suggest that low GI diets can improve glucose control, increase fat oxidation levels, and satiety and minimise adipose tissue accretion. In fact, in terms of weight management, a carbohydrate diet that is low glycEntrainement Nike