Inulin
Susan gave me a box of cereal that she didn't think she would eat before moving (she closed on the old house and new house today without any problems. Yay!). The cereal is General Mills Fiber One Honey Clusters. It scared me because it had the word "fiber" in the title, but I wanted to see where sugar fell in the ingredients. I was surprised how far down the list sugar appeared: wheat, corn, modified corn starch, inulin, sugar . . . That's number five! But wait a minute, inulin? What is that?
I googled it and found a wikipedia article about it. It is a starch produced by plants including dandelions. But as I was eating my first spoonfuls I got to this paragraph:
>>Inulin is indigestible by human enzymes ptyalin and amylase, which are designed to digest starch. As a result, inulin passes through much of the digestive system intact. It is only in the colon that bacteria metabolise inulin, with the release of significant quantities of carbon dioxide and/or methane. Inulin-containing foods are therefore notoriously gassy and not recommended for the socially sensitive.<<
Long night ahead. The dogs might be sleeping on the sofa.
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Comments (7)
well.... was the cereal tasty?
Posted by nicole | December 7, 2005 7:43 PM
It tasted kind of like Wheaties, but it definitely had that fiber flake look and texture.
Posted by UT | December 7, 2005 8:38 PM
How did you hold out?
Posted by Eric | December 8, 2005 6:29 PM
Thanks for asking. It didn't seem too bad. I'm going to eat two bowls and see what happens.
Posted by UT | December 8, 2005 9:07 PM
Now, I'm going to check all of the cereal boxes in my closet. In order to help you in your research, I'll pass any along to you that have "inulin" as an ingredient.
Mom
Posted by mom | December 9, 2005 10:10 AM
I looked to see what Encyclopedia Britannica says about "inulin":
polysaccharide that is a commercial source of the sugar fructose. It occurs in many plants of the family Asteraceae (Compositae), particularly in such roots and tubers as the dahlia and the Jerusalem artichoke. Inulin forms a white, crystalline powder that is as sweet as sucrose. The inulin molecule is a small, inert polysaccharide that readily passes through the digestive system and remains neutral to cellular activity. Because it is not absorbed by the body, it is used to sweeten foods consumed by diabetic patients.
Posted by UT | December 17, 2005 11:57 AM
I looked to see what Wikipedia says about "inulin." I'd say Wiki beats Brit on this one:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inulin
Posted by Jeb | December 17, 2005 7:00 PM