547543 Mon Aug 11 07:53:03 -0700 2008 11 27 General Chowhounding Topics 0 3946700 Does anyone know what health purpose this product serves? I saw it at the korean store and gathered that it was meant to sweetne your coffee, but not being able to read korean, could not understand the dietary purpose for this. Does anyone out there know? Mon Aug 11 07:53:05 -0700 2008 186887 toutefrite 1 3946789 Oligosaccharides are "prebiotics"...they help promote the growth of good bacteria in the gut. Mon Aug 11 08:21:19 -0700 2008 3946700 198984 Jeri L 2 3949386 Oligosaccharides are simply sugars. Sugars are organized into categories based on how many are linked together in a chain. Monosacccharides are the shortest, consisting of one sugar – glucose is an example of that. When two monosaccharides link together, they form a two-chain sugar called a disaccharide (for two sugars) or an oligosaccharide (2 to 9 sugars). Humans can digest mono and disaccharides, and the 7-, 8-, and 9-chain oligosaccharides, but we have don’t have the enzymes necessary to digest the 3-, 4- and 5-chain oligosaccharides -- the sugars in beans, peas and legumes. Those oligosaccharides pass out of the intestine undigested, and enter the colon, where they are fermented by probiotic bacteria and gas is produced. These indigestible oligosaccharides are prebiotics. All prebiotics are oligosaccharides, but not all oligosaccharaides are prebiotics. Prebiotics support the maintenance of PRObiotic bacteria. In the last few years, prebiotic oligosaccharides have been commercially synthesized. A 5-chain oligosaccharide has been developed as an anticoagulant, and one new product made by China and Japan and possibly Korea is very sweet, about a third as sweet as sucrose. That may be what the Korean oligosaccharides syrup is, a commercial prebiotic used as a sweetener and for its promotion of probiotic bacteria. Tue Aug 12 00:38:24 -0700 2008 3946789 18222 maria lorraine 1 3947553 Aren't they also the difficult to digest part of beans that causes gas in some folks? I'm thinking the syrup might be fairly concentrated, and you might want to proceed with caution! Mon Aug 11 12:11:42 -0700 2008 3946700 84890 nemo 2 3947739 nemo's right...the process of fermentation that your body uses to break down the oligosaccharides can result in some unpleasant gas issues. Mon Aug 11 12:57:16 -0700 2008 3947553 103920 goodhealthgourmet 2 3948302 Yes, similar to inulin in sunchokes. Last year, DH and I roasted a bunch of them. I think I ate way too many sunchokes because I had terrible gas pain that night (and I've had sunchokes in the past). I never knew what gas pain was until I ODed on sunchokes. I agree -- proceed with caution! Mon Aug 11 15:36:17 -0700 2008 3947553 10763 Miss Needle 3 3948520 funny, i was going to mention sunchokes! i had gotten into the habit of slicing them [raw] into my salads...it took me a while to make the connection between the chokes and the recurring gastric distress that followed my near-daily salad consumption. i don't eat them anymore :) Mon Aug 11 16:47:54 -0700 2008 3948302 103920 goodhealthgourmet 4 3950688 You may want to try them cooked. I think it's a bit easier to digest than raw. But I don't blame if you're hesitant to try again. I haven't had sunchokes either since that incident last year. : ) Tue Aug 12 11:46:03 -0700 2008 3948520 10763 Miss Needle 5 3950899 Sunchokes, I believe, are the single most flatulence-producing food out there. Tue Aug 12 12:45:56 -0700 2008 3950688 18222 maria lorraine 6 3950936 I believe you. I kept DH up all night with the noise (it was really loud). Thank goodness it wasn't smelly! : ) Tue Aug 12 12:55:28 -0700 2008 3950899 10763 Miss Needle 1 3949644 Thanks for the information, and particularly, the note of caution. Definitely don't my morning cup of coffee to precipitate an unsavory attack! Tue Aug 12 06:07:21 -0700 2008 3946700 186887 toutefrite 1 3950908 Maybe some people believe that the best coffee should make one fart. Tue Aug 12 12:48:40 -0700 2008 3946700 217393 Austin